Michigan Wolverines

Holding more than 40 offers, running back Joe Mixon (Oakley, Calif./Freedom) is arguably the most sought-after recruit in the West region. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound, four-star back is the top running back in the West and the No. 135 player in the country. His offer sheet has seemingly grown by the minute this spring, but he isn't in any hurry to narrow it down.

Despite tweeting out a list of 16 programs several weeks ago, Mixon said Sunday that he only did that to highlight the schools recruiting him the hardest, not anything to be taken as a group of finalists.

"I'm still talking to a lot of people," Mixon said. "The recruiting thing has been crazy the past couple of weeks. I've pretty much been taking it well. I talk to them before school, during lunch and after school. I'm not to the stressful part yet, but the hard part has been staying in contact with everybody."

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BRADENTON, Fla. -- On the fields of the IMG Academy Southeast Regional 7-on-7 Tournament, George Campbell (Tarpon Springs, Fla./East Lake) stood off to the side with a sling hanging off his shoulder and covering his broken wrist.

That injury, suffered a few weeks back, will keep him out of East Lake's spring practices starting at the beginning of May. But fortunately for him, he's already got a ton of offers to begin with and won't be reliant on coaches coming by for the evaluation period.

That doesn't mean he isn't frustrated, though.

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The Twitter account for Myles Garrett (Arlington, Texas/Martin) tells half truth.

Garrett’s bio reads, “The big silly guy who plays football? Yea thats me,” and those who know Garrett know he enjoys to laugh and joke around. What the Twitter page doesn’t tell is just how athletically gifted the ESPN Watch List defensive end is. In fact, in addition to being the silly guy, friends have a nickname for him that seems to fit.

“They call me Superman,” Garrett said. “I guess it’s cool. It makes me laugh.”

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It won’t be much of a break for Braden Smith (Olathe, Kan./Olathe) in a few weeks.

Then again, one of the most sought-after offensive guards in the nation wants to make sure he’s making the right choice when it comes to colleges.

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ATHENS, Ga. -- ESPN Watch List wide receiver Demarre Kitt (Tyrone, Ga./Sandy Creek) recently cut his mammoth offer list down to a top-15 group of schools that he will consider.

“It got crazy at one point with almost everybody that offered me trying to talk to me,” Kitt said. “So I had to cut my list down to 15 schools. After spring practice I will cut it down to eight or 10. At the end of summer I will do five and then go from there.”

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ESPN Watch List offensive tackle Roderick Johnson (Florissant, Mo./Hazelwood Central) is up to eight offers – four from the Big Ten, three from the SEC and one from the ACC. The spring could be the perfect time for Johnson’s recruiting to see a major spike.

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As ESPN Watch List offensive tackle Andy Bauer (St. Louis/ De Smet) creeps up on 40 offers, he is reminded of two important yet unofficial rules to the recruiting game.

Network, first of all; and second, have fun.

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INDIANAPOLIS -- Turnabout is fair play, and Lonnie Johnson (Gary, Ind./West Side) is starting to play the recruiting game.

A longtime Ohio State lean who wanted to commit to the Buckeyes a few months ago, Johnson stopped himself short of naming Ohio State his leader Monday.

Asked if Ohio State was still his top school, Johnson said: “Yeah, Ohio State," then paused before he said "... really I got a three-headed dragon: It’s Illinois, Nebraska and Ohio State. They’re all at the top of my list. I don’t know where I’m going to go at this point.”

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. – What a week for Michigan sports. A top ranking for the basketball team and a big commitment for the football team. But I believe that good things come in threes, so let’s consider this mailbag the third good thing for Michigan sports this week.

Next week Mike will be handling it, so send your questions to michaelrothsteinespn@gmail.com or @mikerothstein. Now on to this week’s questions.

1) Alex Koschik, via Twitter: How can Texas A&M have 32 commits when Michigan’s max is around 27?

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SAN ANTONIO -- Wednesday was a day off for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl teams. Instead of working out and participating in drills, the players took in visits around the city -- including a stop at the Alamodome for photo opportunities and to see their game apparel -- and used the day to recover from two days of practice.

The teams will return to the fields on Thursday in arguably the most important practice of the week. Here are five things to keep an eye on for Thursday’s practice:

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SAN ANTONIO – ESPN 150 wide receiver James Quick (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) has drawn plenty of attention for his play through two practices for the East team in preparation for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

He’ll garner even more eyes his way on Saturday when he announces his commitment during the game.

The 6-foot-1, 180-pounder said he is down to Louisville, Ohio State and Oregon. Though his decision will come Saturday, it could be finalized by Wednesday morning, as he sits down to discuss his options with his parents, who are in town for the event.

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SAN ANTONIO -- ESPN 150 outside linebacker Mike Mitchell (Plano, Texas/Prestonwood Christian) isn’t big on speaking publicly. He’d rather let his game do the talking -- and it speaks volumes.

On Monday, the 6-foot-5, 222-pound linebacker officially confirmed that he will announce his college plans during Saturday’s U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Oregon, Texas A&M and Ohio State are his three finalists.

Mitchell said all three schools -- and even a fourth, Oklahoma -- had their positive qualities throughout his recruiting process. It was a feeling of comfort, however, that seemed to win him over.

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