Recruiting: Michigan to host several elite juniors at BBQ at the Big House

Michigan will host its annual BBQ at the Big House recruiting event Saturday. It's usually the biggest recruiting day of the off-season as the U-M staff brings in big-time prospects from all over the country to showcase the non-football side of the program.  

If the last two years under Jim Harbaugh are an indication, the event will include educational kiosks in the stadium with information on both undergrad and graduate programs. The prospects in attendance will travel around campus to get a better idea of what life is like for the students, and it's usually in the form of a scavenger hunt. 

This year's visitor list is shaping up to be high profile, as usual. U-M will host top senior targets like St. Louis Parkway North four-star defensive tackle Michael Thompson and Gardena (Calif.) Junipero Serra four-star safety Bryan Addison, among many others. 

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However, the major story line developing around this year's BBQ event is the amazing group of junior prospects likely to visit this weekend. It's one of the better assemblages Harbaugh has brought in since he was hired in 2015. Here are a handful of those prospects: 

Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei five-star QB JT Daniels: He is the No. 1 quarterback prospect in the 2019 cycle according to 247Sports. U-M appears to be battling Stanford and USC for his commitment, and the California prospect won't be easy to pull from the West Coast. However, this will be his second visit to campus and he's intrigued with what the staff is pitching. 

Charlotte Harding University five-star RB Quavaris Crouch: He is the No. 1 running back prospect in the 2019 cycle. This will be his first visit to Michigan's campus, and he appears to be relatively wide open early on in the process, with Stanford and Clemson among the programs he's believed to be heavily considering. U-M was among the first programs to offer Crouch a scholarship last year. 

Louisville (Ky.) Trinity four-star DE Stephen Herron: U-M is a major contender for Herron, currently ranked fourth in the country at the weak-side defensive end in his class (34th overall). Texas, Stanford and Tennessee are among the other programs who are fighting hard for Herron, with Ohio State another program involved. This will be his third recruiting visit to Ann Arbor. 

Detroit King four-star safety Marvin Grant: He is one of the top young prospects in Michigan. The Wolverines are believed to be the heavy favorite for him early on as the staff has done a great job of turning the tide at King, a program once appearing to be a Michigan State pipeline. Grant is ranked 103rd overall in the country and is also considering Notre Dame, among others. 

St. Louis Trinity Catholic's Isaiah Williams: He may be the most dynamic athlete in the 2019 class; he's a quarterback who actually projects to a wide receiver and defensive back in college. U-M is among his nearly 50 scholarship offers that include Alabama, Ohio State and a host of others. The Wolverines are considered one of the top contenders for Williams, who will make his second visit to campus for the event. 

Steve Lorenz is the editor and publisher of Wolverine247 of the 247Sports Network. You can follow him on Twitter @TremendousUM and sign up for our FREE newsletter today!