Recruiting never stops. Neither do your questions.

And if we didn’t get to your question, don’t be discouraged! We will be addressing some on “Stars Matter,” our weekly recruiting podcast, which can be found on the feed of “The Andy Staples Show.” Look for new episodes every Thursday morning.

Note: Submitted questions have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

What do you think of Michigan’s spring visitor lists? It has been such a big turnaround after last year’s recruiting was so disappointing. — Jeremy G. 

First, let’s start this mailbag by complimenting Michigan on a huge victory in the 2023 cycle. On Sunday, Jim Harbaugh landed four-star athlete Brandyn Hillman of Portsmouth (Va.) Churchland, who initially signed with Notre Dame but recently asked out of his national letter of intent. Once he was released by the Irish, Hillman earned offers from Michigan, Ohio State, LSU, Wisconsin and others.

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Rated the No. 214 overall player and the No. 9 athlete in the 247Sports Composite, Hillman’s commitment is going to be overlooked because we’ve all moved our attention to the 2024 cycle. He’s now part of a Michigan class that fell short of expectations, but this helps ease the blow.

But the real show, of course, is how Michigan is going to do in the 2024 cycle, so there’s no question seeing a jam-packed spring visitors list is a good sign. Among the prospects who visited this past weekend are five-star quarterback Jadyn Davis of Charlotte (N.C.) Providence Day School, five-star edge Dylan Stewart of Washington (D.C.) Friendship Collegiate Academy, four-star tight end Brady Prieskorn of Rochester (Mich.) Adams, four-star running back Jordan Marshall of Cincinnati Moeller and others. All of those players are ranked in the top 100 nationally.

Now close.

Michigan fans are probably tired of hearing it, but it has to be said: It is absurd that the Wolverines failed to sign a top-100 player in the 2023 class. With so much momentum on the field, you’d anticipate Michigan taking a huge step forward in talent acquisition. There is no question Harbaugh and his staff have done an excellent job in the portal, but it is imperative to start ramping things up on the recruiting trail. If they don’t, there’s a high likelihood this current window of great success could close. The momentum is there. Harbaugh has to take advantage of it.

What do I think of the visitors lists? I love it. Things seem to be trending in the right direction for Michigan in 2024 — closing on Davis would be tangible proof. Michigan is the heavy favorite right now, and maybe he’d already be committed if it weren’t for so much upheaval on the offensive staff over the past year. But still, new offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore is viewed as an ace recruiter and a sharp young coach, so this is the time to prove it.

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My expectation for Michigan this year is to return to the top 10 in the rankings and sign a handful of top-100 players.

This upcoming weekend, Nebraska is hosting what seems to be an excellent list of visitors, the likes of which I have not seen in my 20 years as a Cornhusker fan. Is this what a typical recruiting weekend looks like for the Ohio States, Alabamas and Georgias of the CFB world, or is this a special weekend, regardless of school caliber? — Sam E.

Not to rain on your parade, but I’ve seen official visitors lists that are 10 deep with five-star prospects at Ohio State, Alabama and Georgia. But that isn’t a reason not to get hyped up about what Matt Rhule is doing at Nebraska.

There is a big fish out there, and it seems like Nebraska has a shot at landing him. That big fish? Five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola of Phoenix (Ariz.) Pinnacle, who is planning to take three trips to Nebraska this spring, including this weekend.

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When Raiola visited USC on March 4, there was a lot of speculation that the No. 1 overall player would wind up playing for Lincoln Riley. Of course, Riley’s resume with developing quarterbacks is unparalleled in the sport right now, and Los Angeles is much closer to Phoenix than Nebraska. But I’m not sure I’m ready to punt on the idea that Rhule will get this big recruitment done. In fact, I think I’d bet on it. Raiola already visited Nebraska earlier this spring, will return this weekend and is expected to come for the spring game in April. I’ve been covering recruiting for a long time, and sometimes everything you need to know about a prospect’s lean is out there with how much of an effort that player makes to get to campus.

Nebraska has some built-in advantages. Raiola’s uncle is on Nebraska’s staff, and his father played there. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Rhule to make a huge recruiting splash right out of the gate.

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There is no question that landing a commitment from Raiola could jump-start this entire class. And guess who knows that? Raiola. I would not be shocked to see a commitment soon so he can get to work helping Nebraska sign an elite-level class under the exciting new head coach.

Georgia is also a major player in this recruitment, along with USC. And if we’ve learned anything about what happens when Georgia is deeply involved, that should be a bad sign for everyone else. If Nebraska wins this recruitment, it’s not going to be easy. But it has a real shot.

And just because Nebraska’s visitors list isn’t as deep as what we’ve seen at times from Georgia, Ohio State and Alabama doesn’t mean this isn’t an exciting time to be a Nebraska fan.

If you could take a traditionally good program and move it to North Dakota, who would handle the isolation from recruits the best? By move them, I mean the history, campus, facilities, current staff and players. The only changes are that they are now in North Dakota, and for argument’s sake, let’s say they have an indoor practice facility with a domed stadium so weather isn’t an issue. — Richard N.

Alabama.

I considered going with Ohio State because of its tradition and historical track record of never being down for more than a year. I also thought about picking Georgia because Kirby Smart has won back-to-back national championships and recruits as well as anyone nationally and the Bulldogs are as hot as ever. All three of the selections, in theory, would prevail because of their track records for sending players to the NFL.

But give me Nick Saban.

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I know a segment of our audience has already begun turning the page on Saban and handing the baton to Smart. If you’re one of those people, I understand the motivation to do that. But to me, it’s just way too soon to count out Saban. I am willing to bet he’ll win at least one more national title before he retires. The man just signed nine five-star prospects and won the recruiting crown in the 2023 class — right after Georgia’s second consecutive national title. Nothing about the Alabama program is starting to wither away. Trust me when I say this: Alabama is still here.

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So you’re telling me I get to bring that roster — with that recruiting class — to North Dakota? I’ll take my chances on that.

When being isolated like Alabama would be in North Dakota, you have to give people a reason to seek you out. People have to be motivated to spend their money to come to your campus and visit you. Saban could get that done. That “it” factor Saban possesses, along with the notion that his team could win a national title in Year 1 in North Dakota, makes this seem like a no-brainer.

In Grace Raynor’s latest mailbag, she wrote: “I think most coaches would welcome the opportunity for recruits to sign a national letter of intent at any time as opposed to having to wait until the early signing period in December.” I agree and understand why coaches would want that, but why would elite prospects sign the NLI? With so many kids deciding to go to school based on NIL, why would they sign a document they can’t get out of if/when something happens at the school (coaching staff change, broken NIL deal, like it happened with Jaden Rashada, etc.)? Is there any realistic solution/proposal to make recruitment less crazy? I have thought about only allowing schools to give committable offers, but I believe that would just create more problems. — Rodrigo A.

The end of your question basically sums up the entire issue. Every time you think you’re solving a problem with national signing day, you’re creating another one. Giving players the ability to sign NLIs early sounds great, in theory. Like everything in this sport, there are issues.

Consider this scenario: A prospect heading into his senior season visits a school. That school offers him, and he accepts that offer shortly after. What does that school automatically assume happens next? It wants a signature. And if that prospect doesn’t sign immediately, that means he isn’t truly committed and could risk being recruited over and losing his spot. There is an immense amount of built-in pressure on the prospect because coaches don’t want to have to worry about decommitments, flips or any other change of plans.

Giving players that option, in my opinion, is more about making coaches’ lives easier than it is about protecting the players. The second these players sign and arrive on campus, all of the power is with the coaching staff. It’s during the recruitments that players hold all the leverage, and given the salaries these coaches are earning, I’m not all that concerned about their work-life balance.

The only players who would have leverage in that climate would be the top 100 prospects, those who know they would get taken regardless of whether they signed on the spot. It might seem like you’re giving players more options by allowing them to sign whenever they want, but you’re pressuring them to sign the second they want to commit. Coaches will stress how important it is for players to lock up their spot in the class.

Also, who are we helping? Middle-tier programs that spot a talented player early and want to get him signed before the big-time programs notice. That also sounds good, but you’re robbing a late bloomer of the opportunity to explode during his senior season and have more/better options. That might create more parity in the sport, sure, but you’re also preventing a young man from making a decision with all of the opportunities available to him.

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It’s tricky.

It’s dumb to have an early signing period six weeks before the regular signing period. All we did was move up decisions by six weeks without solving any of the issues. Also, that signing period tends to coincide with preparation for the national title race (which is expanded to 12 teams now) and during the period when the coaching carousel is more active.

If it were up to me, I’d create a three-day early signing window in the summer heading into prospects’ senior seasons. That would allow the players who have made early decisions and want to lock in their spot the opportunity to do so, but it would also be a brief time prospects could properly navigate without fear of getting their scholarships pulled. It’s not the perfect solution, but it makes the most sense and causes the least issues.

(Photo of Jim Harbaugh: Mark J. Rebilas / USA Today)