Recruiting: Oak Park's Maliq Carr, West Bloomfield's Makari Paige sorting out college choices

Grosse Pointe Woods — While Enzo Jennings, who committed to Penn State on Thursday, is Oak Park’s impact player in the secondary, 6-foot-5, 240-pound receiver Maliq Carr is the big target on offense.

Carr has narrowed his choices to Michigan, Georgia, LSU, Auburn and Purdue and plans to announce his choice during the season.

“I have the same top five – Purdue, Georgia, Michigan, LSU and Auburn,” said Carr, who is also a talented basketball player, on Thursday at the Sound Mind Sound Body 7-on-7 competition. “I’ve taken an official visit to Georgia, been to Purdue a couple of times and I plan to take a trip to Auburn on a game day visit this season.”

When asked what he liked about Michigan, Carr said: “(Offensive coordinator Josh) Gattis’ offense is pretty good and the culture around Michigan is great, and you’re going up against the best DBs in the country.”

Carr said he would still like to play basketball and football in college. He will play in the Peach Jam tournament in AAU ball with The Family in mid-July in Georgia.

Carr, who had nine TD receptions last season, averaging more than 30 yards a catch, said he is making big strides in a couple of areas this offseason.

“Getting in and out of breaks, learning how to read defenses and getting faster and stronger, those are my biggest improvements,” Carr said. “I’m 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds. I’m a receiver, want to be like Calvin (Johnson). I just have to improve my speed because he was pretty fast. I’m a 4.64 guy right now. I have to improve on that.”

Penn State pipeline

Franklin and Penn State are starting to get a pipeline into Metro Detroit, already having Johnson and former West Bloomfield linebacker Lance Dixon at Happy Valley, along with getting the commitment from Jennings.

West Bloomfield four-star safety Makari Paige has also shown interest in Penn State, taking an official visit a couple of weeks ago with Dixon as his host. He has also taken an official visit to Ohio State. He is also considering Michigan and Kentucky and plans to make his decision in July.

“It went well,” said Paige of his visit to Penn State. “Everybody treated me like family, Coach Banks and his wife, everybody treated us like family.”

Paige is feeling stressed out with the whole process, having West Bloomfield linebacker Cornell Wheeler, a Michigan commit, trying to pull him to Ann Arbor.

“We’ve been working hard to recruit guys and we’re not done yet,” Wheeler said. “Every day I talk to him (Paige) about joining me. I’m definitely working on him.”

Paige said he hopes to make his decision before the season.

Belleville stars

Belleville cornerback Andre Seldon committed to Michigan before his junior year and his love for the Wolverines has only grown during the past 12 months.

Seldon showed his ability by picking off three passes early in his junior season against Livonia Churchill.

“I’ve been in this program for many years, learning from every senior who has been in the program before me, so I want to take everything I’ve learned from them and apply it to these guys,” Seldon said.

Seldon says he has improved his technique and is not just relying on his speed.

Seldon plans to study pre-law or business at Michigan.

“Michigan is a great academic school,” he said. “It’s my dream school. They have a great football program, great coaches. Really, they have everything I want.”

Belleville sophomore cornerback Myles Rowser also has an offer from Michigan.

“For sure, he’s my little brother, I’ll definitely try to get him to go there with me,” Seldon said.

“I have 15 offers,” said Rowser, with Penn State, Kentucky and Tennessee in the mix. “I was amazed when I got one from Michigan. I love Michigan. I like the coaching staff, the players, the whole community. I know he (Seldon) really likes Michigan. He wants me to come with him, so we can play together.”

Seldon is also working on trying to get Belleville junior linebacker Jamari Buddin to join him at Michigan. Buddin has 11 offers, including Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Florida State and Kentucky.

david.goricki@detroitnews.com