The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1083898
MARCH 2019 THE WOLVERINE 27 No. 1 Michigan's class ranking in the Big Ten, according to all three major recruiting services (Rivals, ESPN and 247Sports). This is just the second time U-M has ever accomplished the trifecta (2007 was the other, when it was Rivals, ESPN and Scout). 4 Signees who won the Gatorade Player of the Year award in their respective home states — Tulsa (Okla.) Booker T. Wash- ington five-star safety Daxton Hill, Greenwich (Conn.) Bruns- wick four-star wide receiver Cornelius Johnson, Reno (Nev.) Damonte Ranch four-star quarterback Cade McNamara and Everett (Mass.) High three-star athlete MIKE SAINRISTIL. In ad- dition, Hill, Johnson and McNamara were also listed as the top players in their respective states by Rivals (Sainristil was No. 2). 4 Rivals top-100 players in Michigan's class, in Norcross (Ga.) Greater Atlanta Christian five-star defensive tackle Christo- pher Hinton (No. 15), Hill (No. 24), Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian four-star running back Zach Charbonnet (No. 60) and Loganville (Ga.) Grayson four-star offensive tackle Trente Jones (No. 90), marking its most since it inked seven in 2017. The Wolverines did not sign a single player in the top 100 last year. 5 Times Michigan has finished with the Big Ten's top overall haul per Rivals, with the previous four occurrences being 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007. 5 Five-star prospects the Wolverines have signed since 2017, after bringing in two this year in Hinton and Hill, and three in 2017 (wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones, linebacker Jordan Anthony and defensive tackle Aubrey Solomon). That total is tied with 2005-07 as the most five-stars signed by U-M during any three-year span in the Rivals era (since 2002). 10 Signees who were selected for national postseason all-star contests — six in the Under Armor All-American Game (defen- sive back Quinten Johnson, offensive lineman Nolan Rumler, linebacker Anthony Solomon, defensive tackle Mazi Smith, Jones and Charbonnet, although the latter did not play due to injury), three in the All-American Bowl in San Antonio (Hill, Hinton and Cornelius Johnson) and one in the Polynesian Bowl (wide receiver Giles Jackson). 11 Different states (not counting New Jersey for Blairstown Blair Academy three-star defensive end David Ojabo, who origi- nally hails from Scotland) the Wolverines signed players from — California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio and Oklahoma. Ohio boasted the most with six, while Georgia checked in next with five. It should be noted that the Maize and Blue had reeled in just six players from the state of Ohio over the past four cycles. 13 Times in the 18 years of existence for Rivals that Michigan has finished with either the No. 1 or No. 2 class in the Big Ten. The only times it didn't were 2006 (No. 3), 2011 (No. 3), 2014 (No. 4), 2015 (No. 8) and 2018 (No. 4). The Maize and Blue's average Big Ten rank has been 2.3 in Rivals' existence. 13 Four-star prospects signed in the 2019 haul, which is tied for the seventh most in the country. In fact, that number is also deadlocked for the fifth most U-M has ever inked during the Rivals era, with the 17 signed in 2008 being the most. The Wolverines' 15 four or five Rivals five-stars this recruiting cycle ranks sixth nationally. 24th Overall is where Hill is ranked, making him the second-high- est-rated safety Michigan has reeled in since Rivals began. The highest was Prescott Burgess in 2003, who checked in at No. 6 overall nationally. In addition, Charbonnet — at No. 60 — is the top-ranked running back the Wolverines have grabbed since Derrick Green (No. 8) in 2013, while Jones (No. 90) is the highest rated offensive tackle the program has plucked since Kyle Kalis (No. 22) in 2012. 316 Pounds is how much Cincinnati Moeller four-star offensive lineman Zach Carpenter weighs, making him the heaviest player in the Maize and Blue's class. To put that in perspective, Michigan is slated to have just six scholarship players on their entire 2019 roster who weigh more than 310 pounds. 3,551 Miles from Ojabo's hometown of Aberdeen, Scotland, to Ann Arbor (he moved to Blairstown, N.J., when he was 15). This marks the third straight cycle U-M has signed a player from outside the U.S., with cornerback Benjamin St-Juste (Montreal, Quebec) in 2017 and defensive end Julius Welschof (Miesbach in Bavaria, Germany) last year being the previous two. Welschof 's trek from his hometown of Miesbach to Ann Arbor was longer than Ojabo's from Scotland, however, check- ing in at 4,368 miles. — Austin Fox BY THE NUMBERS: U-M'S 2019 SIGNEES PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM