The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/116680
football recruiting The Wolverines Aim To Reel In Top-100 Prospects As Part Of A Recruiting Resurgence U By Tim Sullivan nder Brady Hoke, Michigan's recruiting has taken a huge step forward from the Rich Rodriguez era, approaching the glory days of recruiting under Lloyd Carr. The Carr staff, from 2002-07, averaged five signees per year from the nation's top 100 players, according to Rivals.com. The bookends of that range, 2002 and 2007, featured the fewest, with two and three players respectively. Recruiting took a dive with the arrival of Rodriguez in Ann Arbor. The 2008-11 classes featured just seven total top-100 players. Undoing the damage of weak recruiting from that era will take time, but Hoke and his coaches are on the right track. Their first full signing class featured three top-100 signees, including a pair of five-stars up front in defensive tackle Ondre Pipkins and offensive lineman Kyle Kalis. The 2013 class featured four players among the country's top 100, including No. 8 Derrick Green — the first top-10 signee since the 2007 class. In 2014, the U-M coaches are putting in the work to continue improving the number of top-ranked recruits that will sign next February. With depth built up in the previous two classes, U-M is aiming high in the upcoming group. Rivals.com ranks Da'Shawn Hand, a 6-4, 245-pound defensive end from Woodbridge, Va., as the nation's best prep player. He unofficially visited Michigan this March. photo courtesy Rivals.com The Michigan coaches have offered 40 of the top 100 prospects in the country. One of them, St. Clairsville (Ohio) linebacker Michael Ferns (No. 84), has already pledged to the Wolverines. Seven of them have picked other schools and are no longer options for U-M. Several of the other offerees, however, not only have Michigan still on the table, but high on the list. If UM's coaches can reel in eight of those