The Wolverine

October 2020

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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38 THE WOLVERINE OCTOBER 2020   MICHIGAN RECRUITING ways because of the facilities and the coaches here, and the non-stop op- portunities to get better." McCarthy picked U-M last May over offers from Arizona State, LSU, Miami, Ohio State, Penn State, Texas A&M, Wisconsin and several other major programs. He is set to gradu- ate in December and will enroll early. XAVIER WORTHY GETS BIG RANKINGS BUMP Wide receiver commit Xavier Wor- thy has made a massive jump. He entered the month of August as a low three-star prospect, but moved into the top 100 nationally after Ri- vals.com's latest update to the 2021 recruiting rankings. A newly minted four-star prospect, the Fresno (Calif.) Central product is now ranked as the No. 10 wideout and No. 57 overall recruit in the land. "We went back on the wide re- ceiver position because we didn't get to see nearly as many kids this summer as usual," Rivals.com na- tional recruiting director Mike Far- rell said. "We knew most of the Cali players weren't going to play, and we wanted to compare them all. "Summer is about skill-position kids and holding to an early Feb- ruary eval of Worthy based on film didn't add up after watching him again. His speed is elite and com- pared to the rest of the class, we felt he was in that Rivals100 range." "When I first saw Worthy on tape, I thought he was very impressive, but I wrongly went too conservative in his ranking," added Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney, who is based out West. "I wanted to see him more in person, but then the shutdown hit and that became impossible. "During this ranking, we revisited everybody, and he clearly was a name that deserved a major bump in the rankings. We were able to go over ju- nior film again, check out what he's done over the last few months — even though that's been limited — and then compare him to the other receivers in this class. We felt a major move up was warranted, and we didn't hesitate." Worthy was one of the most under- rated prospects nationally this cycle. He had a big junior season, record- ing 54 receptions for 992 yards and 16 touchdowns, and blew up on the recruiting trail this offseason. On top of that, Worthy brings elite speed and has drawn comparisons to NFL wideout DeSean Jackson. Wor- thy ran a 10.55 seconds in the 100 meters as a sophomore and was the only runner in his class to qualify for the California state meet. Worthy is the third-highest ranked recruit in Michigan's 2021 class. Only Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy quar- terback J.J. McCarthy and Sterling Heights (Mich.) Stevenson offen- sive lineman Giovanni El-Hadi are ranked higher, checking in at No. 30 and No. 54, respectively. U-M LOSES A PAIR OF COMMITS The Wolverines' 2021 recruiting class is down two verbal pledges af- ter Clayton (Ohio) Northmont four- star wide receiver Markus Allen and Boston Noble & Greenough three- star linebacker Casey Phinney de- cided to decommit. Allen, the No. 44 wide receiver na- tionally per Rivals.com, originally gave the Wolverines a verbal pledge in late April. Phinney, the lowest ranked of U-M's four linebacker com- mits, decided he would be a better fit on a smaller stage closer to home. Michigan is now down to three commits at both wide receiver and linebacker. Overall, Michigan now has 20 commits in its 2021 recruiting class, which was ranked No. 7 nationally, by Rivals.com as of Sept. 22. ❏ On The Web For regular reports on Michigan football recruiting plus videos of U-M commitments and targets visit TheWolverine.com. 2021 Michigan Commitment List Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown (High School) Raheem Anderson OL 6-3 295 Detroit (Cass Tech) Andrel Anthony WR 6-2 175 East Lansing, Mich. (East Lansing) Kechaun Bennett DE 6-4 225 Suffield, Conn. (Suffield Academy) Tristan Bounds OT 6-8 280 Gaithersburg, Md. (Choate Rosemary Hall [Conn.]) Junior Colson LB 6-2 215 Brentwood, Tenn. (Ravenwood) Greg Crippen OL 6-4 270 Bradenton, Fla. (IMG Academy) Cristian Dixon WR 6-2 185 Santa Ana, Calif. (Mater Dei) Tommy Doman K/P 6-3 178 Orchard Lake, Mich. (St. Mary's) Tavierre Dunlap RB 6-0 195 Del Valle, Texas (Del Valle) Giovanni El-Hadi OT 6-6 285 Sterling Heights, Mich. (Stevenson) Dominick Giudice DE 6-4 262 New Monmouth, N.J. (Mater Dei) TJ Guy DE 6-4 240 Mansfield, Mass. (Mansfield) Louis Hansen TE 6-5 225 Needham, Mass. (St. Sebastian's) Jaydon Hood ATH 6-1 212 Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (St. Thomas Aquinas) Ja'Den McBurrows CB 5-10 175 Plantation, Fla. (St. Thomas Aquinas) J.J. McCarthy QB 6-2 180 La Grange Park, Ill. (IMG Academy [Fla.]) Tyler McLaurin LB 6-3 215 Bolingbrook, Ill. (Bolingbrook) Rod Moore S 5-11 170 Clayton, Ohio (Northmont) Quintin Somerville DE 6-1 233 Scottsdale, Ariz. (Saguaro) Xavier Worthy WR 6-1 160 Fresno, Calif. (Central) 2022 Michigan Commitment List Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown (High School) Marlin Klein TE 6-6 215 Rabun Gap, Ga. (Nacoochee) Tyler Martin LB 6-2 249 Cambridge. Mass. (Buckingham, Browne & Nichols) Alex VanSumeren DT 6-2 260 Essexville, Mich. (Garber) U-M commit Xavier Worthy is now listed as a four-star recruit and the nation's No. 57 overall prospect by Rivals.com, after the website origi- nally dubbed him a three-star prospect. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM

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