The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1451622
2022 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY EJ HOLLAND It's hard to miss Kenneth Grant. Listed by Michigan at 6-4, 335 pounds, Grant is a mammoth of a man and quickly ascended as one of the best defensive tackle prospects in the 2022 recruiting cycle. He was always a big kid, but he wasn't fully invested in foot- ball as a youth. Grant's first love was actually base- ball. Playing football wasn't even his idea. He didn't pick up the sport until a neighbor suggested to his father that he join a team in a nearby city. After starring for the Junior Bulldogs on the gridiron, Grant's passion for baseball slowly faded. "I was just playing football to play it," Grant admitted. "Baseball was my first sport, so I really loved it. But I fell in love with football more because I love tackling people." Fast-forward to middle school and Grant was a full-blown giant. In fact, his size actually created a bit of a safety concern when it came time for the start of his seventh-grade sea- son. Merrillville (Ind.) High head coach Brad Seiss can't help but chuckle when recalling the first time he was intro- duced to "The Monster on Broadway." "My wife was teaching down at the middle school at the time and said there is this kid that's the biggest kid I've ever seen," Seiss remembered. "As I go to get our kids ready to register for seventh grade football, I see this monster of a kid that walks in. He was probably 6-2, 290 pounds as a seventh grader. "Middle school is the worst time in anybody's life. There is a pipsqueak 100-pound kid, and then there is Ken- neth. We had to make sure all the kids wanted to continue to play football if they had to go against Kenneth." Grant may be an intimidating force on the field, but he's also one of the kindest human beings you'll ever meet. With an infectious smile and a magnetic person- ality, the big man quickly became the most popular figure at Merrillville. There isn't a day that goes by that 46 THE WOLVERINE MARCH 2022 KENNETH GRANT DEFENSIVE TACKLE 6-4 • 335 MERRILLVILLE HIGH SCHOOL MERRILLVILLE, IND. RANKINGS STARS NAT. POS. STATE ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 262 32 9 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 102 14 3 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ — 47 8 ✪ ✪ ✪ — 36 11 ✪ ✪ ✪ — 52 13 STATISTICS Year Tackles TFL Sacks FF 2021 38 14.5 6.5 4 2020 — 6 — — 2019 42 — 3 2 HONORS • Helped Merrillville to its first unde- feated regular season in nearly three decades (9-0) with a 12-1 overall re- cord as a senior. • Member of the Indiana Football Coaches Association Top 50 team as a senior. • 2021 Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) Player of the Year; two-time All- DAC Selection. • 2020 and 2021 Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana Football Defensive All-Area Team. RECRUITMENT • Pledged to Michigan Sept. 28, 2021, after picking up his offer from the Maize and Blue in March 2021. • Picked U-M over notable offers from Ohio State, Wisconsin and Ari- zona State. • Recruited by former defensive line coach Shaun Nua. Mammoth Kenneth Grant Is A Perfect Fit On And Off The Field 2022 Projection A true nose tackle is an essen- tial piece in Michigan's defensive scheme and the Wolverines lacked one in 2021. That made Grant a critical recruit in the cycle. He can not only fill a role desperately needed on U-M's defense, but he can succeed early. After an offsea- son in the strength and condition- ing program, the 6-4, 335-pounder projects to play early and often along the interior of the defensive line. He'll likely start as a rotational player early in the season and earn more snaps as the year progresses. The 6-4, 335-pound Grant is listed by On3 as the nation's No. 102 overall recruit, and he grades out as a four-star prospect in the On3 Consensus rankings. PHOTO BY EJ HOLLAND consensus