The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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APRIL 2022 THE WOLVERINE 53 MICHIGAN RECRUITING gan. Overall, it was great to just get back there and see everything." While on the visit, Samaha also had a chance to spend extended time with Michigan assistant Jay Harbaugh. "I congratulated him on winning Spe- cial Teams Coach of the Year," Samaha said. "We watched some of their film and some of my film. We got to build our relationships. He's a great coach and a great guy. It's a big confidence boost knowing he won Special Teams Coach of the Year. I'm really excited." Samaha is also ready to help the Wol- verines on the recruiting trail. In fact, Samaha has his eyes set on one prospect in particular — elite 2024 Saline (Mich.) High quarterback CJ Carr. "I'm definitely trying to get CJ Carr," Samaha said. "He's right over at Saline. It's mostly guys around the area, but I'm also trying to help with guys nationally, too." U-M PLEDGE RAYLEN WILSON UPDATES RECRUITMENT Michigan commit Raylen Wilson is hard at work this offseason. The top-100 2023 linebacker pros- pect out of Tallahassee (Fla.) Lincoln is polishing up his skills in pass cov- erage by playing club seven on seven with Domo, a premier travel team, this offseason. Wilson was a standout at the Pylon Orlando tournament in February, shut- ting down opposing slot receivers and tight ends. "It's really helping with my coverage," Wilson said. "My cover skills are im- proving tremendously. That's the main reason I do seven on seven — to help with things away from the contact that happens during the season." Wilson committed to Michigan in December over offers from Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, LSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas A&M and a number of other major pro- grams. It's no secret Michigan has had a cha- otic offseason so far. So where does his verbal pledge stand now? "I'm still locked in," Wilson said. "Even though [defensive coordina- tor Mike Macdonald] just left, I'm still locked in with Coach [George] Helow and Coach [Jim] Harbaugh. I like the plan they have laid out for me. They have one of the top business schools in the country. That's a big factor for me." Both Harbaugh and Helow, the line- backers coach, stopped by his high school before the dead period and have been pushing hard to keep Wilson, the No. 77 overall prospect nationally per the On3 Consensus, in the fold. "We have a really great relationship," Wilson said. "[Helow] is from Jackson- ville, and I have family down in Jack- sonville. He's a really genuine coach. Really, both him and Coach Harbaugh are genuine people. That's what I like about them." Wilson added that he enjoyed Michi- gan's run to the College Football Playoff this past season. "I was really impressed," Wilson said. "They didn't have too good of a season the year before. They really turned it around with the new defense. I thought very highly of them this season." While Wilson stated that he is locked in with the Wolverines, Alabama, Flor- ida and Georgia have continued to push for him. And, yes, visits to all three SEC programs are possible. "I'm going to take all of my official visits," Wilson said. "Georgia and Ala- bama are the two schools pushing the hardest other than Michigan. They hit me up the most. I'm visiting Florida this month — they've just been trying to get me to decommit." ❑ On The Web For regular reports on Michigan football recruiting plus videos of U-M commitments and targets visit TheWolverine.com. Wilson said he was "still locked in" with his U-M commitment, but admitted powerhouse programs like Georgia, Alabama and Florida are still pushing for his services. PHOTO BY EJ HOLLAND Michigan Boasts Top-10 Recruiting Class Michigan is firmly in the top 10 in the 2023 On3 Consensus national team re- cruiting rankings following an industry-wide rankings update. The Wolverines now boast the No. 8 class nationally with a score of 90.080. Michigan holds five commitments total this cycle — top-100 linebacker Raylen Wilson from Tallahassee (Fla.) Lincoln, On300 Milton (Mass.) Academy tight end Andrew Rappleyea, four-star Dexter (Mich.) High running back Cole Cabana, three-star West Bloomfield (Mich.) High wide receiver Semaj Morgan and Ann Arbor (Mich.) Huron kicker Adam Samaha. During this update, Cabana was bumped from a three-star to a four-star pros- pect, while Morgan went from unranked to a three-star recruit. Wilson is the highest rated of the bunch, coming in at No. 77 nationally per the On3 Consensus. However, the Wolverines will have to fight to keep him in the class. Wilson is slated to visit Florida this month, and is also looking to get out to Alabama and Georgia this spring. With Michigan having stability and plenty of success on the field, the Wolver- ines are poised to add more top-tier talent to their 2023 recruiting class and end an almost two-month drought with no verbal pledges. Michigan is in the mix for several elite prospects and is expected to host recruits like five-star quarterback Dante Moore, top-100 defensive lineman Jason Moore, top-100 EDGE Samuel M'Pemba, On300 offensive lineman Cayden Green and On300 defensive lineman Devan Houstan this spring. Michigan's class ranks third in the Big Ten, behind only No. 4 Ohio State and No. 5 Penn State. — EJ Holland