The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MAY 2022 THE WOLVERINE 49 MICHIGAN RECRUITING men in college, and it's great. I think at the very minimum every player should have an attorney or somebody review- ing contracts that get put in front of them, "We're not in the business of going to an athlete and saying we're going to be your exclusive representation. "We're not going to go sign 50 guys at once and not be able to bring 50 guys deals. You have to be able to approach it in a little bit more calculated manner to make sure that the players that you're signing and working with full-time are bringing in as many deals as possible." WOLVERINE COMMITS BOAST HIGH NIL VALUATIONS Michigan football's 2023 commits will have an opportunity to take advan- tage of NIL in the near future. Here is a look at the top three Michi- gan football commits using On3's NIL valuation rankings, which represent an athlete's value at a particular moment in time. It focuses on two main factors — an athlete's social media presence and their athletic performance. NO. 3 – RB BENJAMIN HALL KENNESAW (GA.) NORTH COBB Despite being an unranked recruit, Kennesaw (Ga.) North Cobb running back Benjamin Hall cracks the top three after having his NIL valuation more than triple in the weeks since his official commitment to the Wolverines. Hall's decision to choose Michigan over schools like South Carolina, Geor- gia State and Charlotte brought his NIL value up to $21,000 and placed him among the top 500 high school pros- pects. His 2,600 total followers between Twitter (1,200) and Instagram (1,400) are projected to produce $87 and $96 per post, respectively. NO. 2 – WR SEMAJ MORGAN WEST BLOOMFIELD (MICH.) HIGH A three-star prospect, Morgan is currently the highest ranked in-state commit in terms of NIL. He is the No. 70 receiver in the On3 Consensus and No. 265 overall in NIL value, joining the Wolverines by way of West Bloomfield High. His $26,000 valuation at Michi- gan is higher than the 2023 class aver- ages for Penn State, Ohio State, Georgia and Notre Dame — all top five in the On3 recruiting rankings. Ranking social media presence, Morgan ends up second again at 8,300 total followers. Per post value: Twitter (2,500 followers) – $91, Instagram (5,800) – $140. NO. 1 – LB RAYLEN WILSON TALLAHASSEE (FLA.) LINCOLN An On3 Consensus four-star line- backer, Wilson leads all Michigan com- mits with an NIL valuation of $44,000. Wilson tops the list at No. 73 in the On3 high school football NIL rankings, total- ing 65,000 followers between all plat- forms. Most of his social media engagement funnels through TikTok (44,000 fol- lowers), translating to $160 per post, while Instagram (12,900) actually has the most lucrative per-post value for Wilson at $224. At 4,700 followers, his Twitter account could potentially add $100 per tweet. Wilson is ranked as the No. 6 overall linebacker in the 2023 class. — EJ Holland U-M LOSES COMMITMENT FROM FOUR-STAR TIGHT END Michigan has lost a commitment in the 2023 recruiting class. Four-star Milton (Mass.) Academy tight end Andrew Rappleyea, who com- mitted to Michigan Jan. 16 with his pri- mary recruiter being assistant coach Jay Harbaugh, flipped his pledge to Penn State. "Michigan is a great place with great people, but the reality is, I committed too quickly, and I take full responsibil- ity for that," Rappleyea wrote in a tweet April 3. "I have come to realize that my heart is at Penn State. I have developed a strong relationship with the coach- ing staff dating back to my first visit last September. I'm excited about ma- triculating at Penn State and playing football four hours from my home. I am completely and fully committed to Penn State. My recruitment is closed." Rappleyea committed to Michigan back in January after connecting with the staff and enjoying his visit for the team's big win over Ohio State. On3 ranks Rappleyea as the No. 167 player and No. 9 tight end in the coun- try and the fourth-best player in Mas- sachusetts. The 6-foot-4, 215-pounder also had offers from Boston College, Michigan State, North Carolina, Ohio State, Tennessee, Wisconsin and others. Michigan doesn't have a tight end commit in the class anymore, but the Wolverines are still pushing for several prospects at the position. They've made offers to 13 tight ends in 2023, and the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM) has them as the co-leader with Tennessee for Oswego (Ill.) High three- star Deakon Tonielli. In addition, Michigan is strong at the tight end position when it comes to players on the current roster. The Maize and Blue have six tight ends on the team right now in sixth-year se- nior Joel Honigford, redshirt junior Luke Schoonmaker, junior Erick All, sophomore Matthew Hibner, redshirt freshman Louis Hansen and freshman early enrollee Colston Loveland. Fellow Michigan freshman Marlin Klein will enroll this summer and join the team for the 2022 campaign. – Clayton Sayfie Raylen Wilson, a four-star linebacker pros- pect from Tallahassee, Fla., has an NIL val- uation of $44,000 according to On3, the highest of the six players in Michigan's 2023 recruiting class. PHOTO BY EJ HOLLAND