The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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36 THE WOLVERINE JANUARY 2023 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL Through Dec. 21, the Michigan football program was ranked No. 2 nationally in On3's transfer portal rankings based on its addition of seven players with signifi- cant college playing experience. Of the seven newcomers, three were former four-stars and four were three-stars com- ing out of high school. Michigan quickly pounced on former Arizona State offensive lineman LaDar- ius Henderson one day after the trans- fer portal opened on Dec. 5, landing his commitment the next day. He had origi- nally accepted an East-West Shrine Bowl invite but decided to stay in college and use his final year of eligibility at U-M. "Definitely, my intentions were to go to the NFL Draft. And I would've been on somebody's team in the NFL, but that was never my desire, to just make a team," Henderson told The Wolverine. "I want to be an impactful player in the NFL for a long time, which is why I chose to go to a school like Michigan." The 6-5, 310-pounder started 29 career games at Arizona State and played 1,802 career offensive snaps — 1,225 at guard, 574 at tackle. This past season, Pro Foot- ball Focus rated him as the Sun Devils' best pass blocker (77.4 grade) with an overall offense grade of 66.4 in six games played. He was a team captain in 2022. Next up was Nebraska linebacker Er- nest Hausmann, who played in every game and started seven times this year as a true freshman. He finished sixth on the team with 54 tackles and had 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack and 1 fumble recovery for the Cornhuskers. Haus- mann chose Michigan as his transfer destination over Iowa and Ohio State. The Columbus, Neb., native was a two-way standout in high school, and was rated as a four-star prospect and the No. 294 overall nationally by On3. Michigan recruited Hausmann be- fore he chose the Cornhuskers. The Wolverines have a new defensive staff now, but head coach Jim Harbaugh was instrumental in landing him. "When they were re-recruiting me, they were explaining why the re-recruit- ment was a thing," Hausmann said. "That was huge to me to make sure I wasn't choosing a school based off high school." Hausmann's last three games at Ne- braska were his best. He notched a pair of 10-tackle games (including against Michigan), recorded his first career sack and notched his first career fumble recovery. Next, Michigan received back-to- back portal commitments from two Stanford offensive linemen Dec. 17-18. Longtime Cardinal head coach David Shaw resigned Nov. 27 after a 3-9 sea- son, prompting a flood of Stanford players to transfer. Myles Hinton, the younger brother of former Michigan defensive tackle Christopher Hinton (2019-21), is a 6-7, 320-pound tackle with two years of eligibility remaining. A native of John's Creek, Ga., he con- sidered U-M in his original recruitment before choosing Stanford. His father, Christopher Hinton Sr., is a former NFL offensive tackle who's in the Indianap- olis Colts' Ring of Honor. Myles Hinton was named Stanford's Most Outstanding Freshman in 2020, playing in five games off the bench at right tackle. He followed that up by starting nine of 12 contests at the posi- tion in 2021. He dealt with an injury dur- ing the middle of the 2022 campaign but started seven games and allowed 5 pressures and 2 sacks on the season. Graduate center Drake Nugent joins his Stanford linemate Hinton in mov- ing from Palo Alto to Ann Arbor. Nugent was one of the veteran lead- ers of the Cardinal offensive line, start- ing 24 straight games at center dur- ing the past two seasons and earning honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors in 2022. He likely will compete for the starting job next season. Nugent played high school football at Littleton (Colo.) Highlands Ranch, where he was a three-star prospect. He has one season of eligibility remaining. Rounding out this wave of transfers is Coastal Carolina edge rusher Josaiah Stewart. He committed to U-M within hours of entering the transfer portal Dec. 18. He has two years of eligibility remaining. The 6-2, 230-pounder is coming off an outstanding season for the Chanticleers. Stewart tied for the team lead with 10 tackles for loss, and added 41 total stops, 3.5 sacks, 5 quarterback hurries and 1 blocked kick. He earned second-team All-Sun Belt honors this season after be- ing selected as a first-team pick and the league's newcomer of the year in 2021. Stewart generated 40 pressures in 2022, leading Coastal Carolina and ranking tied for 30th nationally among edge rushers. He has 16 career sacks in two seasons (12.5 in 2021) and earned freshman All-America honors. Stewart hails from Everett (Mass.) High, the same school that produced Michi- gan senior defensive back Mike Sainristil. On Dec. 20, U-M landed quarterback Jack Tuttle and tight end AJ Barner, both from Indiana. Chris Balas, Anthony Broome and Clay- ton Sayfie all contributed to this report. Portal Transfers Headed To Michigan Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Elig. Last School AJ Barner TE 6-6 230 2 Indiana Ernest Hausmann LB 6-2 220 3 Nebraska LaDarius Henderson OL 6-5 310 1 Arizona State Myles Hinton OT 6-7 320 2 Stanford Drake Nugent C 6-1 300 1 Stanford Josaiah Stewart Edge 6-2 230 2 Coastal Carolina Jack Tuttle QB 6-4 210 1 Indiana Michigan Transfer Portal Additions Ranked No. 2 Thus Far Nebraska freshman linebacker Ernest Hausmann made 10 tackles versus Michigan this past season, including this stop of quarterback J.J. McCarthy. He is now a Wolverine. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL