The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1516256
2025 – LOOKING TO THE FUTURE ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ MARCH 2024 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 67 pect Jaylen Williams, the No. 34 edge in the country. Both visited Michigan twice last year. Moore also saw Fort Bend (Texas) Christian's Max Granville, the No. 6 edge and No. 75 overall recruit nation- ally, Indianapolis Warren Central's Damien Shanklin, the No. 10 edge and No. 137 overall recruit nationally, and Jayden Woods, the No. 15 edge and No. 179 overall recruit nationally. On300 edge prospects like Cincinnati Winton Woods' Justin Hill, the No. 7 edge and No. 128 overall recruit nation- ally, and Oakdale (Conn.) St. Thomas More's Adam Shovlin, the No. 110 over- all recruit nationally, have both been to Michigan in the past. Three-star prospects like Detroit King's Willie Fletcher and Xavier New- som, Elkhart (Ind.) Central's Mariyon Dye and Jefferson (Ga.) High's Kelan Butler have also been to campus. LINEBACKER Commits: 0 Need: 3 Michigan lost 2024 linebacker com- mit Jaden Smith, and the 2025 recruit- ing class is a strong one nationally at the position, which means the Wolverines will likely take three linebackers this cycle. Top 100 linebackers like La Verne (Calif.) Bonita's Noah Mikhail, the No. 7 linebacker and No. 43 overall re- cruit nationally, and Princeton (N.J.) Hun School's Kamar Archie, the No. 15 linebacker and No. 89 overall recruit in the land, have both visited Michi- gan. In fact, Archie was just on campus for Moore's first recruiting weekend as head coach. New linebackers coach Brian Jean- Mary has familiarity with Dallas Sky- line linebacker Elijah Barnes, the No. 13 linebacker and No. 77 overall recruit na- tionally, and will surely make him a top target. The same can be said about San Clemente (Calif.) High's Matai Tagoa'i, the No. 16 linebacker and No. 106 over- all recruit in the class. Three-star prospects like Asheville (N.C.) School's Justin Rowe and Nash- ville (Tenn.) Lipscomb's CJ Jimcoily have visited Michigan in the past. Fel- low three-star prospects like Nashville (Tenn.) Lipscomb's Kris Thompson and Buford (Ga.) High's Kenyon Rivera are familiar with Jean-Mary and want to visit soon. DEFENSIVE BACK Commits: 0 Need: 4-5 The 2025 recruiting class is a special one in the secondary, and new Michigan assistant LaMar Morgan needs to find a way to take advantage. Top 100 Miami Chaminade-Madon- na's Chris Ewald, the No. 9 cornerback and No. 91 overall recruit nationally, was previously committed to Michigan but backed out of his verbal pledge in January. Getting him back in the class would be a massive win for the Wol- verines. Five-star Zephyrhills (Fla.) High standout DJ Pickett, the No. 1 safety and No. 6 overall recruit in the country, is arguably the most important recruit on Michigan's board this cycle. Pick- ett's mother attended Michigan, his grandmother lives in the Detroit Metro area and he's been to campus on several occasions. Michigan recently made his top-five list. Moore has personally made On3 Top 100 Conroe (Texas) High cornerback Dorian Brew, the No. 6 cornerback and No. 53 overall recruit nationally, a top priority. Moore visited with Brew dur- ing the contact period. Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy's Alex Graham, the No. 34 cornerback and No. 283 overall re- cruit nationally, is another top priority for Michigan. Graham's mother also at- tended Michigan, and he was on campus in January. Several other top cornerbacks have visited Michigan over the last year, in- cluding Columbus (Ohio) Franklin's Dawayne Galloway, the No. 11 corner- back and No. 98 overall recruit in the class, Shaker Heights (Ohio) High's Trey McNutt, the No. 13 cornerback and No. 108 overall recruit nationally, Columbia (S.C.) Heathwood Hall's Onis Konan- banny, the No. 18 cornerback and No. 154 overall recruit in the land, Buford (Ga.) High's Devin Williams, the No. 21 cornerback and No. 173 overall recruit nationally and Indianapolis Ben Davis' Mark Zackery, the No. 25 cornerback and No. 219 overall recruit nationally. Michigan is also the leader on the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine for three-star Belleville (Mich.) High cor- nerback Elijah Dotson and three-star Chesapeake (Va.) Oscar Smith corner- back Jahmari DeLoatch. Aside from Pickett, Michigan is work- ing on other highly touted safeties like Winston Salem (N.C.) Tabor's JaDon Blair, the No. 2 safety and No. 28 over- all recruit nationally, Jacksonville (Fla.) Mandarin's Hylton Stubbs, the No. 6 safety and No. 70 overall recruit in the country, Pittsburg (Calif.) High's Jadyn Hudson, the No. 8 safety and No. 101 overall recruit nationally, and Washing- ton (D.C.) Gonzaga's Kainoa Winston, the No. 9 safety and No. 103 overall re- cruit nationally. However, only Hudson has visited in the past. Four-star prospects like Martels Carter, the No. 20 safety and No. 283 overall recruit in the land, and New- port News (Va.) Warwick's Messiah Delhomme, the No. 16 athlete and No. 284 overall recruit nationally, have both visited Michigan and are high on the board as well. Three-star Bauxite (Ark.) High safety Marcus Wimberly had Michigan on top going into the winter. However, Okla- homa is now trending as the team to beat. ❑ Five-star Zephyrhills (Fla.) High safety DJ Pickett, the No. 1 safety and No. 6 overall prospect in the country, is arguably the most important recruit on Michigan's board this cycle. PHOTO BY JEREMY JOHNSON/ON3