The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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AUGUST 2024 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 35 ❱ MICHIGAN RECRUITING NOTEBOOK One of Smith's biggest targets is five- star offensive lineman Andrew Babalola, who is arguably the most important re- cruit left on Michigan's 2025 recruiting board. "I've talked to Babs a little bit," Smith said. "He's so big on the education. I've been telling him that Michigan is the No. 1 public school. You get to play great foot- ball and have a great education. Michigan does well with setting kids up in the fu- ture, and you get to compete for a national championship. That was my selling point to him." Smith has also been bonding with sev- eral members of Michigan's 2025 recruit- ing class in their group chat and is excited about the potential pieces to come. "They are all really cool people," Smith said. "We all have the same end goal. We're all on the same page. They all have great personalities. I definitely got lucky with the group I'm with. The guys we're getting are special athletes. Just be pa- tient and wait. Things are going to fall into place." Smith committed to Michigan last fall over offers from Florida State, Mi- ami, Penn State, Texas A&M and others. He has remained fully locked in with the Wolverines and is set to enroll early in January. "Last summer, I took an online class to start the process," Smith said. "This year, I've doubled up on classes. Getting up there around six months early will let me put on some real weight and muscle. I'll be able to learn the offense and connect with the team. That'll help me out a lot in the long run." At 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, Smith is ranked as the No. 16 quarterback and No. 195 overall recruit nationally, per the On3 Industry Ranking. ELI OWENS' MOTHER TALKS ABOUT OFFICIAL VISIT Michigan hosted 17 recruits and their families for official visits for its annual Victors Weekend event on June 21, in- cluding three-star tight end commit Eli Owens and his mother, Kendall. The Owens family has visited Michigan more than 10 times, coming from their home in Alcoa, Tenn. However, Kendall said they loved getting back to Ann Arbor and connecting with everyone on Victors Weekend. "I really enjoyed getting to know some of the other moms that we're going to spend time with," Kendall said. "That was really great. Michigan is very forward about 'Don't take it from us, take it from them.' "We had a parents panel, and Will Johnson's parents were there, and Megan McCarthy was there. We got a whole hour to talk to them. "We did the panel while the recruits paintballed. They were out there for two or three hours. The braver ones were cov- ered in paint. Eli was covered in paint. I'm pretty sure Carter [Smith] was covered in paint. Avery [Gach] was covered in ev- erything — mud, sweat, paint. He gave his all." The weekend served as a bonding expe- rience for the families of Michigan's 2025 recruiting class. "I love Bobby's [Kanka] mom, Beverly," Kendall said. "She is so wonderful. Me and Amy Gach spent a lot of time to- gether. Avery's little brother is my new favorite person. He's really funny. Carter's parents were great. Silas [Eli's younger brother] made friends with Nate Mar- shall's little brother. They are the same age. They palled around for the weekend. I made the joke that we're going to put an Apple tag in their shorts on game days." Of course, Kendall and Eli also had an opportunity to spend extended time with new Michigan tight ends coach Steve Ca- sula, who made it a priority to keep Eli in the fold shortly after arriving in Ann Arbor. "I told the Oleshes that there was a moment when the coaching change hap- pened when I was like 'Oh, no,' Kend- all said. "Grant Newsome and Eli are so close. But Coach Casula is a great fit for the age of the kids he's coaching. "He's really smart. He explains things in such a precise and detailed way so mis- takes won't happen. If they do, it's be- cause you weren't listening. I really loved Grant, and I think it's a good fit for Eli." New Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore impressed the Owens family as well. "He has stepped into that head coach role so gracefully," Kendall said. "He's going to do amazing things. He was giv- ing off the best head ball coach vibes. We talked family and just caught up. "Every trip had just been me and Eli. The rest of our family came and intro- duced themselves. We've known Coach Moore for so long, so it was more of a catch-up and who we needed to go talk to and recruit. He spent a lot of time with the boys this weekend." Overall, Kendall said she is extremely comfortable with Michigan and added that the weekend only reinforced that feeling. "It was 17 kids, so you kind of have that fear that it's going to be super overwhelm- ing," Kendall said. "But everybody was similar in goal and character. That was so nice. They aren't just going to recruit anybody. Michigan recruits good football players with good characters and good families. You could see it. I don't see any- where being as good of a fit as Michigan. There was a little worry with the coaching change, but that was gone after the first call. I trust it." ❑ MICHIGAN'S 2025 COMMITMENTS Name Rating Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School Avery Gach HHH IOL 6-4 270 Franklin, Mich./Wylie E. Groves Julius Holly HHHH EDGE 6-3 230 Alpharetta, Ga./Alpharetta Donovan Johnson HHHH RB 6-1 210 Savannah, Ga./IMG Academy [Fla.] Bobby Kanka HHH DL 6-4 263 Howell, Mich./Howell Nate Marshall HHHH DL 6-4 265 Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick Andrew Olesh HHHH TE 6-5 215 Center Valley, Pa./Southern Lehigh Eli Owens HHH TE 6-1 215 Alcoa, Tenn./Alcoa Jasper Parker HHHH RB 6-1 200 Marrero, La./Archbishop Shaw Carter Smith HHHH QB 6-3 190 Fort Myers, Fla./Bishop Verot Kaden Strayhorn HHH IOL 6-3 285 Novi, Mich./IMG Academy [Fla.] Chase Taylor HHH LB 6-3 201 Stockbridge, Ga./Stockbridge Ivan Taylor HHHH S 6-1 180 Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange Jaylen Williams HHHH DL 6-6 255 Palatine, Ill./Palatine Kainoa Winston HHHH S 5-10 184 Montgomery Village, Md./Gonzaga [D.C.] Jacob Washington HHH WR 6-3 180 New Orleans/Archbishop Shaw Phillip Wright III HHH WR 5-11 170 Destrehan, La./Destrehan