The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1532537
2025 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ ❱ 54 THE WOLVERINE ❱ MARCH 2025 Brock Harris, the No. 5 tight end and No. 74 overall recruit nationally. Ore- gon and Michigan are at the very top for Harris, according to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine. However, Harris is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and won't arrive at the school of his choice until 2027. Michigan is also prioritizing Billings (Mont.) West's Matt Ludwig, the No. 15 athlete and No. 216 overall recruit na- tionally. Michigan has the heavy lead on the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine and is set to host him for an official visit on June 20. Georgia, Tennessee and Texas Tech are the other contenders. Denver (Colo.) Mullen's Mason Bon- ner is unranked but should be a big rankings riser soon. Michigan is pushing hard for him and is expected to get the talented pass catcher on campus soon. Miami, Nebraska, Penn State and others are involved as well. Michigan has been in contact with Great Bend (Kan.) High's Ian Premer, the No. 4 tight end and No. 68 overall recruit nationally, but there hasn't been much movement yet. Three-star Man- sfield (Ohio) Lexington's Brayden Fo- gle, the No. 17 tight end, and three-star Detroit Catholic Central's Jack Janda, the No. 25 tight end in the land, are two other options on the board. OFFENSIVE LINE Commits: 0 Need: 4-5 Michigan went all in with NIL along the offensive line last cycle and landed a pair of blue-chippers in Andrew Baba- lola and Ty Haywood. Now, the Wolver- ines may do the same with Nixa (Mo.) High's Jackson Cantwell. Ranked as the No. 2 overall recruit in the country in 2026, Cantwell has already hired mega agent Drew Rosenhaus to represent him in NIL matters. Michigan is in the top group for Cantwell along with Georgia, Missouri, Oregon and a few others. If the Wol- verines can't sway Cantwell, they may use funds for Fort Worth (Texas) North Crowley's John Turntine, the No. 4 of- fensive tackle and No. 15 overall recruit nationally. Michigan visited him twice during the contact period last month but has yet to get him on campus. Michigan is in the mix with a handful of other elite tackles, including Chicago Mount Carmel's Claude Mpoumba, the No. 5 offensive tackle and No. 31 overall recruit nationally. The Wolverines are working to get him on campus soon. The same goes for Fruitland (Idaho) High's Kelvin Obot, the No. 8 offensive tackle and No. 39 overall recruit nationally. Michigan recently made the top groups for Honolulu Kamehameha's Malakai Lee, the No. 11 offensive tackle and No. 146 overall recruit nationally, and Mansfield (Texas) Lake Ridge's Felix Ojo, the No. 18 offensive tackle and No. 201 overall recruit nationally. Both have been to campus in the past and want to get back this offseason. The Wolverines are also in play for several highly touted interior offensive line prospects. Richmond (Va.) St. Christopher's Darius Gray, the No. 4 IOL and No. 25 overall recruit nationally, Portage (Mich.) Northern's Gregory Patrick, the No. 7 IOL and No. 91 overall recruit na- tionally, Charlotte (N.C.) Providence Day's Leo Delaney, the No. 9 IOL and No. 121 overall recruit nationally, Lees- burg (Va.) Loudoun County's Carter Scruggs, the No. 12 IOL and No. 141 overall recruit nationally, Needham (Mass.) St. Sebastian's Marky Wal- bridge, the No. 13 IOL and No. 178 over- all recruit nationally, Prosper (Texas) High's Zaden Krempin, the No. 14 IOL and No. 183 overall recruit nationally, and Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy's Breck Kolojay, the No. 20 IOL and No. 249 overall recruit nationally, have all made visits in the past. DEFENSIVE LINE/EDGE Commits: 0 Need: 4-5 When it comes to true hand-in-the- dirt defensive linemen, Michigan is pri- oritizing Richland (N.J.) St. Augustine Prep's Damari Simeon, the No. 3 defen- sive lineman and No. 46 overall recruit nationally. Penn State is considered the favorite there, but Moore and company visited him at his school last month and are establishing themselves as major players. The Wolverines also will look to flip Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic's Jer- maine Kinsler, the No. 17 defensive line- man and No. 188 overall recruit nation- ally, away from Texas A&M. Michigan hosted him for a visit just weeks before he gave the Aggies a verbal pledge. Michigan defensive line coach Lou Esposito hit the road hard in January and saw Fort Myers (Fla.) North's James Johnson, the No. 11 defensive lineman and No. 118 overall recruit nationally, Fort Myers (Fla.) High's Kendall Guer- vil, the No. 21 defensive lineman and Fort Myers (Fla.) North's James Johnson, the No. 11 defensive lineman and No. 118 overall recruit nationally, received a visit from Michigan defensive line coach Lou Esposito in January. PHOTO BY CHAD SIMMONS/ON3