The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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THE WOLVERINE 2025 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 157 pero Serra High. The 6-2, 160-pound defensive back is the No. 1 recruit in California and picked up a Michigan of- fer early this year. Williams ranks as the No. 3 corner and No. 13 overall recruit in the country, and he has expressed interest in Michigan. Secondary coach LaMar Morgan has recruited the West Coast hard this year, and Williams is a top tar- get to watch moving forward. USC has hosted him three times, including twice this spring. He played both sides of the ball last fall, recording 47 total tackles, 16 defended passes and 1 interception as a sophomore. Top-100 CB Ashton Alston Alston picked up a Michi- gan offer this year and visited campus a couple of times. He has established himself as one of the nation's top corner- backs. The 5-11, 175-pound Cincinnati Anderson High standout is the No. 70 recruit in the On3 Industry Rank- ing and the No. 8 cornerback nationally. Alston logged 46 total tackles, 3 in- terceptions and 10 defended passes as a sophomore. He holds an elite offer list that also includes Ohio State, Tennessee, Alabama and many others. The heavily recruited corner took 17 unofficial visits this spring to the likes of LSU, Penn State and Texas A&M. This will be a national recruitment, but Michigan looks like an early contender. On300 S Myles Baker Baker visited Michigan for the first time as a recruit this spring, but he is very famil- iar with the program. The Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon standout has family in the area and grew up rooting for the Wolverines. His U-M offer meant a lot to the ver- satile 6-1, 190-pound defensive back and his family. Baker will make the trip back to campus at some point this year and looks like one of the most realistic out-of-state targets in this class. He's the No. 267 over- all prospect and No. 27 safety in the On3 Industry Ranking, and the safety recorded 67 total tackles to go along with 7 defended passes and 1 interception last fall. ❑ Will Wolverine Connections Help Land In-State Receiver? Top-100 wide receiver Dakota Guerrant, the nation's No. 4 rising junior receiver out of Harper Woods (Mich.) High, has already visited Michigan three times this year. When U-M freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood saw him at practice earlier in the spring, he ran up to the elite in-state recruit and hugged him. Underwood and Guerrant have known each other for a long time. They are two of the highest-ranked recruits to come out of Michigan in recent years, and the quarterback is trying to get the receiver to join him in Ann Arbor. "Growing up with Bryce, I know that Bryce is going to be a ball player," Guerrant said. "I know he's good under the lights. If he wants me to come there, I know he's going to try to get me the ball as a quarterback that I know trusts me." Guerrant watched two spring practices this year. He has visited the Wolverines 13 times in total and said Michigan is throwing the ball more. Quarterback play has also improved. "It is way better than last year," Guerrant said. The elite in-state receiver also grew up with U-M sophomore defensive back Jacob Oden and plays for his father now — Rod Oden, the head coach at Harper Woods High. Gerald Guerrant, Dakota's dad, and the elder Oden are best friends. Michigan is an early contender for the nation's No. 22 rising junior. It's his home-state pro- gram, and he really likes the school, but he still needs to see a bit more from the offense. Penn State, Ohio State and Oregon are also in contention. "I love everything about Michigan," Guerrant said. "I just want to see the ball in the air, the ball getting to the receivers. Hopefully they have a 1,000-yard receiver. They haven't had one in the last couple years. "They need to get some receivers the ball. The ball in the air and good quarterback play — seeing that will help a lot." — Ethan McDowell Four-star Harper Woods (Mich.) High wide receiver Dakota Guerrant is the No. 22 overall prospect in the country, the No. 4 wide receiver nationally and the top-ranked recruit in Michigan, per the On3 Industry Ranking. He has visited Michigan 13 times in total, including three times this year. PHOTO BY CHAD SIMMONS/ON3