The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/178977
michigan recruiting Wolverines Face Numbers Crunch With 2014 Class N umbers are tight in Michigan's 2014 class. The Wolverines' coach‑ ing staff has been recruiting from the beginning with a class size of 18‑20 prospects in mind. There are currently 15 pledges in the class, but the final group may be even smaller than origi‑ nally planned. Some recruits — even those who were high on the wish list earlier in the process — have been informed that there is simply no room left. Monroeville (Pa.) Gateway safety Montae Nicholson is the prime ex‑ ample. The 6-2, 205-pounder is a fourstar prospect, the No. 13 safety nation‑ ally, and the No. 126 overall player in the country according to Rivals.com. He had planned an official visit to Michigan for the Notre Dame game Sept. 7, but had to change plans when the U‑M coaching staff informed him that there was simply no room left. "Unfortunately, it is true," Nichol‑ son said of U-M's decision to move on in the recruiting process. "They told me they had a change in another [po‑ sition group], and that they needed more help there." The reasoning the Michigan coaches gave Nicholson may indicate that there is still room for a few more prospects, but possibly not any more defensive backs. There are certainly spaces reserved for five-star defen‑ sive end Da'Shawn Hand and fourstar defensive end Malik McDowell, Monroeville (Pa.) Gateway safety Montae Nicholson, who is listed by Rivals.com as a four-star recruit and the No. 126 overall prospect nationally, was informed by the U‑M coaching staff that there was simply no room left for a defensive back in their class. photo courtesy rivals.com both of whom seem to be favoring U-M. Beyond that, however, things are more nebulous. Several prospects have tentative plans to take official visits to Michi‑ gan. Four-star linebackers Dwight Williams from Gardena (Calif.) Serra and Kenny Young out of River Ridge (La.) John Curtis Christian would like to make the trip at some point dur‑ ing the year. New Orleans St. Augus‑ tine five-star runner Leonard Four‑ nette has had tentative plans to take a visit to U-M several times during the process, and though his summer unofficials were canceled an official visit could be the opportunity that he needs. Most interesting is one visitor who plans to see Ann Arbor officially and