The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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prep profiles Ohio Linebacker Is Considering The Midwest's Best Cincinnati St. Xavier is one of the Midwest's consistent producers of top football talent. Four Bombers have earned four-star ratings, and 29 have pledged to play at the next level since the 2002 class. Junior linebacker Justin Hilliard should be the next top prospect to come out of the school. The 6-2, 225-pounder already holds offers from three dozen of the country's top programs, including Alabama, Florida State, Oklahoma and Texas A&M. Despite the coastto-coast attention, he seems most likely to play his college ball in the Midwest. His older brother, C.J., is a senior running back committed to Iowa, and Michigan, Notre Dame and Ohio State are teams that have made an early impression on Justin. At the end of the summer, he pointed them out as those he's most interested in. "I definitely now know a lot more about Michigan, I would say," he said this past summer after visiting U-M. "The next step will probably be some games. Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and there's maybe some others." When Hilliard returned to Ann Arbor to see Michigan take on Notre Dame, he was blown away by the school. "This was my first game up there," he said. "The total experience was actually crazy. It was a record crowd, and the halftime show was great — everything was pretty cool. It definitely seemed like it was the Super Bowl. "It was a great game to watch," he added. "I paid attention to the linebackers a little bit, I was paying attention to all of them. I was watching [fellow Cincinnati native Joe] Bolden, and I watched Desmond Morgan quite a bit." Justin Hilliard ✪✪✪✪✪ St. Xavier High School Cincinnati Class: 2015 Position: Linebacker Ht.: 6-2 • Wt.: 225 Rivals.com Rankings: Rivals 250 to watch list His multiple visits up the road to Michigan — Hilliard will return for the season finale against Ohio State — are a positive for the Wolverines' chances to land him. Hilliard's talent is easily recognizable not just to the schools that have offered. "He started the last half of last season for St. Xavier, and with a roster of over 100 kids that is impressive to do as a sophomore," Rivals. com Midwest recruiting analyst Josh Helmholdt said. "He plays with an aggressive speed. He is a heady kid, and you can see on film that he plays with a natural feel for the position." — Tim Sullivan