The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/347495
FOOTBALL RECRUITING Grand Rapids (Mich.) Christian 2014 wide receiver Drake Harris earned an offer at the same Michigan camp prior to his junior year. "I got to see all of the football fa- cilities, and I was impressed and learned a lot of new things on the visit, which really made a huge im- pact on me," Harris said at the time. "They showed me the academic cen- ter and all the stuff that goes with that, and that was also very impres- sive. The campus was really nice." While he decided on Michigan State to play basketball and football by the end of the summer, Harris ultimately decided to switch his al- legiances, and enrolled at Michigan this past January. QUICK TRIGGER Harris' story — a camp offer, a commitment to another school, and eventually a reconciliation with Michigan — is a unique one. More often, a player who earns a Michigan offer at camp doesn't wait long to de- cide to become a Wolverine. That was the case with 2014 Elkton (Md.) East- ern Christian Academy teammates Freddy Canteen, a wide receiver, and Brandon Watson, a cornerback. "I just showed pretty much every- thing I do: route running, technique, speed, and discipline," Canteen said of the offer he earned at camp. "I'm always putting in work." "Physicality," Watson chimed in of his own abilities. "I was a bigger corner than most. I was teachable I think. I think I did everything to the best of my abilities, and Coach noticed and liked it. "I'm physical at the line. If the quarterback's looking for a route that's deep, and the receiver can't get off the line, that's definitely no- ticeable. I'm fast, too, so I can keep up with people as well." Both decided upon Michigan by the end of the summer, with their friendship and the common bond of earning the offer at Michigan's summer camp among the reasons that they opted to don the Maize and Blue. The 2014 summer camp saw an even quicker trigger. The morning of July 18, Trotwood (Ohio) Madison 2016 quarterback Messiah DeWeaver put on a show. He was so impressive that the Michigan coaches gave him a tour — and a scholarship offer — at lunch. By the time he departed town that evening, he had given his word Cornerback Channing Stribling, a rising sophomore on this year 's team, entered U-M's 2013 summer camp an unknown, but by the time he left he had received an offer and committed. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL