The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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2015 RECRUITING ISSUE of fun actually," Wheatley Jr. said. "I met a lot of guys around the country and saw some big schools. It's going to be fun for the next four years to play against those guys. I had a great recruiting process. I didn't care too much for a lot of the interviews, but I did them because that's how some people make a living. I didn't really see the need to get a lot of exposure or anything like that, so I tried to just lay low when I could." When he would name a top group that didn't include Michigan, a lot of Wolverine fans were concerned. It seemed like he should end up at Michigan because of his dad's leg- acy, but it never really felt like it was happening — at least on the outside looking in. Wheatley Jr.'s head coach at Canisius, Rich Robbins, has ad- dressed this perception many times and insists that Michigan was almost always just as involved as the other schools that were in T.J.'s top group. "I've heard that and been asked about it, but that was really not the case," Robbins said. "He was quiet about things; he's a humble kid, and just because he didn't talk about Michigan a lot, people thought he wasn't interested. "Michigan was always part of the equation. If there was ever any doubt it was when Coach Hoke and his staff were on their way out. Everyone was just unsure on the direction of the program, but I think the minute that Jim Harbaugh was hired, that re-excited T.J. Then when his dad got a position there too, that obviously excited him even more." One of the reasons Michigan was always in the running for Wheatley Jr. was because of his connection to