The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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PREP PROFILES Harbaugh Returns To Texas School That Brought Him Luck Michigan head coach Jim Har- baugh is familiar with Stratford High School in the Houston area. In the 2008 class, the then-Stanford head coach reeled in t h e c o u n t r y ' s No. 4 pro-style passer out of the school. Andrew Luck would go on to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft after a standout career with the Cardinal. N o w , H a r - baugh has returned to the school that brought him Luck, hoping to reel in another Stratford Spartan. Running back Rakeem Boyd is the latest big-time prospect to come from the school, and Harbaugh wants him to play at Michigan. "I know they beat Oregon a lot at Stanford," Boyd said. "He coached Andrew, and now he talked to my head coach [about the offer]. I would love to talk to him, but I haven't gotten to talk him much yet." Boyd's relationship with the Maize and Blue is still in its early stages, but an offer from the Wol- verines is one he definitely plans to follow up with. He spoke with running backs coach Tyrone Wheat- ley, and he's interested in speaking more with the head coach himself. "Coach Wheatley made contact, but it was during school," Boyd explained. "I told him I'd call him right after school. Then, he told me that they wanted to extend an offer out. He told the staff that he was offering me. "I'd talked to h i m o n e t i m e before, and we talked for about 30 minutes. We t a l k e d a b o u t things that are going to help me in the future." Boyd, who was named Texas Sports Writers Association 5A first- team all-state as a junior, will take his time in paring through his col- lege options prior to his senior year. Michigan is in strong standing. "I want to see the campuses and things like that, so everything is just kind of all even," he said. "A lot of offers are coming in right now. I'll for sure have an official to Michi- gan, just because of what I've been hearing. Players like it, it's a great school and there's a new coaching staff. "It's not going to be like last year. Jim Harbaugh's there now, so ev- erything's going to change." West Virginia, Duke, and Missouri are among Boyd's other top options. — Tim Sullivan ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ Stratford High School Houston Class: 2016 Position: Running Back Ht.: 6-0 • Wt.: 195 Rivals.com Rankings: No. 26 player in Texas, No. 10 running back nation- ally and No. 210 overall player in the country Rakeem Boyd