The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/729750
OCTOBER 2016 THE WOLVERINE 47 FOOTBALL RECRUITING For starters, deWeaver decided that he and Harbaugh weren't a perfect match and flipped to Michigan State. Falcon suffered a third serious knee injury during his senior season and was offered a medical scholarship, which would allow him to still attend Michigan without the opportunity to play football. He turned it down in or‑ der to chase a chance at playing again at Western Michigan (for the record, Falcon is not on the roster at WMU). Finally Swenson, in the messiest of the three, felt like he was pushed out of the class but still landed on his feet and is now at Oklahoma. All three situations unfolded for different rea‑ sons, but they were all committed to U‑M under Harbaugh and ended up elsewhere. Eight other prospects were com‑ mitted to Michigan in the 2016 class at some point during the cycle, but opened things back up and are now on rosters at other schools. Baltimore Gilman School four‑ star offensive tackle Devery Hamil‑ ton and Houston Westside four‑star defensive tackle Jordan Elliott both seemed to think they'd be a better fit elsewhere and left the class on their own. Hamilton ended up signing with Stanford, while Elliott stayed closer to home and is now at Texas. The other six appeared to be gently nudged in another direction either by a lack of communication with the staff at Michigan or a direct meeting out‑ lining their future situations, which wouldn't include the Wolverines. Cooper City (Fla.) High two‑star weakside defensive end Rashad Weaver, Delray Beach (Fla.) Atlantic three‑star cornerback Antwaine Rich‑ ardson, Upper Marlboro (Md.) River‑ dale Baptist three‑star cornerback Sir Patrick Scott, Norco (Calif.) High three‑star dual‑threat quarterback Vic‑ tor Viramontes and Winchester (Ind.) Community three‑star athlete Kiante Enis were all discovered and offered following impressive performances at last year's round of satellite camps. At some point, they all committed to Michigan only to decommit before National Signing Day arrived. Weaver signed with Pittsburgh, Richardson is now at Maryland, Scott is with Marshall, Viramontes is on California's roster and Enis is an In‑ diana Hoosier. A local product, three‑star inside linebacker David Reese out of Farm‑ ington, Mich., is the only one of the six who wasn't found at a satellite camp, but his path was similar in ev‑ ery other way. He committed to U‑M, had a meeting with the staff and was told his future plans didn't align with Michigan's (Reese wanted to enroll early, but was denied the chance), and he is now a Florida Gator. STRONG FINISH IN 2016 Despite the 11 decommitments in Michigan's 2016 class, Harbaugh and Michigan ended up landing the No. 4 haul in the country according to Rivals.com, including the nation's top overall prospect, defensive tackle Rashan Gary out of Paramus Catho‑ lic in Paramus, N.J. A deeper look at how the class fin‑ ished shows that 17 members of the 29‑man group committed in Novem‑ ber or later, and 12 of those recruits committed within two weeks of National Signing Day. Starting with Boulder (Colo.) Fairview weakside defensive end Carlo Kemp Nov. 8, Harbaugh and his staff got verbal commitments from nine four‑star prospects and one five‑star prospect leading up to National Signing Day. A solid run in mid‑December saw Thompson's Station (Tenn.) Indepen‑ dence three‑star wide receiver Nate Johnson (Dec. 12), Pembroke Pines (Fla.) Flanagan four‑star inside line‑ backer Devin Bush (Dec. 16), and Wayne (N.J.) DePaul Catholic four‑ star running back Kareem Walker (Dec. 17) drop for the Maize and Blue. Once Christmas and New Year's Day passed, Michigan experienced an ex‑ plosion of commitments in the month of January, landing nine prospects. Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.) Santa Margarita Catholic four‑star wide re‑ ceiver Dylan "Kekoa" Crawford got the commitment ball rolling Jan. 9, fol‑ lowed by Los Angeles Loyola four‑star cornerback David Long Jan. 21; Balti‑ more Gilman School three‑star offen‑ sive tackle Stephen Spanellis Jan. 22; Ellenwood (Ga.) Cedar Grove four‑star inside linebacker Elysee Mbem‑Bosse, Miami Columbus three‑star weak‑ side defensive end Joshua Uche, and Wayne (N.J.) DePaul Catholic three‑ star strongside defensive end Michael Dwumfour Jan. 25; McKeesport (Pa.) High three‑star athlete Khaleke Hud‑ son and Winter Garden (Fla.) West Or‑ ange three‑star wide receiver Eddie McDoom Jan. 27; and Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage four‑star tight end Nick Eubanks Jan. 29. Gary, Rockford (Mich.) High three‑ star kicker Quinn Nordin, Concord (Calif.) De La Salle four‑star tight end Devin Asiasi and Detroit Mar‑ tin Luther King four‑star cornerback Lavert Hill all announced for U‑M on National Signing Day, proving that recruiting truly is a marathon and not a sprint. Recruiting classes will likely look much different in February than they do in August or September. REPEAT IN 2017? Even with the recent decommit‑ ments, the haul that might end up in Ann Arbor in the 2017 class could be outstanding, and the members of the 2018 class still have a lot of time to go through their decision processes. In the senior class Michigan might be the team to beat for as many as three five‑star prospects and six four‑ star targets. Brooklyn (N.Y.) Poly Prep five‑star offensive tackle Isaiah Wilson has been high on the Wolverines throughout his process and, with the main competi‑ tion for the Maize and Blue coming from Alabama. The 6‑6, 330‑pounder Jim Harbaugh and his staff had 11 players decommit from their 2016 class for various reasons, but that was offset by the fact the Wolverines reeled in nine four-star pros- pects and one five-star prospect in the final three months leading up to National Signing Day en route to the nation's No. 4 haul. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM