The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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SEPTEMBER 2017 THE WOLVERINE 63 MICHIGAN RECRUITING souri City (Texas) Ridge Point four- star Mustapha Muhammad and Cart- erville (Ill.) High four-star Luke Ford — both tweeted out their Michigan of- fers and always say good things about the Wolverines when asked. The 6-5, 225-pound Muhammad is listed by Ri- vals as the No. 18 tight end nationally, while the 6-7, 247-pound Ford is rated as the No. 5 tight end and No. 136 overall prospect in the country. Finally, along the defensive line, Michigan has three targets that seem to stand out above all others, and each of the trio tweeted out their Michigan tenders. St. Louis Lutheran North four-star strongside end Ron- nie Perkins, St. Louis Parkway North four-star tackle Michael Thompson and Concord (N.C.) High four-star tackle Rick Sandidge all have Michi- gan in their top groups, and Thomp- son even made his way up to Ann Arbor for the BBQ in late July. The 6-4, 260-pound Perkins is No. 13 at his position and No. 239 overall nationally according to Ri- vals. Thompson measures in at 6-4 and 273 pounds, and is the No. 2 defensive tackle and No. 37 overall recruit nationally. The 6-5, 263-pound Sandidge is ranked as the No. 4 de- fensive tackle and No. 48 overall player in the country. MICHIGAN COMMITS EXCITED FOR 2017 SEASON The college football season is less than a month away and fans across the country are getting more and more ex- cited with each passing day. Michigan commits are also getting jacked up to see their future team on the field and many of them have extremely high hopes for their Wolverines. Here's what several future Michigan Men had to say about the 2017 season: Indianapolis Cathedral 2018 four- star offensive guard Emil Ekiyor: "I'm really excited for the season and to see how they do with such a young team. I really, really want to see them beat Ohio State, and I want to see my boy [sophomore running back] Chris Evans do well because he's from Indy." Dearborn (Mich.) Divine Child 2018 four-star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson: "I'm really excited for this Michigan team. Although they are inexperienced, they are full of talent and I think they are going to be fun to watch this year, especially that D-line. [Sophomore defensive end] Rashan [Gary] is obviously a freak athlete when you see the num- bers. I'm hoping he can live up to and exceed expectations this year, and prove that he really is one of the best DEs in the country." Louisville (Ky.) Trinity 2019 four- star defensive end Stephen Herron: "I can't wait to see how Coach [Jim] Harbaugh puts the team together to take down our strong schedule. I think Michigan will prevail with the No. 1 defense again and our offense should compliment them with a top-10 group as well. We're going to earn a playoff spot this year after beating Ohio State." Orlando (Fla.) Olympia 2018 four- star dual-threat quarterback Joe Milton: "Talent wins some games, but team- work and intelligence win champion- ships, and I think this team has all of that. With God, all things are possible." Leesburg (Ga.) Lee County 2018 four-star outside linebacker Otis Re- ese: "I think Michigan is going to have a great season. Every year we get bet- ter and take that next step. I think this year it's going to be making the playoffs. I believe we can — we will." MICHIGAN'S 2019 CLASS OFF TO STRONG START Michigan is off to a hot start in the 2019 class with four commits already, and looks to be poised for a top-five fin- ish more than a year from now. Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy three-star outside linebacker Charles Thomas got the ball rolling in late June, then Akron (Ohio) Hoban four-star offensive guard Nolan Rumler and Lou- isville (Ky.) Trinity four-star defensive end Ste- phen Herron both popped for U-M July 29, the day of U-M's BBQ at The Big House. Norcross (Ga.) Greater Atlanta Christian five- star strongside defensive end Christopher Hinton topped off Michi- gan's early success Aug. 5, and really took the class to another level. Rivals national recruiting analyst Mike Farrell broke down Michigan's class and gave his opinion on what it means moving forward. "I'd say right now Michigan is sit- ting with a top-five class," Farrell said. "It's only four kids, but the quality matters more than quantity right now, and always really. We've seen schools get off to hot starts and fill up their class early and the average star rat- ing doesn't hold up, so you know it'll slide a bit as other programs add kids. "But with Michigan's right now, they have a five-star in Hinton, and they have two above-average four stars. They do have the three-star in Thomas, but most schools have sev- eral three-stars in their classes so that shouldn't hurt them." Farrell also pointed out why each commit is significant for Michigan in the early stages of the 2019 process. "To me, you look at geographi- cally where they're succeeding," he explained. "Rumler [No. 93 overall nationally according to Rivals] is a road-grader and a nasty lineman from Ohio. He has the Michigan ties, but that's a good pull. "Herron [No. 40 overall nationally] being from Kentucky is one of the two or three elite guys to come out of there every year so it's big to land him, especially with how Kentucky has been recruiting in the Midwest. "With Hinton [No. 3 overall nation- ally], going into Georgia again is big, like with [Leesburg (Ga.) Lee County five-star defensive tackle] Aubrey Sol- omon last year. This is how it works; this is what Urban Meyer did. You get one and more show interest; you get another and even more show interest; and then it just snowballs. It helps that Hinton had Midwest ties, but I think it was huge that Harbaugh won some key battles like he did with Solomon. "That sends a message to kids that they can win a national title at Michi- gan and that they don't have to stay close to home in the SEC. It's obvi- ously early, but it's a really good start for them." ❏ On The Web For regular reports on Michigan football recruiting plus videos of U-M commitments and targets visit TheWolverine.com. Four-star 2018 linebacker commit Otis Reese expects U-M to make the College Football Playoff in 2017. PHOTO BY BRANDON BROWN