The Wolverine

March 2018

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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buzz died before the early signing period. That was just fine with him. "I wasn't worried about that at all, because I loved Michigan," he said. Michigan will love him, too, Frauhiger insisted. As for Frauhiger, he's just happy he doesn't have to contend with McGrone on the football field anymore. "It's his explosiveness," he said of McGrone's best attribute. "At one point during our game, our guard took the wrong step, and McGrone proceeded to break our quarterback in half. He's probably still sore from that hit five months later. It should be on a highlight reel of 'what not to do.'" He'd likely have to add some weight to play in the middle against teams like Wisconsin, both Frauhiger and Sanders opined, but McGrone reported he already had and was up to 222 pounds in early January. He's a solid tackler for his size, Helmholdt added, similar to the Ross brothers (former Michigan inside 'backer James and current U-M inside linebacker Josh, who earned a letter as a freshman in 2017) in that respect. Though he'll enter behind some very talented young linebackers at Michi- gan, the competition doesn't scare McGrone. In fact, he embraces it. "In my opinion, our defense is al- ready dominant," he said. "I just want to bring my attributes — my speed, my power — to that defense and help propel us to win more games." Regardless of where he ends up, Frauhiger said, Mc- Grone will make that kind of impact at some point. "He could play the Mike [middle linebacker] in college, but if puts on 30 pounds, I'd say he could be an outside linebacker," Frauhiger said. "Either way, I think he'll be awe- some at Michigan. He played in cover- age at times against us, but we were defi- nitely more of a running football team, and he was just awe- some against us — just awesome." The type of awesome that just might get him on the field as a true freshman despite the crowded numbers at his position. ❏ RECRUITMENT • Visited Michigan for its 2017 spring game, Wisconsin June 9 and Notre Dame June 10 before going back to U-M June 21. • Narrowed his list to six schools on June 25 — Michigan, Indiana, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Wisconsin. • Chopped his list to three, U-M, Indiana and Notre Dame, before pledging to Michigan July 31. • Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown took the lead on McGrone's re- cruitment, seeing him in person in April 2017 and inviting him back to campus. DID YOU KNOW? • Born June 22, 2000. • McGrone, rising-redshirt sophomore quarterback Brandon Peters (Avon) and rising-junior running back Chris Evans (Indianapolis Ben Davis) are the only three scholarship players from Indiana on the Michigan roster heading into 2018. • He is an 'A' student who took Advanced Placement courses in geography, environmental science, chemistry and biology at Lawrence Central. THEY SAID IT • U-M head coach Jim Harbaugh: "He might be the highest-rated player in the class. … He visited here and was someone who wanted to come to Michi- gan. He jumps out on tape and is going to be an outstanding linebacker here. I think he'll be somebody who will be right in the mix early." • U.S. Army All-American Bowl West coach Scott Sanders of Corvallis (Ore.) Crescent Valley: "He gets such good reads it dang near turns into a blitz. He's so quick on his feet that when he sees run, he's up in that hole right away… "I don't think he's undersized at all. I live in Corvallis, where Oregon State is, and I watch a lot of Pac-12 football. That's the size of linebackers now. Everyone wants kids that can run, which Cam can do. He's put together at about 225 pounds, and that's plenty big enough." • Rivals.com Midwest recruiting analyst Josh Helmholdt: "Cam's athleticism is his calling card. He's a good-sized kid and can definitely pop you in the mouth, but what makes him a standout is he has that athleticism on the plus side of the ledger. He can play in space, sideline to sideline. … He can make those plays, and he's also a solid tackler." McGrone injured his knee in the final regular-season game of his junior cam- paign, but returned to be named the IndianaPreps.com Defensive Player of the Year and an Army All-American as a senior. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM MARCH 2018 THE WOLVERINE 35

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