Michigan’s 2018 class taking shape
In February, Jim Harbaugh
and the Michigan football team
inked one of the highest-ranked
recruiting
classes
in
team
history.
The coaching staff reeled in
numerous top targets such as
five-star
prospects
Donovan
Peoples-Jones
and
Aubrey
Solomon down the stretch to
cement a class that 247Sports
ranked as No. 5 in the nation.
While
Harbaugh
and
company may not sign a class
as
large
as
2017’s
30-man
group, the Wolverines certainly
haven’t struggled in recruiting
this
year’s
class,
which
currently ranks No. 19 in the
nation with an average prospect
rating of 0.9051, according to
247Sports.
According
to
Wolverine
247 recruiting analyst Steve
Lorenz,
Michigan
hasn’t
missed often when it comes
to its top targets in this cycle.
That has been aided in part by
geographical location — four-
star
offensive
tackles
Ryan
Hayes and Jalen Mayfield and
four-star defensive end Aidan
Hutchinson are all in-state
prospects — but the Wolverines
have had an impressive national
reach, as well.
Of the 10 prospects who have
given verbal commitments to
Michigan thus far, just four
— four-star offensive guard
Emil Ekiyor of Indiana and the
aforementioned trio — are from
the Midwest. The Wolverines
have three commitments from
Georgia, two from Texas and
one from Florida — three of the
most talent-rich states in the
nation.
Meanwhile,
seven
of
the
ten commitments are ranked
as
four-stars,
according
to
247Sports, and all 10, says
Lorenz, were at or near the top
of the coaching staff’s board.
“I think the biggest thing
for me is that they’ve gotten a
lot of high-ceiling type talent,”
Lorenz
said.
“Obviously
(Orlando, Fla. quarterback Joe)
Milton kind of the headliner
as far as that goes, maybe the
most high-ceiling player in the
class. Not a refined product
yet, has a ways to go, but that’s
a perfect complement to what
they’ve done at quarterback,
and they’ve done that at a few
different positions.
“With the offensive line,
(Jalen) Mayfield another guy in
that vein, a guy whose football
is definitely ahead of him, and
then at cornerback as well with
(Myles) Sims and Gemon Green
as guys who are just perfect
fits for the system, but they
haven’t tapped a lot of their
potential yet. I think they’ve
done what they’ve wanted to
do so far with the depth they
got in ‘16 and ‘17, I think those
are the types of guys they want
in ‘18.”
After
Harbaugh
signed
just 14 recruits in his debut
recruiting class (one that was
hurt by Brady Hoke’s firing
and the relatively prolonged
hiring process that followed),
he and his staff signed 56
players in the following two
classes combined. Those two
classes
have
replenished
Michigan’s depth chart while
also limiting the number of
available
scholarships
for
2018.
While
the
quantity
of
recruits that the Wolverines
can sign this time around may
be limited, that might still
yield
some
positive
results
for Michigan on the trail —
especially
considering
the
recruiting
pitch
that
the
coaches have tailored for some
prospects, such as Cameron
McGrone, a four-star linebacker
from Indiana.
“The
new
foundation
is
in with these new classes,
so with some of these guys
it’s,
‘We’ll
get
you
there
eventually,’
”
Lorenz
said.
“Look at cornerback — those
guys could compete early, but
they may have to wait. But
they’re only taking a few, so
they can tell them, ‘Hey, you’re
our guy.’ Or at linebacker, with
Cameron McGrone, who’s now
the top target. They can sell
him like, ‘Hey, you’re our guy
at linebacker period. We’re
probably done if we get you.’
“... It is a different approach
because the last two classes
have not just been large, but
they’ve been large and full of
really talented players, so they
kinda have to go about it a little
differently.”
Of course, there are some
position groups that weren’t as
well-stocked in previous classes
that Michigan will have to
address this time around. After
failing to sign any tight ends in
2017, the Wolverines saw Devin
Asiasi — the team’s highest-
ranked signee at the position
in 2016 — elect to transfer
to UCLA. With a relatively
youthful and unproven group
after
Asiasi’s
transfer
and
Jake Butt’s graduation, Lorenz
thinks Michigan will need to
sign at least one of their top
targets at the position in 2018,
if not multiple.
Jeremy Ruckert, a four-star
from New York, was one of the
staff’s top targets but it appears
that his college decision —
scheduled for July 17 — will
be Ohio State. The Wolverines,
though,
are
strongly
in
contention for another one of
their top prospects and may
have an opportunity to make
a move with another in the
coming weeks.
“I
think
(Ridge
Point,
Texas
tight
end)
Mustapha
Muhammad remains the best
bet there,” Lorenz said. “I
know
(247Sports
recruiting
insider Steve) Wiltfong thinks
that Michigan will really make
a move with (Carterville, Ill.
tight end) Luke Ford next
weekend, so we’ll have to see
there.”
Like last year, Michigan may
have to wait a while before it
fills its class. The Wolverines
experienced
a
flurry
of
commitments last December,
earning verbal commitments
from
Peoples-Jones,
Cesar
Ruiz,
Tarik
Black,
Drew
Singleton, Jordan Anthony and
FOOTBALL
ORION SANG
Senior Sports Editor
See FOOTBALL, Page 12
EMMA RICHTER/Daily
Hallie Thome was invited to the USA Women’s Basketball U23 Training Camp.
Flaherty, Thome earn
invitations to U23 camp
After the Michigan women’s
basketball
team
experienced
its most successful season in
program history, two of its
stalwarts
earned
invitations
to the 2017 USA Basketball
Women’s U23 National Team
Training Camp.
Senior
guard
Katelynn
Flaherty and junior center Hallie
Thome will each compete in the
camp to be apart of the 12-person
roster that will ultimately play in
the first-ever U23 Four Nations
Tournament in Tokyo, Japan this
summer. Among the 40 players
named to the preliminary roster,
Thome and Flaherty are two
of four Big Ten players. Kelsey
Mitchell of Ohio State and
Teniya Page of Penn State will
also compete for roster spots.
Flaherty and Thome were
each vital contributors to the
Wolverines team that won the
WNIT Tournament for the first
time in program history.
Flaherty, invited to a USA
Basketball trial for the third
time in her career, led Michigan
in scoring this past season. In
the WNIT title game, she made
multiple career-defining plays,
nailing two game-tying threes
in the double-overtime victory,
and scoring 20 of her 27 points
after halftime. For the season,
Flaherty led the team in scoring
at 20.2 points per game and was a
unanimous selection by the
MAX MARCOVITCH
Daily Sports Writer
See BASKETBALL, Page 12
Wolverines have received 10 verbal commitments including
seven four-stars, 247Sports ranks class as No. 19 nationally
11
Thursday, July 13, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS