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

