In the past few days, 
Michigan recruiting has 
continued its rampage 
on the recruiting trail 
and added another four 
elite talents to its 2019 
and 
2020 
recruiting 
classes.
It all began on July 1st 
with the commitment 
from four-star running 
back Eric Gray — the 
nation’s top-ranked all-
purpose back. Picking 
Michigan over Alabama, 
Penn State, Texas A&M 
and others, Gray looks to 
become a lethal weapon 
in Wolverine coach Jim 
Harbaugh’s 
traditional 
offense.
The 
Memphis, 
Tenn. 
native 
was 
smitten 
with 
Michigan 
after 
his official visit. When 
he was in Ann Arbor, 
Gray got to stay with 
quarterback 
Shea 
Patterson and met with 
current running backs 
senior 
Karan 
Higdon 
and junior Chris Evans.
But what really put Gray 
over the top was the 
encouraging words from 
Harbaugh himself.
“You’re talking to coach 
Harbaugh 
and 
he’s 
telling you how good 
you are,” Gray told The 
Michigan Insider. “He’s 
been on a championship 
team. He’s been to the 
Super Bowl. And for 
him, having been to the 
Super 
Bowl, 
coached 
at the 49ers, to tell me 
how good I was — that I 
can come in and make a 
big impact — it blew my 
mind to say that.”
After 
Gray’s 
surefire 
commitment, the next 
two dominoes to fall 
were three-star strong-
side defensive end David 
Ajabo 
and 
four-star 
defensive tackle Denver 
Warren. 
Ajabo 
adds 
to a fast-growing and 
heavy-hitting 2019 class 
while 
the 
Wolverine 

faithful will have to 
bide their time before 
seeing Warren at the 
Big House after his 2020 
graduation date.
Born 
in 
Nigeria 
and 
raised 
in 
Scotland, 
Ajabo has only played 
football for one year—
but already is showing 
elite 
athleticism 
that will make him a 
versatile piece of any 
defense. 
Highlighting 
that athleticism, Ajabo 
posted 
a 
video 
to 
Twitter back in May 
documenting a personal-
best 10.93-second 100-
yard dash attempt.
Announcing 
his 
commitment on Twitter, 
Ajabo 
expressed 
how 
grateful he was that 
he ended up playing a 
sport he knew little-to-
nothing 
about. 
Ajabo 
came to America in hopes 
of 
playing 
basketball, 
but 
his 
physicality, 
size and speed allowed 
him to quickly excel at 
football and now get his 
own locker room in Ann 
Arbor.
Becoming 
the 
third 
commit 
in 
the 
2020 
class, Warren is a beast 
at defensive end and will 
most certainly add to 
the ethos of a dominant 
Michigan defensive line.
At 
6’3”, 
300-pounds, 
Warren 
felt 
very 
confident 
about 
his 
future after a mid-June 
visit and immediately 
placed the Wolverines 
in a final group with 
Cincinnati, 
Illinois, 
Minnesota 
and 
Penn 
State. 
While 
already 
tagged 
with 
a 
four-
star rating, Warren has 
nowhere to go but up. 
The big man will look to 
build his toolset in his 
upcoming junior season.
Warren’s 
commitment 
marked 
Michigan’s 
second four-star recruit 
in two days and a bold 
statement 
from 
the 
recruiting staff.
Rounding out the week 

was 
three-star 
safety 
Quinten Johnson.
Johnson’s commitment 
came 
as 
no 
surprise 
to the Wolverines, as 
Johnson’s 
place 
with 
Michigan was all but 
locked 
up 
after 
his 
mid-June 
visit. 
After 
his 
commitment, 
the 
Washington D.C.-native 
was enthusiastic about 
his 
future 
with 
the 
Wolverines.
“The thing that attracted 
me to Michigan is the 
university’s 
prestige 
both on and off the 
field,” 
Johnson 
told 
The Michigan Insider. 
“It’s 
truly 
the 
best 
university to get both 
big-time academics and 
athletics. The plan put 
in place both on and off 
the field sets me up for 
the rest of the life and 
I was able to make a lot 
of connections with a 
lot of people while I was 
there.”
As pundits analyze his 
game, Johnson was quick 
to draw comparisons to a 
former Michigan legend 
— 
Cleveland 
Browns 
safety Jabrill Peppers.
“The 
player 
that 
I 
was compared to the 
entire trip was Jabrill 
Peppers,” Johnson said. 
“They want me to play 
the same as him in the 
Viper position, mainly 
on defense and punt 
return, with minimum 
of 
offense 
and 
also 
earning playing time as 
a freshman.”
With 
Johnson’s 

commitment, 
the 

Wolverines’ 
2019 

recruiting class ranked 
jumped to third in the 
nation and first in the 
Big Ten — sitting only 
behind 
Alabama 
and 
Texas A&M.
Needless 
to 
say, 
if 
Michigan 
continues 
its 
intensity 
on 
the 
recruiting 
trail, 
its 
talent-base will continue 
to grow and with it even 
larger expectations.

12

Thursday, July 5, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS

Recruiting Update: Michigan 
adds four prospects to classes

FOOTBALL

JACOB KOPNICK
Managing Sports Editor

Shea Patterson signs with Rangers

Michigan 
football 
quarterback Shea Patterson 
signed a contract with the 
Texas Rangers as reported 
by the Dallas Morning 
News on Tuesday.
Not to worry, Wolverines 
fans, as the contract is set 
for 2019 after this upcoming 
football season. Patterson 
participated fully in spring 
practices and will compete 
with redshirt sophomore 
Brandon Peters, redshirt 
freshman Dylan McCaffrey 
and freshman Joe Milton.
NCAA rules allow players 
to become professional in 
one sport while retaining 
their collegiate eligibility 
in another. Many have 
taken advantage of this 
permission, 
including 
to 
ensure a position on a major 
league roster regardless of 
the sport.
Patterson 
hasn’t 
played 
competitive 
baseball 
in nearly three years — 
since his junior season of 
high school for Calvary 
Baptist 
Academy. 
After 
he 
transferred 
to 
IMG 
Academy for his senior 
season, he did not play, as he 
became an early enrollee at 
Ole Miss.
Still, the Rangers sought to 
add the former-high school 
third baseman to their farm 

system when they drafted 
him in the 39th round in the 
MLB Draft last month.
It isn’t entirely uncommon 
for a quarterback to be 
drafted 
to 
the 
Major 
Leagues. 
For 
instance, 
Michigan legend Tom Brady 
was drafted by the now-
defunct Montreal Expos in 
the 1995 MLB draft despite 

not playing baseball in 
college.
This year, the Oakland 
Athletics drafted Oklahoma 
quarterback Kyler Murray 
with the ninth overall pick 
in the draft. Murray intends 
to play one final season 
of college football for the 
Sooners before reporting for 
Spring Training in March 
2019. 
Unlike 
Patterson 
though, 
Murray 
played 
two seasons of baseball in 
college for Texas A&M. In 
2017 as a left fielder, Murray 
struggled, hitting just .122 
in 27 games. However, this 
season, 
Murray 
played 

center field and hit .296 with 
10 home runs and 47 RBI.
Before 
transferring 
to 
Michigan, Patterson arrived 
in Oxford, Miss. as a much-
heralded recruit for the 
Rebels. 247sports ranked 
him as the top quarterback 
in his class — the very 
same class as Wolverine 
teammate Peters — and the 
fourth-best player overall.
For Ole Miss, Patterson 
played 10 games in two 
season, passing for 3139 
yards and 23 touchdowns. 
Last year, before suffering 
a right knee injury against 
Louisiana 
State 
in 
his 
seventh game of the season, 
Patterson threw for 2,259 
yards and 17 touchdowns 
with a passer rating of 
151.5. Michigan’s combined 
quarterback trio of John 
O’Korn, 
Wilton 
Speight 
and Peters combined for a 
mere 2,226 touchdowns, a 
paltry nine touchdowns and 
a meager 110.3 passer rating 
in 13 games.
Patterson 
will 
look 
to 
improve on the Wolverine 
quarterbacks’ 
lackluster 
season 
Sept. 
1 
when 
Michigan takes on Notre 
Dame in South Bend, Ind.
Come 
February 
though, 
Patterson could consider 
forgoing 
his 
final 
year 
of 
eligibility 
for 
the 
Wolverines and pursue a 
baseball career. 

PHOTO COURTESY OF @UMICHFOOTBALL TWITTER
Junior quarterback Shea Patterson signed a contract with the Texas Rangers on Tuesday

AVRAHAM SHOLKOFF
Daily Sports Writor

“Patterson 
hasn’t played 
competitive 
baseball in 
three years.”

