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.”