The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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AUGUST 2018 THE WOLVERINE 57 MICHIGAN RECRUITING U-M is also in pretty good shape with a few in-state studs, a franchise quarterback type, a Northeast stand- out and a couple of five-stars. Both Oak Park (Mich.) High four- star cornerback Enzo Jennings and Gibraltar (Mich.) Carlson four-star athlete Ian Stewart picked up their offers earlier this year, and have to be viewed as realistic targets for the Wolverines. The rising junior pros- pects are starting to gain national at- tention — Jennings more so — and will consider U-M until the end. Jennings, a 6-2, 178-pound cor- nerback, would be a terrific compli- ment to nickel corner Andre Seldon in U-M's 2020 class. As Rivals.com's No. 5 cornerback and No. 50 overall player nationally, Jennings is highly coveted and already has Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, Penn State, Tennessee and others to choose from. At 6-3 and 185 pounds, Stewart is considered an athlete because he plays safety, wide receiver and even outside linebacker at a high level in high school. He is long and athletic, and could realistically grow into sev- eral different college positions. Even though he's viewed as the No. 22 athlete and No. 216 overall prospect nationally by Rivals.com, he's waiting for his offer list to ex- plode like Jennings' has. Michigan is definitely his biggest offer on pa- per, with his other options including Cincinnati, Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina State, Syracuse and most of the Mid-American Conference. It's always good to grab a quarter- back early in the process, and Har- baugh and Pep Hamilton are work- ing hard on Marietta (Ga.) High four-star Harrison Bailey. The 6-4, 220-pounder looks the part, but did struggle a bit at the Rivals Five-Star Challenge in June compared to other highly rated, yet older, quarterbacks. Nevertheless, Harbaugh and Ham- ilton have let Bailey know that he's a priority. Rivals.com's No. 2 pro- style quarterback and No. 24 overall prospect nationally has bonded with Hamilton especially. "It's all about Coach Hamilton — he's something," Bailey said this spring. "The first time I met him he was tough on me — like real tough. It was different because all other coaches just say that they want me and tell me what I want to hear. "He broke my film down and told me what I was doing wrong and re- ally coached me. He was pointing out things I could do better, and I really felt like he could help me. It's different with Coach Hamilton and I like that." Word around Bailey's recruitment is that Tennessee is going to be tough to beat, but he's obviously high on U-M, Harbaugh and Hamilton. New England has been billed as defensive coordinator Don Brown's stomping grounds, and it could pay off in the form of a commitment from Milton (Mass.) Academy four-star outside linebacker Kalel Mullings down the line. "Michigan was my first offer," Mull- ings said. "Coach Brown is great, and I've known him throughout my re- cruiting process. Michigan is hopefully going to be one of my top schools." Mullings is the No. 4 outside line- backer and the No. 84 prospect nation- ally per Rivals.com, and he has offers from Clemson, North Carolina, North- western, Penn State, Tennessee, UCLA and Virginia Tech, among others. The Wolverines also have the at- tention of two of the best players in the entire country in the 2020 class. Both Damascus (Md.) High five-star defensive end Bryan Bresee and Nor- cross (Ga.) Greater Atlanta Christian five-star offensive tackle Myles Hinton have the Wolverines in their top group. Bresee, the No. 1 strongside defen- sive end and No. 3 overall player na- tionally according to Rivals.com, has a top 15 that includes most of college football's powerhouses: Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Mary- land, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Okla- homa, Penn State, Texas A&M, USC, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin. It's obvi- ously early for the 6-5, 280-pounder, but U-M has made the first cut. Michigan will have its work cut out with Bresee, but might actu- ally be considered the strong favor- ite to land Hinton. As the younger brother of 2019 U-M commit and five-star Christopher Hinton, the 6-6, 310-pounder is considered the No. 1 offensive tackle and No. 5 overall player nationally by Rivals.com. He has a much more manageable top group consisting of Clemson, Georgia, Northwestern and Stanford, along with the Wolverines. Neither five-star is particularly close to a deci- sion, but Hinton would make a lot of Michigan fans happy if he decided to join his big brother in Ann Arbor. ❏ On The Web For regular reports on Michigan football recruiting plus videos of U-M commitments and targets visit TheWolverine.com. 2019 Michigan Commitment List Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown (High School) Erick All TE 6-4 223 Fairfield, Ohio (Fairfield) Karsen Barnhart OT 6-5 280 Paw Paw, Mich. (Paw Paw) Zach Carpenter OG 6-5 305 Cincinnati (Moeller) Zach Charbonnet RB 6-1 190 Westlake Village, Calif. (Oaks Christian) Eric Gray RB 5-10 185 Memphis, Tenn. (Lausanne Collegiate School) Stephen Herron DE 6-4 225 Louisville, Ky. (Trinity) Christopher Hinton DE 6-5 265 Norcross, Ga. (Greater Atlanta Christian) George Johnson III ATH 5-11 175 Stuart, Fla. (Martin County) Quinten Johnson S 5-11 190 Washington, D.C. (St. John's College High) Trente Jones OL 6-5 293 Loganville, Ga. (Grayson) Cade McNamara QB 6-1 170 Reno, Nev. (Damonte Ranch) Gabe Newburg DE 6-5 230 Clayton, Ohio (Northmont) David Ojabo DE 6-5 240 Blairstown, N.J. (Blair Academy) Nolan Rumler OL 6-4 300 Akron, Ohio (Hoban) Mazi Smith DT 6-3 302 Kentwood, Mich. (East Kentwood) Jack Stewart OL 6-5 285 New Canaan, Conn. (New Canaan) Charles Thomas LB 6-0 216 Fairburn, Ga. (IMG Academy [Fla.]) DJ Turner II CB 5-11 160 Suwanee, Ga. (North Gwinnett) Joey Velazquez S 6-0 205 Columbus, Ohio (St. Frances DeSales) 2020 Michigan Commitment List Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown (High School) Kalil Branham WR 6-1 190 Columbus, Ohio (Northland) Andre Seldon CB 5-9 154 Belleville, Mich. (Belleville) Denver Warren DT 6-3 300 Aurora, Ill. (West Aurora)