The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/279958
FOOTBALL RECRUITING dealing with the grief he's received from making the tough decision to decommit from Michigan. However, he's confident that — even if Camp- bell doesn't end up signing with the Wolverines — his love for the Maize and Blue will keep them in it until the end. "When George made the commit- ment going into his junior year, I felt it was too early," Hudson said. "He's too young to make a decision like Those Who Stayed When it comes to a player who decommits from a given school and then ends up signing with that school, it's standard practice in the SEC — Alabama saw five-stars Rashaan Evans and Bo Scarbrough and four-star Hootie Jones do it in the 2014 class alone — but less common in Big Ten territory. It's not unheard of, though, even in the very specific window of U-M recruit- ing. Twice in the past, a Michigan commit has backed off that pledge only to later sign with the Wolverines. Coincidentally, both players to do so attended Detroit Cass Technical High School. In the 2009 class, defensive tackle William Campbell was Michigan's jewel. The only five-star in the group, he committed to Lloyd Carr before his junior year, on June 20, 2007. With Signing Day approaching more than a year later, he softened his commitment to take official visits to Alabama, LSU, Florida, and Miami — and then decommitted from the Wolverines at the conclusion of his visit tour. However, when he made his announcement at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, he donned a Maize and Blue cap, reconnecting with the program he'd known the longest. The 2013 class saw another Technician choose to open his recruitment after a longtime pledge to Michigan. Offensive lineman David Dawson initially com- mitted Feb. 18, 2012, part of a two-day blitz that saw seven players pick the Wolverines. After losing his father in a car accident that summer, he began to rethink things, and he decommitted Oct. 14. Dawson took an official visit to Florida the following weekend, but ultimately realized Michigan was where he belonged, and he re-committed on his official visit to Ann Arbor Dec. 14. For Michigan's coaching staff, the hope is that Berea (Ky.) Madison Southern five-star running back Damien Harris and Tarpon Springs (Fla.) East Lake five- star wide receiver George Campbell follow more in the footsteps of "Big Will" and "Big Dave" than any of the 16 decommitments since 2003 that have ended up signing with other schools — including five-star running back Demetrius Hart in 2011 (Alabama), the only five-star U-M has lost in the Rivals.com era, which began in 2002. — Tim Sullivan