Michigan Football Recruiting: Could 2016 class rank in top 5?
By Joel Greer
*DT Rashan Gary, 5-star, 6-5, 293, Paramus (NJ) Catholic
To get the recruiting job started, Harbaugh hired a pair of successful high school head coaches, Chris Partridge of Paramus (NJ) Catholic and Rick Finotti of Cleveland (OH) St. Edward.
Partridge just happened to coach Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers and Juwann Bushell-Beatty at Paramus Catholic.
A pair of Paramus prospects, WDE Ron Johnson and WR Brad Hawkins, continued the pipeline by committing to the 2016 class.
Michigan’s main target and the nation’s No. 1 prospect is 6-5, 293 lb. Rashan Gary, who just happens to play for Paramus Catholic.
Landing the 5-star Gary is no long shot. With his former coach, one teammate and possibly two more teammates in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines just might be the favorite.
At least 247sports thinks so. Their “Crystal Ball” gives Gary a 60% chance to become a Wolverine.
He’s’ definitely considering Ann Arbor since he’s already visited three times.
"“My visit to Michigan (on Sept. 25) was good,” Gary wrote in USAToday. I’ve been there three times before. I already had a good idea how it was. I just needed to go there and check out the business school, a place where I plan on spending the majority of my time because hopefully that will be my major. I wanted to get a good feel for how people were at the campus and I accomplished that while I was there.”"
Parents sometimes also have an influence on where their son plays his college football. Gary’s mom (Jennifer Coney) visited Michigan with Rashan for the BYU game.
"“I think he’s comfortable (with Michigan),” she told Sam Webb at scout.com. “He knows Jabrill, he knows Juwan, and now he has befriended Tyrone Wheatley and some of the other kids on the team that really embraced him. He is comfortable with them and he is comfortable with Coach Mattison, Coach (DJ) Durkin and (Team Mom) Ms. Gwen (Bush). And I have to be honest… Coach Harbaugh is the most down to earth (guy). He is a like a homey (laughter). He is that dude. He is like a homey. He is not all stuck up. He is kind of quirky-cool… and I like him. And I think Rashan likes him as well.”"
Next: Terrance Davis