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The Wolverines have struck out on their attempt to get either of the Clarkston (MI) duo to Ann Arbor.
While it had seemed likely that four-star offensive tackle Garrett Dellinger wouldn’t end up at Michigan, it was the opposite for four-star offensive guard Rocco Spindler. Both made several visits to campus over the course of the past year-plus, but Spindler had appeared to be honing in on the maize and blue. However, since the beginning, Notre Dame loomed quite large.
We shared more about what we knew on the Locked On Wolverines Podcast last week, as recruiting writers speculated that Spindler was destined to be a Golden Domer, noting that we had heard approximately two years ago that Notre Dame’s message really resonated with the elite interior lineman, particularly when it came to student-athletes being more integrated into the on-campus populace compared to other institutions. While the Wolverines seemed to have made up some ground, and at times appeared to lead for the son of famed Pitt/Detroit Lions star Marc Spindler, on Saturday, the pull to South Bend ended up being too much.
Spindler announced he’s committing to the Fighting Irish’s 2021 recruiting class, he announced on CBS Sports HQ, live from Clarkston High School.
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While most in-state recruiting losses this cycle haven’t really damaged what Michigan is trying to do with its 2021 class, the loss of Spindler particularly hurts. Some of the Wolverines other targets weren’t as high up on the Wolverines’ board as the local product, nor were they as much of a focal point.
Still, leading up to Spindler’s commitment, despite expert predictions indicating he would join Notre Dame’s 2021 class, there was no such indication given to either the Fighting Irish or Wolverines programs until just beforehand, we’re told.
His other finalists were Ohio State, LSU and Penn State.
That said, the Wolverines could salvage the loss of Spindler in the already stellar position group by landing Dedham (MA) Noble & Greenough School four-star OG Drew Kendall, who is ranked No. 126 nationally. Michigan already has four solid-to-elite offensive linemen committed in 2021 in four-stars Giovanni El-Hadi, Greg Crippen, Raheem Anderson and three-star Tristan Bounds.
As far as in-state recruiting is concerned, the Wolverines are still on a handful of prospects, particularly four-star RB Donovan Edwards from West Bloomfield (MI) and DT Rayshaun Benny from Oak Park (MI). Both are currently Michigan leans according to the 247Sports Crystal Ball.
For more on Michigan’s in-state recruiting, we highly recommend this optimistic piece from Scott Bell ($) which dispels the narrative pushed by some Ohio-based reporters and their agenda that the Wolverines aren’t competitive with other elite programs.