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There’s long been a big fish when it’s come to Michigan football’s wants in the 2022 recruiting class. Naturally, that comes in the form of Powell (TN) five-star defensive tackle Walter Nolen.
With Quinn Ewers reclassifying and enrolling at Ohio State, Nolen is now rated the No. 1 player in the country, according to the 247Sports Composite. With Mike Macdonald’s new defense, he’s an absolute necessity in the middle of the defensive front. The Wolverines made Nolen’s top 5 some time ago, but the question has been can it make the cut when Nolen whittled down his list to just three.
The answer is no, unfortunately.
Nolen’s top three ended up being Texas A&M, Tennessee and Georgia.
BREAKING: Five-Star DL Walter Nolen is down to 3️⃣ Schools, he tells @On3Recruits
Read More: https://t.co/yfAF82WyBA (Free) pic.twitter.com/Mx04e3lCW1— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) August 25, 2021
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It’s something of a surprise given Nolen had visited Ann Arbor twice and has family in the area. However, after visiting Gainesville, it appeared that Florida had the lead in his recruitment. Still, the Gators, like the Wolverines, did not make the cut.
For now, Michigan’s targets up front remain in-state prospect Deone Walker from Detroit (MI) Cass Tech and Kenneth Grant from Merrillville (IN).
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