The Wolverines weren’t exactly on fire on the recruiting trail in 2023, but 2024 has gotten out to a much better start.
Entering February, the maize and blue had five commitments, four of whom are rated as four-star prospects, with the other being an international prospect who just arrived in the United States and hasn’t had much of an evaluation by the recruiting services.
And on Thursday, Michigan football was hoping that the class would grow one four-star larger.
2024 Harper Woods (Mich.) four-star defensive back Jacob Oden is the son of his high school coach, Rod Oden, who was a former walk-on in Ann Arbor. While the younger Oden vowed to keep his options open, joining his father’s alma mater was too much to pass up, as he committed to the Wolverines on Thursday evening.
He made the commitment live on the 247Sports YouTube page, and whose Michigan football over rival Michigan State, Penn State, Iowa, and Tennessee.
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Oden frequently trained at the SoundMind SoundBody camp, where current Wolverine cornerback Will Johnson was also a mainstay. At 6-foot-1, 187-pounds, Oden projects more to safety than cornerback.
Rivals is the highest on Oden, ranking him at the No. 132 player in the country, regardless of position.
| Stars | Rnk | Pos | St | |
| 247Sports | 4 | 191 | #24 ATH | 6 |
| On3 | 4 | 247 | #22 S | 6 |
| Rivals | 4 | 132 | #13 S | 5 |
| ESPN | 4 | 153 | #13 S | 4 |
| 247Sports Composite | 4 | 160 | #17 ATH | 5 |
| On3 Consensus | 4 | 173 | #14 S | 5 |
With Oden in the fold, Michigan football is up to six commitments in the 2024 class and rises to No. 7 in the 247Sports team rankings after coming in at No. 12 prior to his pledge.
Steve Clinkscale was his primary recruiter for the Wolverines. He also had offers from Arkansas, Auburn, Cincinnati, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Louisville, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Pitt, Syracuse, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
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