Knocked it out of the park! #GoBlue
At the linebacker position in the 2025 recruiting class, no player is a higher priority for Michigan football than Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy four-star Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng. And he felt it while in Ann Arbor for his official visit.
Michigan was already one of his top schools and he’s been on campus previously. But this time things felt different. Part of it was being able to have his family in tow, but ultimately, the attention he received from the coaching staff truly exceeded his expectations.
“I would definitely say that the people there are different,” Owusu-Boateng told WolverinesWire. “From Coach Moore, all the way down to the recruiting people. To Sam Popper, to Wink, to Coach BJ. I just felt like that could possibly be a fit for me. Because everything I felt — everything just felt right. From the academic meeting (and) presentation, just talking to Coach Moore and just seeing how much love that they poured into me.
“So just getting all of that. And of course, my family being up here with me, because the first time they wasn’t. So now my uncle, my auntie, my mom, my dad, just being up there with them this time, it was a great feeling.”
What about this visit was different for him than what he anticipated previously? There were certain expectations that Owusu-Boateng had coming into his final official visit, that he was going to go through the standard paces of activities, photo shoots, campus tours, and the like.
But, again, he couldn’t stress enough how enamored he was with the people in and around Schembechler Hall.
“So coming in, I thought it was going to be like the rest of these visits. Something about this one, in particular, just stood out to me. And that was the people,” Owusu-Boateng said. “The people there really care about you, the people, they really care about your development, not only as a football player, but as a man. So, the development part of it, and not only that, but the people. That’s something that I’m gonna emphasize this whole interview, the people there they just — I don’t know, like, it’s different.”
In recent weeks, he’s visited Notre Dame (where his brother played) and Ohio State. This particular visit, however — again, because of the people — ended up being the best of the bunch in his eyes.
“I mean, this one stood out, but others stood out as well,” Owusu-Boateng said. “But I would say that this one stood out the most to me because my expectations coming in and weren’t that hot, but then when I left, my expectations were exceeded. So this one definitely left a good impression on me.”
Earlier on Sunday, one of his high school teammates, four-star running back Donovan Johnson, committed to the Wolverines. While another, center Kaden Strayhorn, received predictions across multiple recruiting sites indicating that Michigan will be his eventual school of choice.
With that in mind, is there talk of the trio (and others at IMG Academy) all playing together in Ann Arbor? It turns out there is, but that won’t necessarily be the deciding factor for Owusu-Boateng.
“Right now, I just know talk currently. But those guys are just reaching out to me, just letting me know that we can not only do this on the high school level, but we can carry it on and do it at the collegiate level, as well.”
Before his slate of official visits, Owusu-Boateng was eyeing early signing day in December for his likely decision, but wasn’t ruling out making a late-summer commitment. Now he says that everything is a bit up in the air, and he could hold true to his original timeline, but if things feel right, he may speed things up a bit.
“My timeline right now is just to go through everything and (whittle it down to the) top two. If I can commit before the season, that’s great. If not, then commit sometime during the season. If not that, then early signing day. But this is something I definitely don’t want to rush. I definitely will make sure that everything I need to make sure of after it happens.”
Owusu-Boateng is rated as the No. 70 prospect in the country, regardless of position, according to 247Sports.
