Tag: Xavier Worthy

Xavier Worthy will not enroll early at Michigan

The incoming freshman from California was supposed to be a midyear enrollee, but he announces that will not happen now.

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There’s been ample speculation as to the status of Michigan wide receiver signee Xavier Worthy and whether or not he would end up in Ann Arbor as an early-enrollee as planned.

Now we can end that speculation.

Worthy signed his national letter of intent in December along with the rest of the class, and while he intended to arrive in Ann Arbor on Saturday, things did not go as planned. Though his future with the program doesn’t appear to be in question, the four-star speedster announced via Twitter that he will not be among those who are on campus for the Winter 2021 semester, as originally anticipated.

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While that’s certainly a setback, there’s no indication that he’ll seek to play elsewhere at this juncture. Though, as with anything in recruiting or college football, that could certainly change on a dime.

Worthy had committed back over the summer, but there was some drama after he visited Alabama for the Iron Bowl at the end of November. He then announced that he would be deciding between the Wolverines and Crimson Tide on signing day. With Josh Gattis retaining his job as offensive coordinator, Worthy chose to stick with the maize and blue, despite it appearing he could lean towards the national championship program.

Michigan’s signees who did not report in January will make their way to campus in June.

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Jim Harbaugh says 2021 WR signees are close to finished products

Now that they’re signed, the Michigan football headman shares what he likes about the pass catchers, and why one is his overall favorite.

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You know how parents often say they don’t have a favorite child, but much of the time, they really do? Well, when it comes to Jim Harbaugh’s 2021 recruiting class, he has a favorite, and he’s not shy about it.

While you might think it’s prized QB signee J.J. McCarthy, elite RB Donovan Edwards, or top 100 LB Junior Colson, it’s actually one of the wide receivers.

Well, then it would certainly be either of the California pledges — Cristian Dixon or Xavier Worthy? Nope. It’s in-state wideout Andrel Anthony, the longtime target who chose the Wolverines over rival Michigan State.

“Definitely one of my favorites – if not my very favorite,” Harbaugh told Jon Jansen on the ‘In the Trenches’ podcast. “The connection, the friendship. Tremendous, tremendous player.”

With that in mind, what does Harbaugh think of Anthony as a player? He might be the lowest-rated of the three, as a three-star according to all of the major recruiting services, but the Michigan football head coach sees a much more complete player than what recruiting analysts appear to.

“The big catch radius – he lights a room to me with his enthusiasm,” Harbaugh said, continuing to wax poetic about his favorite player. “The other people, you see the smile and the energy. But he can – whether it’s on the basketball court or on the football field, you can really see the energy, the enthusiasm and the athletic ability just pops. He was also somebody that we saw in camp multiple times. Known him for a very long time. He’s got a high school record – 1,971 receiving yards. He is as close to a finished receiver type person in high school that you can be. Tremendous football background as well, at East Lansing — one of my absolute favorite high school coaches there is in the country. Everything! I like everything in Andrel Anthony!”

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Of course, Harbaugh has more than just a few good things to say about the California duo.

Starting with Dixon, he notes that he’s shown tremendous ability and did so against the best defensive backs the nation has to offer.

“Like Andrel, these are all really finished – ah, you never really say finished product about a high school football player – but as close to that as you can be. I think they’re really gonna thrive here at Michigan,” Harbaugh said of the duo. “Cristian Dixon, another tall, rangy, big catch radius. 35 receptions, 611 yards, 6 touchdowns as a junior. He’s one of those ESPN top 150-type of players. Really good guy. And the level of competition he played in high school is arguably the best in the entire country. So, super excited about Cristian.”

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Worthy is precisely the type of player that Alabama tends to secure, but on Wednesday, the Crimson Tide’s overtures were rebuffed in favor of his original choice.

Harbaugh noted his superior athleticism as well as an incredible stat-line that Worthy had in his junior season.

“Xavier, he’s also – same type of player,” Harbaugh said. “He’s explosive. A lot of yards per catch. Nearly 1,000 yards as a junior. Also wasn’t able to play this fall out in California. But caught like 55 balls, 992 yards, top 100 player. Very, very dynamic football player.”

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While those are the marquee names that will be featured in the ‘speed-in-space’ offense, let’s not forget about ‘big speed-in-space.’

Harbaugh also discussed four-star tight end prospect Louis Hansen and what he brings to the table.

“He’ll be really good,” Harbaugh said. “He’s a big – probably around 6-5, 6-5.5. And about 200-high 30s, 240-pounds already. He’s not even shaving every day! He’s probably shaving once a week. He’s got some growing to do and some filling out to do. But he’s a top five-rated tight end in the country. Here’s another weird thing about him: he’s one of those four-year starters in high school. You don’t see that very often, where a youngster can start for four years in high school. His senior season was canceled.

“But Lou Hansen – he’s gonna fit quite nicely into the tight end room. He’s the type of tight end you can project to be an inline blocker, but also stretch the field. Big catch radius. Can go up and get a ball in traffic. All really good things. Tough kid and excited to have him. That’s a very important position on our offense.”

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Roundup: Meet Michigan football’s 2021 recruiting class

A full roundup of recruiting evaluations, facts, stats, film and everything else covering Michigan football’s signed 2021 class.

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It wasn’t a perfect signing day for Michigan football, as there were a few unhappy surprises, and a big great one — as well as a couple of smaller ones — so it was mostly good for the Wolverines. It took a minute for the letters of intent to start rolling in, but once they did, they came in with regularity.

We scoured the main sites for breakdowns and intel on all of Michigan football’s newest members, including the new bios from the program itself. Here’s everything you need to know about Michigan football’s 2021 recruiting class, in order of their signing.

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Dominick Giudice

From MGoBlue.com:

Prep
• Attended Mater Dei High School (2021) coached by Dino Mangiero
• Helped Mater Dei finish as the state runner-up after reaching the championship game as a junior
• Played all along the defensive line and offensive tackle in high school
• Selected to the Mater Dei Prep All-Decade Team (2010-19) on defense

Key Statistics
• Credited with 46 tackles, seven tackles for loss, six sacks and 42 quarterback pressures as a senior
• Totaled 43 tackles for loss and 24 sacks as a junior – total was No. 1 in New Jersey and ranked 11th nationally

Honors and Rankings
• Earned a 247Sports Composite ranking of three stars; the No. 1,958 overall player nationally, the No. 100 weakside defensive end and the No. 42 player in the state of New Jersey
• Three-star prospect according to 247Sports; the No. 111 defensive end nationally and the No. 43 player in the state of New Jersey
• Rated as a three-star prospect by ESPN, the No. 179 defensive end and the No. 35 player in the state of New Jersey
• Rivals.com two-star prospect
• First team All-New Jersey Defensive pick by USA Today as a senior
• Named the division’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year as a senior; first team defense All-Division selection
• Earned Jersey Sports Zone All-Zone Team as a junior and senior

Personal
• Dominick Giudice was born Sept. 12, 2002
• Son of Anthony and Maryann Giudice

The Wolverine’s EJ Holland:

He plays with a relentless motor and has shown improvement with the way he uses his hands. Giudice doesn’t bend all that well, and a clear lack of athleticism prevents him from going higher in my ranking. He also needs to work on his get off. Giudice fits the cliché billing as a lunch pail recruit with a chip on his shoulder. Overall, you’re getting a big, strong, mean kid that lacks athleticism but will be the hardest worker in the room.

Maize N Brew:

Giudice has said that the coaches plan to play him at the anchor position, which I agree matches his skillset the best right now. He doesn’t have the athleticism to be a pure pass rusher on the weakside, but can definitely take on tight ends and clog up running lanes. However, I think that eventually he’ll pack on 20 or 30 more pounds and slide inside to be a three-tech, where his pass rush skills will be more valuable.

Wolverine Digest:

2021 Outlook: Giudice is an underrated recruit, but does have some upside. At 6-4, 250 pounds, he has the type of frame and athletic ability that will serve him well at the defensive end position. He’s also been described as a kid who is moving fast at all times, making it difficult for offensive lineman to keep him in check. It’s unlikely that Guidice will become an impact player in year one, but the upside is definitely there for him to become one at some point.

Next: Michigan’s tight end of the future

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Did Michigan football make 247Sports winners or losers list on signing day?

One side of the ball looks spectacular, but the other, not so much. But there may be a surprise in store.

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Michigan football attacked the offensive side of its 2021 recruiting class with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind on early signing day, securing the known commodities, retaining four-star WR Xavier Worthy (who was entertaining Alabama), and adding elite RB Donovan Edwards.

The defensive side of the ball, however, wasn’t nearly as fortunate.

The Wolverines lost two pledges, including DE Quintin Somerville, who wasn’t expected to flip to UCLA until maybe national signing day actually took place. Losing Florida LB Branden Jennings to Maryland also stings, and, as of this writing, there’s still some unsurety about St. Thomas Aquinas’ CB Ja’Den McBurrows.

So when 247Sports’ Andrew Ivins was tasked with a national overview of the winners and losers across college football, the Wolverines were, as he puts it, somewhere in the middle.

It was an up-and-down day Jim Harbaugh. Yes, the Wolverines edged some other blue bloods for five-star running back Donovan Edwards and were able to hold onto Top247 wide receiver Xavier Worthy, who was also considering Alabama. But at the same time, Michigan also lost a pair of commits as Sommerville opted for UCLA and four-star linebacker Branden Jennings flipped to Maryland.

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However, it does appear that it will get better for the maize and blue. The Miami Hurricanes also made Ivins’ list of ‘somewhere in the middle,’ and he included this nugget about commit Ja’Den McBurrows.

It’s hard to ignore the fact that the Hurricanes didn’t sign a true cornerback prospect as they aren’t expected to pry three-star Ja’den McBurrows away from Michigan.

Should the Wolverines secure him on Wednesday night that would certainly be welcome news. Equally welcome is the news that McBurrows’ teammate, LB Jaydon Hood, is signing after all after it was expected that he would wait until national signing day proper in February.

With Hood in the fold, Michigan then will have signed three four-stars on the defensive side of the ball, with LB Junior Colson and DE Kechaun Bennett being the others.

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National Signing Day: Michigan Wolverines sign Xavier Worthy

Though it appeared one of Michigan football’s prized commits could end up at Alabama, he signed with the Wolverines on national signing day.

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Ratings

Stars Overall Position State
247Sports 4 98 13 8
Rivals 4 65 11 5
ESPN 4 124 22 11
247Sports Composite 4 76 12 7

Vitals

Hometown Fresno (CA) Central East
Projected Position Wide Receiver
Height 6-foot-1
Weight 160-pounds

Recruitment

It was a huge coup for Michigan to secure Worthy’s services over Alabama and Oregon. The speedy wideout runs an official 10.55 100-meter dash, and, at the time, was the fourth wideout to commit to the Wolverines back on July 10, 2020.

However, with uncertainty in Ann Arbor, despite a visit on his own dime, Worthy wasn’t set in his pledge. He visited Alabama for the Iron Bowl and came away impressed with what the Crimson Tide have to offer. He ultimately was set to make a final decision between Michigan and Alabama on signing day, and made his pledge official with the Wolverines on Wednesday.

Readiness Level

With his speed, Worthy could be a day one contributor for the maize and blue.

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Film

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX8yXkNZuag

Stories

Worthy moves up Rivals.com rankings in 2021

Worthy makes SI99 list of best recruits in 2021

Worthy makes ESPN list of top 25 most impactful recruits in 2021

Worthy makes spectacular one-handed grab in workout

Worthy intends to enroll early at Michigan

Worthy commitment story

Michigan trending in 247Sports Crystal Ball for Worthy

Michigan makes Worthy’s final group

Fab Four: Selecting Michigan football’s Mount Rushmore of all-time recruits

 

National Signing Day: Michigan Wolverines sign Xavier Worthy

Though it appeared one of Michigan football’s prized commits could end up at Alabama, he signed with the Wolverines on national signing day.

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Ratings

Stars Overall Position State
247Sports 4 98 13 8
Rivals 4 65 11 5
ESPN 4 124 22 11
247Sports Composite 4 76 12 7

Vitals

Hometown Fresno (CA) Central East
Projected Position Wide Receiver
Height 6-foot-1
Weight 160-pounds

Recruitment

It was a huge coup for Michigan to secure Worthy’s services over Alabama and Oregon. The speedy wideout runs an official 10.55 100-meter dash, and, at the time, was the fourth wideout to commit to the Wolverines back on July 10, 2020.

However, with uncertainty in Ann Arbor, despite a visit on his own dime, Worthy wasn’t set in his pledge. He visited Alabama for the Iron Bowl and came away impressed with what the Crimson Tide have to offer. He ultimately was set to make a final decision between Michigan and Alabama on signing day, and made his pledge official with the Wolverines on Wednesday.

Readiness Level

With his speed, Worthy could be a day one contributor for the maize and blue.

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Film

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX8yXkNZuag

Stories

Worthy moves up Rivals.com rankings in 2021

Worthy makes SI99 list of best recruits in 2021

Worthy makes ESPN list of top 25 most impactful recruits in 2021

Worthy makes spectacular one-handed grab in workout

Worthy intends to enroll early at Michigan

Worthy commitment story

Michigan trending in 247Sports Crystal Ball for Worthy

Michigan makes Worthy’s final group

Fab Four: Selecting Michigan football’s Mount Rushmore of all-time recruits

 

Xavier Worthy spurns Alabama, reaffirms commitment to Michigan

The Wolverines keep one of their prized commits in the 2021 class.

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What started as a dalliance eventually became a full-fledged flirtation — and that was bad news for Michigan.

The Wolverines have several prized commits in the 2021 class — five-star QB J.J. McCarthy, OT Giovanni El-Hadi and WR Xavier Worthy. But when the latter, Worthy, took a visit to Tuscaloosa for the Alabama – Auburn game last month, though it appeared just to be covering some bases and getting to see a top-flight contest, it turned out to be something more. He insisted that his interest in the Crimson Tide was legitimate and that he would decide between the school he’s been committed to since July — never a good sign for the original school. Ever since, Michigan football fans have been holding on, hoping that the speedy Worthy would remain in the fold.

The good news came on early signing day when Worthy announced that he would be standing firm in his original pledge and that he would sign with the maize and blue after all.

 

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According to Rivals.com, Worthy is rated as the No. 62 player in the country, regardless of position, and the No. 11 wide receiver in the 2021 class.

Michigan has three receivers pledged in 2021 in Worthy, fellow California speedster Cristian Dixon and in-state three-star Andrel Anthony, who chose the Wolverines over rival Michigan State.

Fab Four: Selecting Michigan football’s Mount Rushmore of all-time recruits

Michigan 2021 commit makes major move up in Rivals rankings

The standout wide receiver is finally getting his due on Rivals.com.

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247Sports has long been high on one of Michigan’s prized 2021 commits in Fresno (CA) Central East four-star wide receiver Xavier Worthy, as he’s currently ranked No. 94 in the country according to the site’s proprietary rankings.

However, Rivals.com sees your 94 and raises.

The — well — rival recruiting site updated its rankings this week, and now Worthy went from unranked to No. 57 in the country thanks to his new evaluation.

According to The Wolverine’s EJ Holland, here’s what the Rivals braintrust had to say about Worthy’s emergence on their board:

“We went back on the wide receiver position because we didn’t get to see nearly as many kids this summer as usual, and we knew most of the Cali players weren’t going to play, so we wanted to compare them all,” said Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell. “Summer is about skill position kids and holding to an early February eval of Worthy based on film didn’t add up after watching him again. His speed is elite and compared to the rest of the class, we felt he was in that Rivals100 range.”

Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney, who is based out West, added:

“When I first saw Worthy on tape, I thought he was very impressive, but I wrongly went too conservative in his ranking. I wanted to see him more in person, but then the shutdown hit and that became impossible. So during this ranking, we revisited everybody, and he clearly was a name that deserved a major bump in the rankings as we were able to go over junior film again, check out what he’s done over the last few months — even though that’s been limited — and then compare him to the other receivers in this class. We felt a major move up was warranted, so we didn’t hesitate.”

As a result of the update, Worthy’s ranking in the 247Sports Composite also went up sharply.

He was ranked 174th overall, but now is all the way up to No. 71.

Michigan’s 2021 class is ranked No. 6 by Rivals and No. 9 by 247Sports.

4 Michigan football 2021 commits make SI99 rankings

The Wolverines have an impressive group that made Sports Illustrated’s illustrious high school senior football ranking.

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Jim Harbaugh & Co. have done a masterful job of putting together the 2021 recruiting class.

Though Michigan football had just two commitments for nearly a year, now the class is ranked No. 10 with 21 pledges, highlighted by five-star quarterback J.J. McCarthy as well as a cadre of top-notch wide receivers.

And though the Wolverines aren’t done yet — as prospects such as West Bloomfield (MI) four-star Donovan Edwards are still deciding — the maize and blue find themselves not only with some of the top players in the country according to the recruiting services, but also with many making a coveted list.

Sports Illustrated put out the SI99, as in the 99 best high school seniors heading into the 2020 season. While many won’t get the opportunity to actually suit up due to different states not having high school football this fall, that doesn’t mean that they aren’t among the elite in the country.

That said, Michigan had four commits make the list, unsurprisingly headlined by its five-star signal caller.

  • No. 24 – Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy QB J.J. McCarthy
  • No. 58 – Scottsdale (AZ) Saguaro DE Quintin Somerville
  • No. 67 – Fresno (CA) Central West WR Xavier Worthy
  • No. 99 – Santa Ana (CA) Mater Dei WR Cristian Dixon

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McCarthy at 24 is expected, but given that Somerville, Dixon and Worthy are all outside of the Top 100 in the 247Sports Composite, it shows how other analysts anticipate big things out of the various Michigan commitments. Worthy and Dixon are particularly tantalizing, as they’ll add a lot of speed to Josh Gattis’ offense, and could become unparalleled breakout players wearing the maize and blue.

While it’s a nice haul, rival Ohio State — which currently has the top-rated class in the country — has 10 commits who made the SI99 rankings.

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One Wolverine makes ESPN’s top 25 most impactful 2021 recruits

One Wolverine makes the Worldwide Leader’s cut, and it’s not the pledge you’d think.

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Michigan is bringing in a strong recruiting class in 2021, led by five-star quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who will be the starting signal caller at the prestigious IMG Academy in Bradenton (FL) this fall.

But when ESPN put together its list of the most impactful commits in the 2021 recruiting cycle, it wasn’t McCarthy who got the nod for the maize and blue.

No, it’s one of Michigan’s latest pledges, a standout from the West Coast that long seemed to be an Oregon lean in Fresno (CA) Central East four-star wide receiver Xavier Worthy. Worthy, who runs a 10.5 second 100-meter dash, is the Wolverines third wideout commitment in the class and is a perfect fit for offensive coordinator Josh Gattis’ offense, in that he’s a speedster, a game-breaker and a freak athlete.

Thus, when ESPN’s Tom VanHaaren put together the list, it was Worthy who made the cut — and not McCarthy.

10. Michigan Wolverines
WR Xavier Worthy

6-foot-1, 165 pounds
Fresno, California
ESPN 300 rank: 125

This pick was going to be quarterback J.J. McCarthy because he could stabilize the quarterback position for Michigan in the future. Worthy is getting the nod, though, because he is going to ultimately help Michigan get to the speed in space as he has elite speed.

Most of the faster receivers Michigan has signed in the past few classes have been 5-foot-10 and under with Mike Sainristil, Giles Jackson and A.J. Henning. Worthy is going to bring a little more size to the offense, and if he can add weight, he could be an excellent option to stretch the field on the outside.

McCarthy would make sense as this pick, and maybe he should be, but it seems as though Worthy could be an outstanding receiver at Michigan.

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If you checked out last Friday’s edition of the Locked On Wolverines Podcast (embedded below), you’ll also hear why 247Sports’ Steve Lorenz calls Worthy his favorite recruit of the cycle.

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Worthy announced last week that he’ll be making his way to Ann Arbor early as a mid-year enrollee, as the state of California is postponing all of its high school football activities until spring.