Ex-Wolverine Updates: 2018 Pre-Season

Tag: Ex-Wolverines


22Jun 2018
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Ex-Wolverine Updates: 2018 Pre-Season

Vic Viramontes is going to row the boat…at Riverside City College (image via Twin Cities)

TRANSFERS

Devin Asiasi, TE (UCLA): Asiasi sat out the season due to NCAA transfer rules. From what I can gather, he’s pegged to be the #2 tight end this season.

Ian Bunting, TE (California): Bunting will be a fifth year senior at Cal this fall.

Brian Cole, S (Mississippi State): Cole is listed as a 6’2″, 210 lb. redshirt junior safety at Mississippi State and is projected to be the Bulldogs’ starting nickel player. He spent last season at East Mississippi Community College.

Kekoa Crawford, WR: Crawford will transfer, though his destination is unknown.

Kingston Davis, RB (UAB): Davis is a 6’0″, 245 lb. running back at UAB after spending last season at Independence Community College in Kansas. He looks to be one of the featured players on the upcoming season of Last Chance U on Netflix.

Ja’Raymond Hall, OG (Central Michigan): Hall announced that he would transfer to Central Michigan in the off-season, which means he will have to sit out 2018 due to NCAA transfer rules.

Elysee Mbem-Bosse, LB: It’s unknown at this point whether Mbem-Bosse will continue his football career.

Kareem Walker, RB: Walker will transfer, though his destination is unknown.

Keith Washington, CB (West Virginia): Washington, who played this past season at Co-Lin, has transferred to West Virginia, where he’s listed as a 6’0″, 173 lb. redshirt junior cornerback.

Maurice Ways, WR (California): Ways will be a fifth year senior at Cal this fall.

Hit the jump for news on former commitments and coaches.

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10Jun 2018
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Te’Cory Couch, Ex-Wolverine

Hollywood (FL) Chaminade-Madonna CB Te’Cory Couch (image via LSU Football Report)

Hollywood (FL) Chaminade-Madonna cornerback Te’Cory Couch decommitted from Michigan on Saturday. He had originally committed to the Wolverines in mid-April (LINK). Couch was also committed to Tennessee at one point, so this idea isn’t new for him.

Couch is a 247 Composite 4-star, the #16 athlete, and #244 overall. He’s listed by 247 at 5’9.5″ and 148 lbs., though he’s reportedly bigger than that by now. There was some talk that he would end up playing safety at the next level, but it now looks like he will be doing that for Miami (or at least it looks like he will commit to Miami temporarily).

I think Couch is a pretty smooth athlete, although he does not look like a game-changing athlete as a defensive back. This hurts Michigan’s recruiting class from a perception standpoint, but the Wolverines should be able to find a suitable replacement. Michigan’s cornerbacks have performed at a very high level over the past few years, and other recruits surely see that. Georgia cornerback D.J. Turner is set to announce on June 25, and odds are that he will pick Michigan.

On the other hand, Chaminade-Madonna produces a ton of talented prospects, and Couch’s departure won’t help to grease the wheels to a solid program. Michigan is also recruiting wide receiver teammate John Dunmore, a 4-star prospect who was very high on the Wolverines following his April visit, too.

Michigan now has 10 commits remaining in the 2019 class.

9Jun 2018
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Kekoa Crawford, Ex-Wolverine

Kekoa Crawford

Junior wide receiver Kekoa Crawford has decided to transfer out of Michigan. His future destination is unknown at this point.

Kekoa – once known as Dylan Crawford – committed to Michigan at the Army All-American Bowl in January of 2016 (LINK). He caught 4 passes for 47 yards and 1 touchdown as a true freshman in 2016, and then he moved up on the depth chart to become a starter in 2017. In his sophomore season, he was #4 in receptions (17) and #5 in yards (243); he was also second on the team in yards per catch (14.3), out of players with 10+ receptions. Despite being used more in 2017, the writing was on the wall that younger players like Donovan Peoples-Jones and Tarik Black had passed him.

This is a bit of a blow to Michigan’s receiving corps, considering Crawford was a potential starter somewhere on the field. The upcoming season will probably see Peoples-Jones and Black start on the outside, with junior Grant Perry in the slot. Crawford is physically capable of playing any of those spots, and as we saw last season, an injury like Black’s could thrust the next guy into the starting lineup for long periods of time. However, the Wolverines have recruited well at wide receiver – including backups Nico Collins and Oliver Martin – so Crawford’s departure may not be noticed too much in the long run.

Michigan is now down to 85 scholarship players for the 2018 season (LINK), which means nobody else needs to leave to get down to the limit.

8Jun 2018
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Kareem Walker, Ex-Wolverine

Kareem Walker

Redshirt sophomore running back Kareem Walker has exited the program. Walker was a 2016 signee out of Wayne (NJ) De Paul Catholic, and I gave him a TTB Rating of 88 (LINK).

A one-time Ohio State commit, Michigan thought they pulled off quite a coup by getting a highly ranked running back from New Jersey and out of the clutches of the Buckeyes. Unfortunately, academic issues caused Walker to redshirt as a true freshman. Some thought he might not last at Michigan, but he hung around for the 2017 season, in which he ran 20 times for 68 yards (3.4 YPC) and 1 touchdown. His best game came against Rutgers when he ran 6 times for 34 yards and 1 score.

Ultimately, a combination of academics and injuries seem to have caused his departure. No destination has been named, but some school out there will get a chance to land a 6’1″, 211 lb. running back with a pretty solid recruiting pedigree. If he can get his body and habits right, he could still be a good back for someone out there.

Michigan is now down to the 85-man scholarship limit (LINK). Walker is one of eight players from the 2016 class to have departed already, joining TE Devin Asiasi, WR Kekoa Crawford, RB Kingston Davis, LB Dytarious Johnson, WR Nate Johnson, LB Elysee Mbem-Bosse, WR Ahmir Mitchell,

23Feb 2018
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Ex-Wolverines: Class of 2007

Ryan Mallett (image via Sports Illustrated)

Here’s a wrap-up of the 2007 signees who left Michigan before their eligibility was completed.

Zion Babb – Wide receiver/cornerback – Alhambra (CA) Alhambra
Babb committed to the Wolverines as a speed-burning wide receiver, but bounced back and forth between receiver and cornerback in his two years at Michigan.  He redshirted as a freshman in 2007.  As a receiver in 2008 during Rich Rodriguez’s first year, Babb caught 2 passes for 45 yards.  However, there were multiple behavior and attitude issues – including reported verbal altercations with coaches on the practice field – that forced the program to part ways with him.  He attended a junior college in 2009 and was reportedly considering transfers to Colorado and New Mexico, but did not appear on either team’s 2010 roster.
Current status: Out of football

Artis Chambers – Safety/linebacker – Fort Wayne (IN) Snider
Chambers committed to the Wolverines as part of a seemingly excellent defensive back haul in 2007, joining Jerimy Finch and Donovan Warren.  Chambers played immediately, making 7 tackles as a freshman in 2007.  He added 4 tackles in 2008 while playing a linebacker/safety hybrid role, but left the team prior to the end of the season.  After the 2008 season, he announced a transfer to Ball State and sat out the 2009 campaign.  He was not on Ball State’s 2010 but popped up at Delta State in 2012, where he played in seven games and made 6 tackles.
Current status: Out of football

Hit the jump for several more decommits and transfers.

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