Detroit (MI) King safety Myles Rowser, a 2022 prospect, committed to Michigan on Monday, a terribly unfortunate time to commit, when Michigan was also landing a transfer (Edward Warinner) and the national championship game was on everyone’s mind. Rowser picked Michigan over offers from Florida, Florida State, Penn State, and others.
Rowser is listed at 5’11” and 175 lbs. He claims a 4.31 shuttle.
Detroit (MI) King cornerback Ambry Thomas publicly committed to Michigan on Wednesday night. He chose the Wolverines over offers from Arizona, Auburn, Florida, Miami, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, and USC, among others.
Thomas is 5’11”, 174 lbs. and claims a 4.43 forty. He also ran a 3.9 shuttle. He attended Nike’s The Opening over the summer and will play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in January.
Detroit (MI) King cornerback Lavert Hill committed to Michigan on National Signing Day. He chose the Wolverines over offers from Clemson, Georgia, Miami, Michigan State, Ohio State, Texas, UCLA, and USC, among others. He was also a one-time Penn State commit.
Hill is 5’10”, 172 lbs. Playing receiver as a senior in 2015, he caught 33 passes for 786 yards and 9 touchdowns; he also made 12 pass breakups (note: I don’t have great faith in the accuracy of Detroit PSL stats sometimes). He was a U.S. Army All-American and named the Army Defensive Back of the Year, a national award.
Detroit (MI) King running back/returner committed to Michigan
on Tuesday evening
Detroit (MI) King running back Dennis Norfleet was offered a scholarship on Tuesday night and committed almost on the spot. He had previously been committed to Cincinnati, and he also held offers from Michigan State, Pitt, and Tennessee.
Norfleet is 5’8″, 175 lbs. and lists a 4.34 time in the forty. As a junior he had 1,880 yards and 31 touchdowns. He followed that up with 2,033 yards and 27 touchdowns as a senior.
Norfleet is solidly built despite being quite short. He stated on Tuesday night that Michigan offered him a chance to play running back, slot receiver, kick returner, and punt returner. Michigan hasn’t had a consistent punt returner since Steve Breaston, and there hasn’t been a solid kickoff return guy since Darryl Stonum in 2009. Norfleet has the short-area quickness and the breakaway speed to be effective at both of those positions. He also could be used as a zone read option guy in the backfield with Denard Robinson or Devin Gardner, or as a pass receiver in the mold of Vincent Smith.
Aside from the obvious concern about his size – his chances of being the full-time back are very slim – I’m not a big fan of the way Norfleet finishes plays. He jogs into the endzone too often, which rubs me the wrong way and makes me question how disciplined he is. Still, it’s better to take an athletic guy whom you might have to instill with some discipline than to bank the scholarship for next year.
Norfleet is Michigan’s 25th commitment in the class of 2012. He’s also the first guy from Martin Luther King High School since defensive tackle Larry Harrison and safety Ernest Shazor left after the 2004 season.
