Trieu: UM makes push for Carman-Ainsworth’s Fletcher
When Michigan offered Flint Carman-Ainsworth junior defensive end Michael Fletcher in late January, he was surprised as the Wolverines had not previously been in heavy contact.
Fast-forward roughly a month and he now says Michigan is one of the schools who is recruiting him the hardest.
Defensive line coach Greg Mattison came to his school and then a basketball game, then Michigan had him up on a visit. The first part of the visit was allowing the recruits to put on a full Michigan uniform and do a photo shoot. Just before he put on the winged helmet, head coach Jim Harbaugh told Fletcher he had a scholarship offer from Michigan.
Then he donned the uniform.
“I had retro cleats on with the Jordan gloves and Jordan gear jersey, I was feeling myself really. It was just cool to be in that spot and visualize something that you can have on for real one day,” Fletcher said.
At the beginning of the fall, Fletcher had some interest from schools, but his offer list had not taken off yet. At 6-foot-6, nearly 250 pounds, he had almost as many basketball offers as football. Several Mid-American Conference opportunities remain for him on the basketball court.
As his junior year progressed and he continued to produce and his body filled in, more schools came after Fletcher. Now he has offers from Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, and recently, Georgia came through.
He will visit the Bulldogs in the spring.
Fletcher has fielded all this interest while playing basketball. He also continues football training in Pontiac with Rising Stars, which he has for over a year.
“He has basketball from Monday to Friday and then comes down one day on Sundays,” said Rising Stars’ Reggie Wynns. “He wants to be great. That’s why he’s doing both things right now and he’s doing good with it. The progress he has made is with his technique. He’s just getting better technique-wise, but he is listening because he wants to be good.”
After a good performance at Sunday’s Under Armour All-America Camp, Fletcher was rated a four-star prospect by 247Sports.
Wynns has trained many top high school players, several who have gone on to play in the pros, including defensive linemen Malik McDowell and Matt Judon. He sees the potential in Fletcher to do the same.
“Right now, Fletcher’s very raw, he’s learning how to play the game but his ceiling is extremely high,” Wynns said. “We’re talking about a 6-foot-6, 250-pound kid now that runs a 4.6-4.7 (forty-yard dash) and should be a top prospect out of high school and should be a draft pick out of college. He loves the game, so he works hard and that will help tremendously at the next level. It’s tough to find a guy that tall with speed.”
That is the type of upside Michigan wants to add.
Fletcher said he likely would commit at the end of summer.
UM commit earns Under Armour game invite
Michigan commit Nolan Rumler, an offensive lineman from Akron (Ohio) Archbishop Hoban, was invited to play in the Under Armour All-America Game next January after participating in their camp Sunday in Cleveland.
Rumler was one of two camp participants to be invited to the game. The other is , the other being fellow offensive lineman Zeke Correll, who holds a Michigan offer.
He is one of four commits Michigan has in the 2019 class.
Michigan had two 2018 signees, tight end Mustapha Muhammad and cornerback Myles Sims, play in the 2018 Under Armour game.
UM hosts in-state DE
Zeeland East junior Adam Berghorst visited Michigan on Sunday. The Wolverines have offered Berghorst, a 6-foot-7, 245-pound defensive end who some schools also project as an offensive tackle.
This was Berghorst’s second visit to campus this year. He was offered a scholarship in January on his first visit.
Also a high-level baseball prospect, Berghorst was able to speak with Michigan baseball coaches, as well as spend time with head coach Jim Harbaugh and take in a Michigan basketball game.
Michigan State, Northwestern, Purdue, Indiana, Kentucky and others are among Michigan’s competition for Berghorst.
More information
Allen Trieu covers Midwest football recruiting for 247Sports. He has been featured on the Big Ten Network on its annual Signing Day Show. His Michigan and Michigan State recruiting columns appear weekly at detroitnews.com.