Michigan Football: What to make of Davonte Miles decommitment

Michigan football suffered a decommitment in its 2022 recruiting class on Thursday in three-star defensive tackle Davonte Miles. 

The Michigan football program started the day with 16 commitments, but the number dropped down to 15 as Davonte Miles, an in-state pledge re-opened his commitment.

Miles is 6-foot-5, 275 pounds, and ranked as the No. 962 overall prospect in the 2022 composite rankings, as well as the 129th-ranked defensive lineman. He’s also 26th in the state.

Here’s what Miles wrote about his decision on Twitter:

You’ll note that Miles talks about wanting to play his senior season of high school basketball, which isn’t something he would be able to do if he enrolled early at Michigan.

Miles was one of the lower-ranked commitments for Michigan football in the class of 2022 and some wondered why the Wolverines took a lower-ranked three-star last December.

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The timing seemed a little early, however, it felt like the Wolverines were betting on Miles’s long-term development. But if Michigan football wanted him to enroll early and he didn’t want to do that, it’s easy to see how that could lead to a decommitment.

Losing Miles isn’t a huge loss

While the loss does take a defensive tackle off the board for Michigan football, the Wolverines are in a solid position with a slew of other targets, many of which will be in Ann Arbor for the recruiting BBQ this weekend.

Deone Walker who is 6-foot-6, 340 pounds will be on campus this weekend and he’s a must-get for the Wolverines. Kenneth Grant will be also on campus and is another top target at DT.

Obviously, it would be great if the Wolverines could get Walter Nolen as part of the 2022 class, but that seems less and less likely. He’s taking a visit to Texas A&M this weekend and since the Aggies didn’t make his top five, you have to wonder if they are rising and Michigan football is falling.

Either way, I wouldn’t lose too much sleep on Miles. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have been a take in the end and I still believe he’s a Big Ten player, yet there are other solid options too.