Michigan Football: Wolverines aiming to flip an ACC commitment

Michigan football has been expanding its board recently and on Tuesday, the Wolverines offered a new running back in 2022 who is committed to Wake Forest.

When it comes to running back recruiting in the class of 2022 for Michigan football, things have been pretty quiet since the commitment of CJ Stokes back in June.

Stokes is a three-star prospect currently sitting at 687th overall in the 247 sports composite rankings. However, Michigan football really likes him and you wondered if Michigan was going to push for a second running back commitment in the class.

U-M had momentum with Dillon Bell too before he pledged to Georgia and he was also a guy who had the ability to play running back and wide receiver.

Couple that with the fact that George Pettaway, a four-star running back target, just eliminated the Wolverines when he released a top-four list and it’s not surprising that a new running back offer went out to Wake Forest commitment Demond Claiborne.

Claiborne, who is ranked in the top 500 of the 247 sports composite rankings for the 2022 recruiting class, announced the offer on Twitter after a conversation with Mike Hart.

Can Michigan football flip him?

The 5-foot-10, 180-pound back is ranked 486th overall in 2022 and is listed as 38th among running backs, although the 247 sports own rankings have him ranked 29th at the position.

Claiborne has 15 offers total and some of the other teams after him were West Virginia, Virginia, and Vanderbilt. He visited all three schools and also Wake before committing to the Demon Deacons on July 19th.

According to Steve Lorenz of The Michigan Insider, Claiborne is the second-highest rated three-star running back in the 247 sports rankings and is on the verge of earning a fourth star.

When you look at his highlights, he sure looks like a four-star prospect. He also runs track and his profile has him running a 10.82 in the 100-meter dash. On the field, he plays quickly and shows a nice ability to change direction and avoid tacklers.

However, he’s also got home-run ability. You see him take multiple runs to the house on his highlight reel and I really like this offer from a Michigan football perspective.

Claiborne is out of King William, Virginia and with his interest in Vanderbilt, seems to have a strong academic background too, which could certainly work in the Wolverines’ favor.

No flip is a sure thing and Michigan football is working on a few others too, but with Hart’s ability to recruit, if the Wolverines can get him on campus this fall, a flip might be a real possibility.