Michigan Wolverines news: Spring ball begins, latest on 5-star CB, and more

Michigan football is back on the field for spring practices, plus an update on five-star recruit Byrce West and more Michigan Wolverines news. 

It’s an exciting time to be a Michigan football fan. The Michigan Wolverines are as talented as they have been in years heading into the 2023 season and the goal is to win a national title.

Truthfully, I’d just love to see a third straight Big Ten championship and a win over Ohio State. Anything beyond that is gravy in my mind and doing those things will be tough enough.

But Michigan football was back on the practice field Monday and one of the younger players has already started turning heads.

Cameron Calhoun, one of nine Michigan Wolverines in the 2023 class that has enrolled early, intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown during Monday’s practice. Since the Wolverines have an interesting position battle going on at corner, it seems especially significant.

It’s early though but Calhoun is a name to watch to start alongside five-star sophomore-to-be Will Johnson who has the look of an All-American.

Michigan football is still in the mix for five-star CB Bryce West

Bryce West is the No. 26 overall prospect in the 2024 recruiting class and the 5-foot-11 cornerback out of Cleveland, Ohio is one of the Michigan Wolverines’ top targets in the entire 2024 class.

West has been on campus already this year for an unofficial visit and told Steve Wiltfong of 247 this about Michigan football: 

"“I like the atmosphere there,” West said. “The coaches always show great love. They always text me and make sure I’m doing good in school and outside of school and I have a good relationship with Coach Clink. I know they develop elite corners. You can see this past year they have a strong defense every year. Being around that atmosphere there is a lot of love.”"

West is expected to visit Oregon and USC next, although it sounds like he won’t be making any decisions until after taking more visits this summer.

Michigan football definitely seems in line for one of those five official visits and while pulling West from Ohio will be difficult, Michigan has been trending up in the state and with Steve Clinkscale, you never know.  The Buckeyes have two crystal ball projections at this time for West.

Michigan women’s basketball suffers key loss

Speaking of Ohio State, the Michigan women’s basketball team hosted the Buckeyes Monday night in a critical game and the Wolverines fell short 74-61.

Leigha Brown had a spectacular game with 36 points. She connected on three 3-pointers, grabbed nine rebounds, and dished out three assists.

Yet, it wasn’t enough as the rest of the starting lineup when 8-for-24 for the Michigan Wolverines who dropped to 20-7 on the season and 10-6 in the Big Ten.

The Wolverines don’t really have a shot at the double bye now in the Big Ten tournament. They do need to win their last two games and as many in the tournament as possible as they try to maintain a top-4 seed, which would allow them to host a regional as they did in 2022.