Michigan landed a commitment from 3* RB Micah Ka'apana over the weekend, the second RB in their 2024 recruiting class after Ohio's Jordan Marshall. Ka'apana hails from Bishop Gorman HS in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is a recruit that Michigan and Mike Hart have keyed in on for some time, hence their willingness to take him in the class in mid-June. Who is this masked man and why are the Michigan coaches so intrigued by his talent? Let's see: 

GURU RATINGS

RATINGS BY SITE
247: 5'11/195	On3: 5'11/195	Rivals: 5'11/185	ESPN: 6'0/185
3*, 86, NR Ovr #72 RB, #4 NV	3*, 88, NR Ovr #42 RB, #2 NV	3*, 5.7, NR Ovr #29 RB, #3 NV	3*, 77, #91 West #64 RB, #7 NV
3.57	3.79	3.82	3.55
COMPOSITE RANKINGS
247 Composite	On3 Consensus	MGoBlog
3*, 0.8744, #730 Ovr #55 RB, #4 NV	3*, 87.33, #718 Ovr #57 RB, #4 NV	3.5*, #593/793 Ovr #44/61 RBs since 1990
3.74	3.73	3.70

At this time the scouting services view Ka'apana as a consensus 3* prospect, with Rivals and On3 being on the higher end of the evaluation while ESPN and 247 are on the lower end. Every site but ESPN has Ka'apana as a top four player in the state of Nevada, with ESPN rating him 7th. On our five star scale, Ka'apana ranks as a 3.70 star player out of 5 and 44th out of 61 RBs in our database since 1990. Rather ho-hum, but we will learn shortly why Mike Hart believes Ka'apana is much better than the public sites believe. Size-wise there is broad agreement, Ka'apana is likely 5'11 and somewhere between 185 and 195 lbs., with the weight discrepancy likely attributable to recency of update. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: #SpeedInSpace meets Mike Hart 2.0]

SCOUTING

Ka'apana was a pretty unknown prospect back when Hart offered him in the spring, so scouting here is pretty limited. When you play at a national power and have to fight for carries (and thus didn't get much exposure as an underclassman), it's going to lead to a more subdued profile- and also limited scouting. What we have is mostly from the Michigan sources and is pretty concise. EJ Holland of On3 is a fan ($): 

Ka’apana is ranked in the 700s right now, but he is a candidate to rise up the rankings this fall. After all, Ka’apana was only a part-time starter at national powerhouse Bishop Gorman last year ... Ka’apana shows excellent top-end speed on tape and is a home run threat every time he touches the ball.

EJ stressed the contrasts with Michigan commit Jordan Marshall as RBs and brought up some familiar names: 

Ka’apana is a perfect complement to Marshall, who is a bruiser in between the tackles. Marshall more resembles Blake Corum in his running style, while Ka’apana shares some traits with Donovan Edwards. This could very well be the next dynamic duo in Ann Arbor. ... Marshall has the potential to take over the bell cow role as a true freshman, while Cabana and Ka’apana can provide some excitement to the offense with their speed and versatility

On3's Zach Libby interviewed Ka'apana and he agreed that his playing style complements Marshall's ($): 

“Jordan reached out to me after I received the offer,” Ka’apana said. “He speaks very highly of his future home and that’s something I really respect about him. With the offense that Michigan has, the one-two punch between us and our play styles could be something special.”

247's Blair Angulo saw some of Ka'apana against Mater Dei this year and reports on his acceleration and vision: 

A heady runner with an aggressive style, Kaapana doesn’t shy away from attacking gaps between the tackles and shows tremendous acceleration once he reaches the second level. In the high-profile matchup against powerhouse Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei, which featured several elite Power Five defenders, Kaapana averaged more than five yards per carry and flashed terrific vision and anticipation, waiting for lanes to develop before wiggling through traffic for positive gains. 

Touch The Banner did a recruiting profile of Ka'apana over the weekend after he committed and agreed with the consensus about Ka'apana's speed: 

Ka’apana is a speedy, gliding back with a second gear to pull away from defenders, even though he doesn’t seem to be running that hard ... His speed will be a mismatch for linebackers trying to cover him in the flat or potentially on angle routes, wheel routes, etc

TTB thought Ka'apana isn't just fast, he can see the field too and is a weapon in the passing game: 

(Ka'apana's) vision is apparent on some cutbacks, and he’s able to plant one foot and go when he sees a hole open. He also excels as a pass catcher, running arrow routes and even verticals out of the backfield.

As you'd expect with a 3*, though, there are areas for improvement and rounding out the hard edges: 

The real question about Ka’apana is his ability to break tackles and earn tough yards. He’s able to shake off some chasing tacklers, but when he meets defenders head on, he tends to curl up or bounce out of bounds rather than trying to power through or cut back to the middle of the field. ... Running backs coach Mike Hart does not generally play running backs who don’t play tough. 

And then there's one hell of a comp. here: 

I would liken him a little bit to former Michigan running back Drake Johnson, who averaged 5.5 yards per carry and 15.3 yards per catch as a backup from 2013-2015.

Hopefully Ka'apana does not have Drake Johnson's injury history! 

OFFERS 

Like I'Marion Stewart, who I Hello'd on Monday, this was the sort of recruitment where there wasn't really a defined runner-up, since Michigan had such an overwhelming lead after showing interest. Ka'apana wanted to come to Michigan and once Michigan gave him the green light to commit, it was signed, sealed, delivered without much question. The "runner up" was likely OKST, who appeared to be the leader before Michigan got on pursuit. Other possible finalists were probably Nebraska and Arizona State. Ka'apana also held offers from other western schools such as hometown UNLV, as well as Utah, BYU, Hawaii, Wazzu, and New Mexico State. A largely regional recruitment and one devoid of national powers beyond the Wolverines. 

HIGH SCHOOL 

Ka'apana attends Bishop Gorman HS, a Catholic co-ed prep school in Las Vegas famous for its high-end athletic programs. Its football team in particular is a legendary powerhouse, winning state titles in 2007, 2009-18, and 2021-22, its most recent coming at the 5A level. Mixed in with its state championships, the team claims national championships in 2014, 2015, and 2016. As you'd expect, the list of football alumni is immense, including such QBs as Tate Martell (remember him?) and UCLA's Dorian Thompson-Robinson, former NFL rushing champion DeMarco Murray, and star Notre Dame/Baltimore Ravens OT Ronnie Stanley. Other athletes from Bishop Gorman include mercurial and still-missing-at-sea Bison Dele (also a one-time Detroit Piston), Twins OF Joey Gallo, Mariners reliever Paul Sewald, and Spurs big man Zach Collins. President of the UFC Dana White also finds himself on the alumni list. 

Michigan Football, while having procured a few players from Nevada in the last two decades, hasn't had much success attracting players from Bishop Gorman prior to Ka'apana. In fact, he's the first player Michigan has ever signed from the school. Other Nevadans under Harbaugh include Cade McNamara, who was from the Reno area and attended Damonte Ranch and Casey Hughes (the Utah transfer and an elite Remember Some Guys name), who was from North Las Vegas and attended Legacy. Going back further, Rich Rod-era long snapper George Morales was also a North Vegas kid and attended Mojave, and Tom Brady-era tiny RB Manus Edwards was from Henderson and attended Green Valley. 

STATS 

Bishop Gorman's whole team has video game statlines, but Ka'apana's 2022 line of 1001 rushing yards on 70 carries for a 14.3 YPC average is arguably the most insane line on the team. Also of note: 15 of those 70 carries (21%!) went for TDs. In the receiving game he caught 11 passes for 192 yards (17.5 average) and four additional TDs. 

2022 was the first season of significant work for Ka'apana, as he was a third-stringer in 2021 as a sophomore, receiving only 20 carries on the year. However, those 20 carries did go for 269 yards, another astronomical 13.5 YPC clip that was by far the best on the team. Ka'apana's freshman season was wiped out by COVID, the Gaels only playing two games. 

FAKE 40 TIME 

Ka'apana reports a 4.46 on his Hudl page, which is the only time I've seen for him so far. For a player considered to be a speed back, that time is not crazy, but since it is not verified or officially timed and reported by a player who has an incentive to inflate it, we give it four FAKEs out of five. 

VIDEO 

Junior highlights: 

More available on his Hudl page.

ETC 

Competed in the Polynesian Bowl all-star game this past offseason. Hawaii ties and was a part of the Ewa Beach Sabres Youth Football Program in Ewa Beach, HI. 

 

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE 

Ka'apana is an intriguing take for this Michigan recruiting class, a player who may be ranked in the 700s but there's a lot of reason to believe his talent level is quite a bit higher than that. He hasn't been on the camp circuit and has been fighting for carries on a loaded team at a national powerhouse, one that didn't allow him to get the limelight as an underclassman. As a junior, he got more of the spotlight and posted 1,000 yards on a comically small amount of carries, putting up cartoon YPC numbers. While his whole team manhandles the opposition, Ka'apana's YPC clips have been exceptional even relative to his teammates for two straight seasons. As a senior this fall, his workload should increase even further and I'd expect some degree of a rise up the rankings to follow. 

His playing style as a speed back with real athleticism indeed meshes well with Jordan Marshall, an accelerator himself but more of a north-south between the tackles RB. I'd expect Marshall to be ready to be a bellcow in year #1 next fall (assuming Edwards and Corum are both gone), while Ka'apana will have the opportunity to fight Cole Cabana for the right to be the designated speed/receiving back [Ben Hall and CJ Stokes in the mix as bruisers too]. Even if he doesn't seize a job right away, I will love to see what Ka'apana can do under the tutelage of Hart, who can take Ka'apana's raw speed and coach up his vision (which seems to already be solid) and toughness, while Ben Herbert strengthens him up. You never know that you've gotten a diamond in the rough until the player indeed turns out to be a diamond, but Ka'apana seems as promising for that designation as you can get at this position. There's a reason that Hart prioritized him heavily and was content to take his commitment in lieu of fighting for Tatum... he's a high upside kid. 

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Michigan now has two running backs in the 2024 class in Jordan Marshall and Ka'apana, which makes this feel complete. When I last did a full-scale update on recruiting, I discussed a debate between Michigan waiting until the fall to fight it out for high 4* Taylor Tatum of Texas or taking an early commitment from a 3* back (I mentioned Ka'apana as a possibility for that scenario). Given that Ka'apana is now in the class, it appears we have our answer. Tatum was long considered a Michigan lean but perhaps momentum from USC made Michigan change their priorities, or maybe Mike Hart is simply enamored with Ka'apana (he clearly regards the kid very highly).

Either way, they opted to take Ka'apana in June and since it's hard to see them taking 3 RBs, it feels like the RB shopping is done. Thus, Tatum is likely destined for either SoCal or Oklahoma. I suppose there's a scenario where if Tatum really wants to come to Michigan, you don't tell him no, but that feels unlikely because few RBs are going to want to be the third back in a class... too many mouths to feed. 3* RB Darrion Dupree has canceled his visit to Ann Arbor, further confirming that RB recruiting sweepstakes are coming to an end. 

In which case, Michigan offensive recruiting for 2024 has hit closing time. QB is set, RB feels set, TE is set, and they already have five OL. Realistically you're looking at Michigan only needing a couple more players on offense to round out the class. They are looking to add one more blue chip OL, either 4* Bennett Warren or 4* Michael Uini, both mammoth tackles. There are rumors that if both wanted to come, Michigan wouldn't say no, but we'll see. At WR they want 4* Jordan Shipp and then ideally one more, but I think there's a scenario where they only take three receivers. But nail down Shipp and one of the two OL and you're pretty much done (likely will be done before the fall begins), allowing the offensive coaches to get a head start on 2025. 

THE CLASS AS IT STANDS

OFFENSE
Pos	Player	State	Stars	In a nutshell
QB	Jadyn Davis	NC	4.7	Smooth, accurate field general
RB	Jordan Marshall	OH	4.4⬇	Accelerates South-North
RB	Micah Ka'apana	NV	3.7⬆	Well-balanced accelerator
WR	I'Marion Stewart	IL	3.9⬇	Ronnie slick/quick, #1 WR to M
WR	Channing Goodwin	NC	3.8	Chain-moving son of Jon
TE	Brady Prieskorn	MI	4.4⬇	Colston Loveland Midwest
TE	Hogan Hansen	WA	4.1⬆	Colston Loveland West
LT	Andrew Sprague	MO	4.2⬆	Basketballin' grow-a-Long
RT	Blake Frazier	TX	4.2⬆⬆	Athletic son of Steve
RG	Luke Hamilton	OH	4.0	Midwestern mauler
LG	Ben Roebuck	OH	3.8⬇⬇	Bigger Midwestern mauler
C	Jake Guarnera	FL	3.8	Mauler but center
DEFENSE
Pos	Player	State	Stars	In a nutshell
DT	Manuel Beigel	CT	3.5⬇	Lengthy German via Choate
DT	Owen Wafle	NJ	4.0⬇	Little nose with bite
DT	Ted Hammond	OH	4.0	Cincy build-a-bear
SDE	Jerod Smith	CT	4.0⬆	Low-pads, high-motor big twin
Edge	Devon Baxter	MD	3.8⬆	Super long 4-3 grow-an-edge.
OLB	Mason Curtis	TN	4.2⬆	Long athlete moving up
OLB	Jaden Smith	NC	3.8⬆	Underscouted Uche
HSP	Cole Sullivan	PA	3.8	Hybrid LB with crazy athleticism
S	Jacob Oden	MI	4.1	Tall son of coach