Michigan has stolen another top-rated recruit from Alabama:

I met with @mgoblog last night. I'll begin working again as a contributor and ease my way back into working again as we make sure I can handle the workload with the hopes of taking more on as things go. I don't have words to express how excited I am to get back to it.

— Ace Anbender (@AceAnbender) July 2, 2019

h/t to AdamBomb for breaking the news.

His name should be familiar around these parts, although surprisingly, I'm not aware of a crystal ball from Sam Webb on this.

SCOUTING

Well he's been here before so while this info is a bit old, it should still be relevant:

When the acclaimed TomVH packed up his bags for the bright lights of ESPN, Brian put out the call for his replacement. And, to our surprise, the position was filled rather quickly, by some guy named Ace who previously wrote at some other blog or something.  As if other Michigan blogs exist, right?

Since then, Ace has quickly carved out his own niche, both interviewing prospective recruits and covering sporting events and pressers as well. His style and writing voice has blended seamlessly with the existing culture of the blog, and yet he clearly seasoned the official content in ways we have never tasted before. And all the while, he is omnipresent, and certainly his biggest day of the year will fall next Wednesday as we learn of the luckiest two-dozen plus young men who will get to call themselves Michigan Men.

We don't have much recent info because A) I'm bad at this and B) he's had some health issues.  We can't do anything about the former, but he addressed concerns about the latter:

this doesn't mean I'm fully healthy, but I'm in a much better place than I was post-surgery last year, and I've obviously been getting the itch to podcast and write. if you're interested in sponsoring the Ace Pod, holler at @Misopogon.

Translation:  He's not going to be taking on double-teams against ND.  Fortunately, that's not his job.

OFFERS

MGoBlog, where he has infinite eligibility.  I don't know if he's received other offers.  We can dismiss with prejudice the rumors that he took an official visit to Spartan Avenue because that would be absurd but mostly because I completely made that up just now.

HIGH SCHOOL

I guess he went to one and graduated and stuff.

STATS

None available but I'm curious about his wpm.

FAKE 40 TIME

None disclosed.

VIDEO

Sorry, Ace.  We do this because we love you.

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

Brian has already burned his redshirt and pressed him into service during the recent recruiting haul, so we already know his writing quality hasn't skipped a beat.  From there it's just a matter of easing him into the rotation.

There's a bit of side drama in that Brian now needs someone to get up to speed on Michigan baseball, but is anyone seriously expecting a position switch for someone who just arrived?  We expect one of the regular contributors to pick up that slack, but stranger things have happened.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

I need someone to Photoshop a list of MGoBlog contributors in the format of a commit list.  But for now, I'll just say that Ace's return isn't expected to move any recruiting rankings because MGoBlog isn't a scholarship sport.  On the plus side, that means the NCAA can't stop Ace from getting paid (hey-ohhhh).