Why is 4 star safety Dior Johnson going to Wake Forrest?

Submitted by MichiganMan14 on
He is from Southfield Michigan and ranked #5 in the state. He should be in Ann Arbor. This is exactly what we need to shore up to get back in the thick of things. Build a wall around the state and get all the top in state talent. There is no excuse for it to be leaving. Dior is a 6ft2 195 lb 4 star safety from our backyard. He is listed as a soft verbal to boot......bring him back home.

alum96

January 14th, 2015 at 5:55 AM ^

Because outside of MAC schools his only offers are Minn, Illinois, Indiana and Wake Forest?

And I wholly disagree with this old fashioned thinking about locking up the state, taking the top 10 from the state just for pride blah blah.  The quality of Michigan football is not great nationally.  You pick and choose among the few best in stateand then focus your efforts nationally for the best players. Michigan is a national brand - it needs to focus on going into Georgia, Jersey, South Carolina, Florida, Texas, Louisiana and grabbing some kids, along with Midwest kids.

Urban has even relented some on a much bigger hotbed of talent in Ohio to offset it with southern talent.   We need to be doing the same unless our ultimate goal is to be Wisconsin.

Look if the coaches saw him and said wow, why is he so low ranked nationally - this is an undiscovered gem we love in house in our internal scouting, you go get him.    Otherwise you have bigger fish to fry.   Doesn't mean one day he can't be a good or great player, no one knows in the end.

Some of the "3 stars" that have surfaced in the past week on the UM radar have a multitude of Power 5 conference offers.  Very different than this kid.

ST3

January 14th, 2015 at 11:33 AM ^

They had ~double the number of pass breakups and probably triple the number of interceptions, so I don't want to hear that argument anymore. If they are good enough for Minnesota, they're good enough for me. Now let's just coach 'em up.

DFW_Michigan_Man

January 14th, 2015 at 7:03 AM ^

He is a 3-star based on the composite of the services and ranked 609 in the country, which essentially makes him a generic 3 star. I put more stock in the composite rankings than I do a single recruiting services.

Everyone Murders

January 14th, 2015 at 8:47 AM ^

Wake has a very different vibe to it than most Big 5 Conference schools.  A relatively tiny student body, smaller campus, and good if not great academics.  Sometimes a kid chooses a school because it's a great fit for them, even if they may see a bit more attention elsewhere.

Also, OP - it's "Forest" not "Forrest".  Forrest is reserved for fictional dimwitted (yet wise!) characters, and other occasional folks.  The more you know!

cm2010

January 14th, 2015 at 11:06 AM ^

I live in NC, and I've met one WF grad that would go there if they could do it again (and she's...well...boring). It's in an isolated part of WInston-Salem with very little to do. If you want a good education AND have a good time, UNC, NC State, and Duke are all much better options.

jmblue

January 14th, 2015 at 1:15 PM ^

Duke didn't thrill me when I visited it either.  Very pretty campus, but isolated in a dumpy city.  People told me that Duke students often would go to Chapel Hill to hang out, since there wasn't much in Durham.  That seemed pretty weird. I can see why they'd be so hated by the Heels.

cm2010

January 14th, 2015 at 1:19 PM ^

I'm in grad school at UNC, and I have many friends at Duke who come out in Chapel Hill two or three times a week. A couple of them even live in Chapel Hill and commute to Durham every day. There is no doubt that Raleigh and Chapel Hill are vastly superior to Durham.

However, there are fun things to do aroung Duke's campus, which is much more than you can say about Wake.

bronxblue

January 14th, 2015 at 7:19 AM ^

Oh yea, I remember these posts, where people complain about guys not going to Michigan because they live here and Michigan needs to keep everyone.

If he is what the staff wants he would have an offer. The fact MSU, UM, and OSU all passed makes me think he just might not be a good fit. Or everyone is wrong.

Avon Barksdale

January 14th, 2015 at 8:59 AM ^

I'd personally like to see Dior Johnson hop aboard, and truthfully, I'd like to see Harbaugh make a push at Kyle Kearns (4 star QB from CA, uncommitted with low offer sheet), or one of Florida State's three committed QB's. I know stars aren't always the best indicator, but signing a big number of four stars in three weeks couldn't hurt Harbaugh's momentum at Michigan.

Mr Miggle

January 14th, 2015 at 12:37 PM ^

Or you want Harbaugh to take a guy with zero power 5 offers because one rating service gave him a 4* rating? It's difficult imagining him making his recruiting decisions on that basis.

The other services think he's just a generic 3*, as with Dior Johnson.  I don't see any reason to worry about Harbaugh's momentum in recruiting, but taking guys that none of our peers want isn't a way to make your presence felt.