luke hamilton

We're caught up on the 2023 class (or at least we were until the commitapalooza last night) but there are still a couple of 2024s who pledged during the season. We'll start with the largest of them, and also the second Ohioan of Harbaugh's latest sojourn into territory that's recently come under Michigan dominion. Despite being a(n almost) consensus top-250 in his class, and likely to stick there, Luke Hamilton isn't a 45-23…more of a 29-7. The Buckeyes gave Hamilton a private workout at the OSU camp last summer, but held back on an offer. MSU got him on campus thrice, but Michigan beat Ohio State on November 26th, and Hamilton had a reaction.

“When that clock ran out and I saw that score, I was super hyped, especially from watching how the offensive line played,” Hamilton told The Wolverine. “I was ecstatic. Coach Moore was hyped when I asked if I could call him. He said ‘of f****** course. I’m not leaving until you do.’ Once I told him, he told me how happy he was to build this for the long run.”

Hamilton pledged to the Wolverines the next day.

GURU RATINGS

Last row is my conversion to a five-star scale. Links are to profiles

These are going to change as the class comes together, and with a guy starting around #200, where his rankings go in the next 14 months is going to be more interesting than the starting point. The big (expected) drop came as the junior film came in on previously un- or low-ranked guys. About 100 moved ahead of Hamilton in the process. Typical recruiting gravity should see him fall at least another 50-80 spots as the class grows.

One thing to keep an eye on is how sticky his 4-star status is. The sites are loathe to drop an early 4-star to a 3-star. When they do, that usually signifies they wanted to drop him more. However they're also slow to review early commits who don't produce much recruiting drama, especially offensive linemen. Falling out of the top-250 and ending up around 300 overall means their opinions didn't change.

[AFTER THE JUMP: The Joe Moore Award approves.]

Within 24 hours of beating Ohio State in Columbus, Michigan has cemented their recruiting foray into Ohio by scooping up two more commits from that state, one in the 2023 class and one in the 2024 class. The first was CB Cameron Calhoun for the '23 class, a native of Cincinnati: 

HO〽️E @Hayesfawcett3 @UMichFootball pic.twitter.com/oiageI14hd

— Cameron Calhoun (@Camcalhoun01) November 27, 2022

Calhoun was a commit to his hometown team, the Cincinnati Bearcats, but reopened his recruitment once P5 teams started paying more attention. Now inside the top 500 of the On3 consensus rankings, Calhoun got an offer from Kentucky and visited the Wildcats last month. Michigan got involved sometime after and closed the gap in a hurry. Calhoun was actually in attendance at The Game yesterday while visiting Ohio State (he did not yet have a proper offer from the Buckeyes), but decided to commit to the Wolverines immediately afterwards. He was later seen celebrating with the Michigan team in Will Johnson's Instagram story. Calhoun is now the first DB in Michigan's 2023 class, a DB group they're trying to cobble together in the final weeks of the recruiting period. 

As for 2024, Michigan landed a pledge from Avon, Ohio's Luke Hamilton, an IOL: 

1000% Committed #GoBlue @Coach_SMoore @CoachJim4UM @coachclink @BriceMarich @AllenTrieu @RivalsLibby @SWiltfong247 @EJHollandOn3 @coach_elderm @recruitgfx pic.twitter.com/QWEGYY2G8p

— Luke Hamilton (@Hammy07422) November 27, 2022

Hamilton is a 4* prospect, inside the top 250 of both the On3 consensus ranking and the 247 composite. He is the 8th-ranked player in Ohio and the 15th-ranked IOL nationally in the 2024 recruiting class. Hamilton visited Michigan for the MSU game in October and the recruitment heated up quickly afterwards. The Wolverines landed his pledge today, their first offensive prospect for the 2024 class, with Manuel Beigel and Mason Curtis both being on defense. Landing a player of Hamilton's caliber is a good early sign that the 2024 class can be an excellent recruiting class that keeps the program rolling. 

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