Ben VanSumeren Commits To Michigan Comment Count

Ace

Three days after receiving a Michigan offer, Essexville (MI) Garber FB/HB/LB Ben VanSumeren flipped his commitment from Iowa to the Wolverines.

VanSumeren is a three-star ranked 11th in the state on the 247 Composite. As a potential fullback, H-back, or linebacker, he is a very Harbaugh recruit. He's the 17th commit in the 2018 class, which ranks 12th nationally.

I'll have a full Hello post tomorrow.

Comments

NateVolk

December 17th, 2017 at 4:05 PM ^

I'll predict Ben is going to be a key program contributor and fan favorite who will be remembered long past his time at Michigan.

Diligent, passionate work does move mountains in life.

A Harbaugh kind of player to the core.

As a Bay Cityan, Michigan fan, and an admirer of his family: I am personally thrilled these two great things are going to be connected going forward. 

 

Honk if Ufer M…

December 17th, 2017 at 6:08 PM ^

"Guy is going to be a stud."

How many foals are you expecting him to produce? Is this going to be a naturally occurring process between him & whatever mares he hooks up with or will the recruiting department be procuring them and running this thing somewhere in the bowels or loins of Yost's old barn?

TrueBlue2003

December 18th, 2017 at 1:23 PM ^

with high potential.  From a smaller/lesser known school that probably isn't highly scouted/recruited so lower early rankings make sense.  And he's clearly very athletic.  All the makings of a fairly high ceiling, true sleeper-type guy.  That he's from Michigan and is a lifelong fan only makes it better, IMO.  Should provide good leadership and passion to the rivalries, etc.

Gald to have this kid aboard.

maize-blue

December 17th, 2017 at 4:09 PM ^

Iowa was recruiting his as a LB.

UM is planning to use him on offense, as far I know. It was a good decision on his part, regardless of his UM fandom, because he can play here as a true freshman.

True Blue Grit

December 18th, 2017 at 11:34 AM ^

Wisconsin thrive on.  Under-recruited, underrated, athletic, and smart athletes who they develop into All Big Ten players.  With his smarts, I can definitely see him playing LB at Iowa.  But, evidently he opted for the Michigan Difference and the opportunity to play offense.  As you say, he has a much better chance to see the field sooner on offense compared to defense.

Welcome aboard Mr. Vansumeren!  You have chosen wisely.

FLwolvfan22

December 17th, 2017 at 5:43 PM ^

we win those games. When your QB is throwing two or more passes directly to the Buckeyes and/or can't even make one simple 20 yd connection to a receiver down field, well, that's just not Michigan football and apparently that has been rememdied.

Meanwhile, all their five stars and they weren't any better on the field but they didn't have a QB making critical mistakes. Oh and Clemson hasn't had a top five recruiting class in a while, certainly not any of their current upperclassmen, the last three years they've averaged 9th in the rankings

WeimyWoodson

December 17th, 2017 at 9:39 PM ^

But at some point Michigan needs to take advantage of "outplaying" OSU.  The fact of the matter is Michigan needs to get a win over them.  This is exactly why Harbaugh reached out to Patterson once he heard that Wilton was transfering out.  Wanting to get better across the board.  It was refreshing to hear his criticisms of the team, saying they needed to get stronger and weren't good enough.  

True Blue Grit

December 18th, 2017 at 11:42 AM ^

I'd argue that OSU underperforms given the incredible level of their recruiting classes.  If you just take into account star ratings, they should be blowing out EVERYONE on their schedule by 3 TD's or more.  But they don't.  In fact they had two losses this year including getting taken to the woodshed by an Iowa team mostly made up of 3 star players.  By their recruiting rankings, they should be in the NC game every year.  But they aren't.  Some highly rated players don't pan out or they don't work as hard or they don't fit in very well with the rest of the team.  Whereas you see lower rated guys working their butts off to be starters.  I think getting the right kind of players for the system who are either excellent athletes now or have the potential to turn into them, are the key - whatever their star rating is.

Blue in Paradise

December 18th, 2017 at 12:39 PM ^

Rankings matter but putting a class together is not just an exercise in trying to get the highest rated kids. You need a core of highly talented kids supplemented with lower rates kids that are grinders along with high upside kids that need time to develop...

A team with 50 high 4 / 5 Star types just means that you have 5 stars airing on the 3rd string getting frustrated because they could be starting at other top 25 teams.

TrueBlue2003

December 18th, 2017 at 1:34 PM ^

going on.  Yes, they recruit at an incredible level, but they also lose a ton of them to early entry, so comparing just recruiting rankings and assuming all else is equal, isn't correct.

Experience and age do matter in college football such that a second or third year 5 star is probably on average going to be equivalent to a fourth or fifth year 4-star or high 3-star (think Chris Wormley being about as valuable last year as Gary was this year).  Generally, the higher rated guys will be more athletic and make plays but will also tend to make more mental mistakes, such that it'll sort of even out.

 

Wolfman

December 17th, 2017 at 7:19 PM ^

player award for the next 5 years. Wonder if it should ever end in a tie if they'll let them have a  "hit off" to break it. In all seriousness though, imo, this is one hell of a pick up and you can never have enough of these type of players in the locker room. They - both Bens - epitomize what a player at this level should be in terms of committment and dedication. 

Honk if Ufer M…

December 17th, 2017 at 6:21 PM ^

Well a .283 career batting average is pretty decent in baseball but as a winning percentage in football it might be considered somethingt less than stellar, and although I'm not up on the new math, I'm not sure winning less than one in 3 counts as quite EVERY year, does it?

Hott Karl

December 17th, 2017 at 5:01 PM ^

I grew up in Essexville. News stories in the local paper/MLive look like the scene at Garber was utter insanity while the Harbaughs and Mattison were there.
Good luck to the kid, and Go Blue!