Counter Intel: Michigan Picks Up Wide Receiver, Arik Gilbert Goes Back to Portal, Greg Schiano Continues Momentum

By David Wertheim on March 6, 2021 at 1:15 pm
Kenny Fletcher
247Sports
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Counter Intel is the smart Ohio State fan's look at recruiting action taking place within the Big Ten and top national programs.

Tay'shawn Trent Commits to Michigan

Since revamping their coaching staff, Michigan and Jim Harbaugh have seen a nice little recruiting run to go alongside it, picking up several four-star and three-star prospects over the last few weeks. 

That continued this week as new receivers coach Ron Bellamy was able to snag a commitment from four-star Detroit wide receiver Tay'shawn Trent.

Choosing the Wolverines over offers from schools such as Indiana, Penn State, and West Virginia, Trent is rated as the No. 281 overall player and the No. 40 wide receiver in the 2022 class. He is also currently the highest-rated offensive player in Michigan's 2022 class which is currently ranked ninth in the country. 

It is clear that the Wolverines have been on quite a run lately, picking up their top four 2022 commits since Feb. 1, including five-star Will Johnson. We will see if the new coaching staff can also see improvement on the field after a dismal 2020. 

Kenny Fletcher Keeps Rutgers' Momentum Going

Speaking of recruiting momentum, Greg Schiano has been on a roll in Piscataway lately and that continued this week as three-star New Jersey native Kenny Fletcher picked the Scarlet Knights.

Fletcher is rated as the No. 412 overall player and the No. 22 defensive end in the 2022 class. He also could potentially play on the offensive side of the ball in college, as he recorded 23 receptions for 350 yards and a touchdown as a senior.

Explaining his decision to Todderick Hunt of NJ Advance Media, Fletcher noted that while Rutgers was the only campus he ever visited, they had everything he was looking for in a school.

“A lot of thought about how far I would be away from my family (if I went elsewhere went into it). I also considered playing time, whether each school saw me as a top recruit."

Arik Gilbert Re-Enters Transfer Portal

A top-five player and thus a five-star recruit out of high school, Arik Gilbert burst onto the scene as a true freshman at LSU, snagging 35 passes for 368 yards and two touchdowns before entering the transfer portal and committing to SEC rival Florida.

Recently, however, Gilbert announced his decision to re-enter the portal as rumors flew around about potential academic issues preventing him from going to Gainesville.  

Obviously, there are going to be a lot of schools with... less strenuous academic requirements than Florida who have a lot of interest in Gilbert, but it is unknown where the Georgia native will ultimately end up at this time. 

Steve Angeli Commits to Notre Dame, Allar Ramifications?

Notre Dame got their quarterback for the 2022 class... but it wasn't really the one the fans wanted.

With Drew Allar's meteoric rise as of late (and with Ohio State already having the best 2022 quarterback committed), the door was open for Notre Dame to win the Allar sweepstakes. Instead, however, the Fighting Irish went with the first quarterback they offered for the 2022 cycle: New Jersey three-star Steve Angeli.

Angeli is rated as the No. 375 overall player and No. 16 pro-style quarterback. For comparison, Allar is now rated as the No. 257 overall player and No. 10 pro-style quarterback. Obviously, recruiting rankings don't tell the whole story, but it will be interesting to follow the careers of these two (as well as Ohio State's Quinn Ewers) as Allar is currently trending towards Penn State.

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