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Michigan surges into Top 25 in national team recruiting rankings

ECCrzGbXkAEmHxxby:EJ Holland•about 12 hours•

EJHollandOn3

Michigan Wolverines football head coach Sherrone Moore came out fired up for warmups pre-Michigan State. (Photo by Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Michigan Wolverines football head coach Sherrone Moore came out fired up for warmups pre-Michigan State. (Photo by Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Michigan has moved up in the On3 Industry national recruiting rankings.

The Wolverines jumped 19 spots from No. 42 to No. 23 and also have the seventh ranked class in the Big Ten conference. Michigan’s surge comes after landing Top 100 Newberry Park (Calif.) High quarterback Brady Smigiel.

Smigiel committed to Michigan on Saturday afternoon over fellow finalist South Carolina.

At 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, Smigiel is ranked as the No. 9 quarterback and No. 92 overall recruit nationally, per the On3 Industry Ranking. He is also ranked as the No. 14 overall prospect in the state of California this cycle.

Smigiel threw for 3,521 yards and 49 touchdowns with just three interceptions as a junior last season. He also ran for over 400 yards and 11 more scores. Across three seasons, Smigiel has already thrown for over 11,000 yards and 147 touchdowns.

Smigiel currently has an On3 NIL Valuation of $450K. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets high school and college athletes’ projected annual value (PAV). The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.

Smigiel is the fourth commit in Michigan’s 2026 recruiting class, joining On300 Jacksonville (Fla.) Mandarin cornerback Brody Jennings, three-star Cartersville (Ga.) Cass offensive lineman Bear McWhorter and three-star Dallas (Texas) Parish Episcopal wide receiver Jaylen Pile.

Smigiel is currently the highest rated recruit in the class. Jennings is next in line, checking in as the No. 27 cornerback and No. 276 overall prospect nationally, per the On3 Industry Ranking. Both McWhorther and Pile are ranked as three-star prospects.

Michigan could soon add its fifth commitment of the cycle. The Wolverines are trending heavily for three-star Washington (D.C.) St. John’s EDGE Tariq Boney with a decision expected to come soon. Boney has Michigan in his top group along with Cincinnati, Tulane and West Virginia.

Michigan is looking to land its second straight Top 10 recruiting class after finishing No. 6 last cycle. The Wolverines started slow but finished strong, adding players like five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood, Top 100 offensive lineman Ty Haywood and Top 100 cornerback Shamari Earls.

Full Big Ten Rankings

1. USC
2. Ohio State
3. Oregon
4. Penn State
5. Maryland
6. Iowa
7. Michigan
8. Washington
9. UCLA
10. Illinois
11. Minnesota
12. Nebraska
13. Wisconsin
14. Rutgers
15. Michigan State
16. Indiana
17. Purdue
18. Northwestern


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