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Mother of former Michigan signee Xavier Worthy opens up on switch from U-M to Texas

clayton-sayfieby:Clayton Sayfie•09/08/23•

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Xavier Worthy (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

Junior Xavier Worthy is a star Texas wide receiver who’s accumulated 1,831 receiving yards and 21 touchdowns in 25 games. If things had gone differently, though, perhaps he’d be helping lead a Michigan Wolverines football team that has won the Big Ten and made the College Football Playoff the last two seasons.

Then an under-the-radar recruit out of Fresno (Calif.) Central East, Worthy committed to Michigan in July 2020, over Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Oregon, Penn State, Tennessee, USC, Washington and other major programs.

Prior to pledging to the Wolverines, Worthy was considered an Oregon lean, but there was reportedly a “falling out” between the Ducks’ staff and his camp. On National Signing Day that December, Worthy, still committed to Michigan, chose between U-M and Alabama on Instagram Live., sticking with the Wolveriines But the Worthy drama was just getting started at that point.

An article by Max Olson of The Athletic this week reflected back on the curious case of Worthy, who was originally set to enroll early at Michigan, didn’t, still moved to Ann Arbor and eventually asked out of his National Letter of Intent. At the time, for context, Matt Dudek was Michigan’s director of recruiting. However, he’s no longer with the program, having resigned from the position in April 2021.

“When he first picked Michigan, Worthy planned to be an early enrollee,” Olson wrote. “His school district didn’t allow seniors to graduate early. [Mother Nicky] Jones got creative. She got him enrolled in Apex Learning Virtual School, an online program, for the fall of 2020. It wasn’t easy to get that plan lined up without guidance counselors, but Jones ensured his class schedule met all graduation and NCAA initial eligibility requirements.

“In early January 2021, two weeks before Worthy would move to Ann Arbor with [quarterback] J.J. McCarthy, [running back] Donovan Edwards and the Wolverines’ freshman enrollees, a problem emerged. Michigan has strict admissions standards for midyear enrollees, one former staffer said, and wasn’t able to get Worthy admitted into school. He was told that based on his academic profile, it would be better to enroll in June for U-M’s summer bridge program. His mother was stunned.”

“For me, that didn’t fly,” Jones told The Athletic. “I turned in all of his academic paperwork and applications in September. As far as I had been told, up until two weeks before, he was on track to enroll early. There was nothing missing, nothing short, they’d waived the SATs. It didn’t make sense. Something wasn’t right. What’s the problem and why am I finding out about this now?”

Olson explained that Worthy secured an apartment in Ann Arbor in January 2021 while the rest of Michigan’s early enrollees were already on campus, but he wasn’t allowed to work out in the building and could only attend Zoom meetings. After roughly a month, Worthy moved home to Fresno, asked of out of his letter of intent and soon chose to attend Texas in the fall, helmed by head coach Steve Sarkisian, the former Alabama offensive coordinator who was recruiting him in Tuscaloosa.

“Michigan messed that up,” Jones said. “The trust wasn’t there. For us, trust is so big in everything. We just never felt like we were getting the truth about what happened. It was just a lot of, ‘We’re sorry.’”

Per On3, the former Michigan signee was the No. 18 overall recruit and second-best wide receiver in the country in 2021.

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