The college football program upping its stock as much as any on the recruiting trail on National Signing Day happens to be the defending national champs.
Michigan is on a tear, kicked off by the Bryce Underwood flip, which threw a jolt into the class down the home stretch. On Tuesday it flipped fellow five-star Nathaniel Marshall from Auburn and on Wednesday, on national television, another five-star in Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng joined the fold.
The Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy star, a Notre Dame legacy, selected UM over Colorado and the Irish in the end. The senior took multiple trips to Ann Arbor over the last several months, including an official visit in June before a pair of game day trips to campus during the 2024 season.
During each of the treks to see Sherrone Moore’s program, considerable buzz would follow the Owusu-Boateng camp. It began as novelty and turned into the pace-setting program in very short order since the offseason.
Now Michigan is on the verge of a top-five recruiting class, the highest it has worked on National Signing Day since 2017 when it brought in the No. 4-ranked class, which also featured a trio of five-stars at the top.
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What Owusu-Boateng brings to Ann Arbor
UM just locked in one of the most modern linebackers in the class of 2025. Not only is he ideally built to work on the second level at a rocked-up 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, but he works with a suddenness and a fluidity that can both be the key towards moving him around a defense and propel him to work as a three-down player able to contend with backs and inside pass-catchers in space.
On top of the natural gifts, which included short-area explosion and long speed alike, the future Wolverine also works with a competitive edge that is easy to get behind. He is a tireless worker, vocal leader and the type of Alpha personality that should be leading the middle of a Big Ten defense. Others will rally around his game and energy at the next level.
Owusu-Boateng is comfortable working downhill like a traditional inside ‘backer, but he has this ground-covering ability on the outside -- potentially built for the back side -- that will make defensive coaches smirk. We envision him building a role early on during his tenure in Ann Arbor, critical in his decision-making process from the beginning, before becoming the potential leader of the defense down the line.
Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on Rivals.com, the leader in college football and basketball recruiting coverage. Be the first to know and follow your teams by signing up here.
