Michigan Football Loses Out On Top IOL Prospect, No. 1 Player In Massachusetts

It was beginning to look like he was Michigan bound, but in recent days, the tide began to shift away from the maize and blue.

Dec 31, 2022; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Michigan Wolverines tight ends coach Grant Newsome against the TCU Horned Frogs during the 2022 Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Michigan football really enjoyed the month of June when it was getting just about anyone it wanted. The Wolverines received eight verbal commitments last month and the maize and blue are sitting at 15 commits as this article is published.

It was looking like Michigan was going to add to its list and add a versatile offensive lineman. 2025 West Roxbury (MA) Dexter School IOL Hardy Watts was trending toward Michigan for quite some time. Watts was predicted by insiders and the Wolverines were leading on the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine to land Watts, but in the past few days -- something happened. The former Clemson vs. Michigan battle turned into an entirely different direction.

On Monday, Watts announced his decision to commit to Luke Fickell and Wisconsin. The Badgers were a top-three team for Watts, but as previously mentioned, it looked as if it were a Clemson and Michigan battle and the Wolverines had the edge in his recruitment.

🚨BREAKING🚨 4-star IOL Hardy Watts has committed to Wisconsin🦡

Watts is the No. 9 IOL in the 2025 On300.

More from @ChadSimmons_: https://t.co/oSY9c4vnDz pic.twitter.com/gL1h9eVjvO

— On3 Recruits (@On3Recruits) July 1, 2024

Watts, a four-star recruit, is the 218th-ranked recruit, the 12th-best IOL, and the top-ranked player in the state of Massachusetts, according to the Composite rankings. Michigan got the last official visit -- Watts came to Ann Arbor back on June 21. He last visited Wisconsin on June 7, but Fickell and the Badgers won the recruitment.

Things are never set in stone in today's recruiting. Michigan could get back into the fold and there was obvious interest between the two sides since so many insiders believed Watts was headed to Ann Arbor. But as of now, Michigan still sits at 15 recruits in the '25 cycle. The Wolverines have two offensive linemen in the fold with one being an IOL in Kaden Strayhorn and the other being four-star OT Avery Gach.

Michigan is also still in contention for five-star offensive tackle, Andrew Babalola. Although he isn't an interior lineman, he's a five-star talent and the Wolverines have their interior guy in Stayhorn. If Michigan could land Babalola, fans would quickly forget about losing Watts to Wisconsin. The maize and blue will have to beat out Stanford to land him.

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