Ann Arbor’s Pioneer High School sits exactly 589 steps from The Big House, one of the most iconic stadiums in college football
Jim Harbaugh played high school football there before moving to California, and returned as a quarterback at Michigan. Now he’s the eccentric head coach for the Wolverines.
Antjuan Simmons is a star linebacker for the Pioneers, a four-star recruit in the 2017 class with offers from every big-time program in the Midwest and many top programs outside of it.
Simmons committed to Ohio State over his hometown team. The reason? Harbaugh never actually made those 589 steps from the Big House to Pioneer High School.
On Nov. 30, Simmons decommitted from Ohio State. Now, the No. 2 outside linebacker in the Midwest is seriously considering Notre Dame, Michigan State and … Arizona.
The Wildcats are, of course, coached by Rich Rodriguez, who was unceremoniously fired by Michigan after a bumpy three-year run. RichRod is back in Michigan now, trying to lure some of the state’s best high school players to follow him to Tucson.
“You ask the question,” said Bryce Wolma, a tight end from Saline, Michigan, committed to Arizona’s 2017 class, “Why does a guy from Michigan want to go all the way out to Arizona when he has everything he wants here?”
UA’s Michigan ties
Rodriguez went 15-22 during his three years at Michigan before he was fired. His next step — Arizona — was a bit of a surprise.
The Wildcats aren’t national brands like USC or Stanford. Both schools recruit nationally.
Yet last year the Wildcats landed defensive end Jalen Cochran from Plymouth, Michigan, swooping him from the grips of Michigan State. The UA was a finalist for receiver Desmond Fitzpatrick, a four-star receiver from Farmington, Michigan. (He picked Louisville.)
The UA lured Wolma away from Northwestern over the summer and has recently made Simmons its top priority. Simmons recently took an official visit to campus.
It’s not just those two players. Arizona has offered scholarships to 12 Michigan high schoolers for 2017, and one for 2018. It’s no coincidence. The UA’s recruiting coordinator, Chris Singletary, is a Michigan graduate and former Wolverines support staffer. UA assistants Rod Smith, Tony Dews, Calvin Magee and Jahmile Addae all coached (and recruited) in the state.
Rodriguez is still a big name in Ann Arbor, where some of the animosity toward the coach seems to have cooled.
“The kids they’ve recruited have spoken highly of them,” said Allen Trieu, a Midwest recruiting analyst for Scout.com.
“I think (Rodriguez) was very successful before Michigan, he’s been successful at Arizona. I don’t think those Michigan years stick in their heads too much. Even though they didn’t win as much as they would’ve liked on the field at Michigan, I think they did establish some good relationships with the high school coaches over there and those remain.”
Wolma has been friends with Rhett Rodriguez, Rich’s son, since middle school. Wolma said he would’ve chosen Arizona even if Rhett, a quarterback, wasn’t a UA commit.
“It was a factor,” Wolma said of Rhett. “But it wasn’t that big because when I went out and visited, and went to the facility, and watched practice and stuff like that, I looked around and thought, ‘This is pretty freaking cool’. I wanted to go there.”
Many stay home
Arizona will continue to recruit Michigan, though it’s unlikely the Wildcats will ever be major players there.
Consider: 105 of the top 125 players to come out of Michigan since 2012 have stayed in the Midwest. That’s an 84 percent clip.
Of the 20 who left the area, only one — Cochran — signed with a Pac-12 school. He redshirted for the UA this fall.
“It’s no grudge on Michigan State,” Cochran told the Star in August. “I just felt like here (at Arizona), it was a better fit.”
But the reasons to stay home, or close to home, are many.
A recruit “can’t just drive to Arizona, but he can walk across the street to Michigan, or take a pretty easy drive to Michigan State or Ohio State or Notre Dame. I think that gives those schools an advantage,” Trieu said. “That’s why when a school like Arizona is able to come to the Midwest and get a kid … it has to be a pretty good job by the staff to get in on a kid like that.”
Cochran initially wanted to go to Michigan State, but the Spartans took too long to offer him a scholarship.
Wolma’s only Big Ten offer came from Northwestern.
“A lot of times guys just go to Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, schools around here,” Wolma said. “It’s 10 degrees outside right now; it’s probably 80 in Arizona.”
Cats looking
for an edge
It’s going to take more than warm weather to reel in a player like Simmons. Ohio State’s scholarship offer still stands. Notre Dame and Michigan State want him, too.
However, the Wildcats can offer something those schools cannot — playing time. They’re desperate for help at linebacker.
Arizona can call Simmons the centerpiece of its recruiting class, too. While Ohio State has 16 four- and five-star recruits committed for 2017 and Notre Dame has 13, the UA has just two.
Simmons has a good relationship with UA coaches. Dews, Magee and Singletary have all visited him.
It comes down to the question Wolma asked: Why does a guy from Michigan want to go all the way out to Arizona when he has everything he wants here?”
“Personally, a lot has to do with the staff. I love the staff,” Wolma said. “Coach Dews came out for a home visit and just stayed for four hours and we talked about everything. It’s guys like that who become the attraction for a program.
“A lot of guys look for coaches, even if they don’t like the school, if they like the coaches it won’t matter where they are. I think the coaching staff is a big part of where guys look to go.
“That can be close and that can be far. I just found my school far away.”
