Ben Roebuck goes in-depth on Michigan commitment
Michigan continued its recruiting hot streak when four-star offensive lineman Ben Roebuck announced his pledge to the Wolverines via Tweet on Wednesday. The Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward standout is the ninth addition to a 2024 Wolverine recruiting class which now ranks No. 5 nationally following his announcement.
Roebuck joins fellow four-stars Luke Hamilton, Ted Hammond and Jordan Marshall as the fourth Ohio native to commit to Michigan in the 2024 class.
Following Wednesday's announcement, Roebuck sat down with Rivals for an in-depth look at his decision to become a Wolverine.
Roebuck on the weeks leading up to his commitment and why he knew Michigan was the place for him:
"I took my quarterback up there two weekends ago because he's like the biggest Michigan fan I know," Roebuck said. "I told him before the season that I would take him up there if we won state. So I took him up there and just the way they treated him by showing him everything and pretty much giving him an all-exclusive pass said a lot. Seeing that was kind of like the turning point. From then on out, I think it was just kind of meant to be."
"Really just taking him up there, and seeing how they treated him, I just thought it was really special," Roebuck said. "I really thought they'd just have him as one of my visitors. But, to then let him get a photo shoot and experience all of that good stuff which makes a visit fun - I'm really glad they let him do that. Just to see how they treated him without really knowing him is what made them special in my mind."
On his decision to not drop a top list:
"I was kind of planning on it," Roebuck said. "Then after I went to both spring practices, I was pretty certain that I was ready and didn't really need a top list."
On the actual commitment:
"I actually committed with coach (Sherrone) Moore," Roebuck said. "When they first offered me it was in his office, so I asked him if I could get a meeting with him before practice. So I went in like an hour before the practice and took my whole family up there. I was going to ask him a couple of questions when we got into the meeting, just about where he has me standing and about going to school there. Then the second I sat down, I kind of just threw all of the questions out the window. I just straight up said - you know coach, I want to commit - I think I'm finally ready."
On his relationship with coach Sherrone Moore and what makes him different:
"He's got a great resume so far," Roebuck said. "You know, probably being the only offensive line coach to ever win The Joe Moore award twice in a row just speaks for itself. Being able to teach a group of guys one year, but then being able to do it again, I think that really just separates him from just about everybody."
On what is next now that he is committed:
"I think I'm done taking visits to other schools," Roebuck said. "I know that most kids continue taking visits after they commit, but I'm done with that. I know that Michigan is the place I want to be."
"I think I'm just going to kind of follow Luke's (Luke Hamilton) example with the recruiting," Roebuck said. "I've been following guys on Twitter, DMing them and all of that, just commenting on their posts and really just trying to get the best class that we can here."
On leaving his home state to play for Ohio State's biggest rival:
"In the beginning of the recruiting process I was still a big Ohio State fan and just hoping that they would offer," Roebuck said. "I remember the first time coach Clink (Steve Clinkscale) came to Saint Edward to watch one of our workouts. I was just thinking, you know if Michigan offers that maybe it could push Ohio State to offer because of the rivalry. As things continued it kind of became evident that Michigan was really pushing for me. They were going to be one of those schools that really cared about me and wanted me to get there and play."
On his relationship with fellow Ohio native and recent Michigan commit Jordan Marshall:
"I think we're definitely getting closer," Roebuck said. "We kind of started off as rivals because he plays for one of the other really good teams in Ohio. We played him a couple of times and it kind of started off like that. Then up at Michigan is where we started becoming friends and it led to this."
On what he is looking forward to most at Michigan:
"Something I've been talking about a lot with the other commits is just continuing the winning tradition," Roebuck said. "Beating Ohio State the past two years - I'm hoping that we can all keep continuing that. You know, getting some more Big 10 Championships and some more rings, I think that's really what I'm looking forward to most."
Roebuck's message to the Michigan fans:
"I really just can't wait to get all of this started," Roebuck said. "I can't wait to enroll, to start playing and to keep winning for the fans. All of that stuff. I'm just really excited."