Mazi Smith chooses the Maize and Blue
Michigan is closing out the first spring official visit session strong, with a string of commitments in the last few days. Late Sunday evening they received word from East Kentwood (Mich.) four-star defensive tackle Mazi Smith that he was ready to join the Wolverine’s class.
“I have been thinking about it for a long time,” Smith commented. “This wasn’t something just from the visit; the seeds were planted back in my freshman year when Coach (Greg) Mattison first recruited me.”
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Michigan has long been a top school for Smith, and the in-state product has made several visits to the school during the course of his recruitment. Being a home-state program, though, was not a major factor in his decision.
“Honestly, I tried to not necessarily look at the home connections I had because I didn’t want that to change my view on who I was leaning towards,” Smith said. “Once I saw that Michigan wasn’t just right because it was close, it just solidified everything I was thinking about and everything I felt about the school.
“Whether Michigan was in Michigan or whether Michigan was in North Carolina, that still would be the perfect fit for me.”
Although Smith was thinking about making the call for Michigan even before his official visit this past weekend, the experience the last couple days in Ann Arbor added the final pieces to the equation.
“I saw the caliber of student-athlete they had up there,” Smith said. “Being able to hold conversations with people and relate to people there was kind of important. I saw that I fit in with who they were recruiting and I fit in with the people who are already there, so I just knew it was a perfect fit.”
Smith was one of more than a dozen official visitors in Ann Arbor this weekend, which included his friend and frequent travel companion Zach Harrison. His player-host for the visit was junior defensive tackle Michael Dwumfour.
“I spent the majority of my time with the defensive line, the guys that are already there,” Smith said. “I am going to be coming in as a baby and they are going to show me the ropes. Mike is going to be there, Ron Johnson is going to be there and they have done it, so they are going to show me how to do it.”
During his talks with defensive line coach Greg Mattison, Smith learned he will be playing both the two- and three-technique defensive tackle roles in the Wolverine’s defense.
Smith is commitment No. 14 for Michigan in the 2019 class, and the fourth to announce his pledge this weekend following safety Joey Velazquez, tight end Erick All and running back Zach Charbonnet.