Sting Factor: Emil Ekiyor from Michigan to Alabama
Michigan’s 2018 recruiting class took a blow last weekend when Rivals250 offensive lineman Emil Ekiyor made his flip from the Wolverines to Alabama official. The move had been expected for sometime, but still made headlines because of his ranking and the two major programs involved.
But just how big of a blow is the loss of Ekiyor to the Wolverines? We examine it on a local, regional and national level, and assign a score on a scale 1-10, with 10 being catastrophic and one being no big deal.
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MORE: Ekiyor flips to Alabama
LOCAL REACTION
“Everyone is going to think that I’m being a spin doctor if I say that the Michigan coaches aren’t losing sleep over Ekiyor flipping to Alabama, but I have reason to believe that it’s true. Ekiyor hadn’t been 'committed' to Michigan for a long time and actually visited Tuscaloosa more than he did Ann Arbor. The staff started to view him as open and didn’t kill themselves trying to reel him back in. There had been some cause for concern with Ekiyor over the last calendar year and the U-M staff seemed completely content while Ekiyor looked around and that ultimately led to him flipping to the Tide.” – Brandon Brown, TheWolverine.com
Sting Score: 4
REGIONAL REACTION
“The talent pool in Indianapolis has been getting deeper in recent years. Michigan has recognized this and recruited the area heavily, with good success, under Jim Harbaugh. Losing a commitment to another blueblood program like Alabama could do some damage to Michigan's reputation in the area, but likely not much. Ekiyor is not irreplaceable, but he is very talented and the prospects who can match or exceed his talent are not unlimited. Michigan has prospects like that in its backyard – Detroit four-star Tyrone Sampson, for one – but it seems to prefer recruiting in other people's backyard more than its own.” – Josh Helmholdt, Midwest Recruiting Analyst, Rivals.com
Sting Score: 5
NATIONAL REACTION
“I'll give it a 7 because it was somewhat expected but it still hurts. He's a very talented interior lineman and would have been big for Michigan, but it has planned for his loss for a while, it seems.” – Mike Farrell, National Recruiting Director, Rivals.com
Sting Score: 7
Average Sting Score: 5.33
WHAT'S NEXT?
Alabama continues to make moves up the Rivals.com Team Rankings and Ekiyor helped move the Tide firmly inside the Top 25. With Ekiyor in the fold, the next big offensive line domino to fall could be Rivals100 prospect Penei Sewel. As far as the Wolverines, they will likely work quickly to fill the void and recently extended an offer to three-star Arizona State offensive line commit Jarrett Patterson. In the staff’s eyes, flipping Patterson would easily make up for the loss of Ekiyor.
