Analysts Predict UW Will Flip Michigan Linebacker Commit
A lot has gone right for the Michigan football team this season.
The Wolverines whipped Washington on national TV. Battered Ohio State. Won a Big Ten championship. Earned a CFP berth against Georgia. Pulled Jim Harbaugh off the hot seat.
In the greater scheme of things, this might be just a minor setback for Michigan if it happens, but recruiting analysts are projecting that the Huskies will flip linebacker Kevonte Henry from the Big Ten school.
Henry, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound defender from Leuzinger High School in Lawndale, California, committed to the Wolverines and then recruiting coordinator Courtney Morgan in late June.
It was a done deal — until Morgan left for Seattle earlier this month.
Since that time, Henry, a 4-star prospect, has delayed signing a national letter of intent until February, visited the UW on Dec. 10 and received a scholarship offer two days later from Morgan.
"It seems like Washington is in the driver’s seat to land him and I think they will," said Von Lozon of Maize n Brew. "If Kevonte Henry had the doubts to forgo signing during this early signing period, I think it’s going to end up being detrimental for Michigan. I think the longer he waits, the more likely it is he signs with Washington. Obviously his relationship with Courtney Morgan is huge and was a huge factor why he committed to Michigan in June. I think he will end up signing with Washington and Michigan will lose out on a pretty solid prospect here."
In late September, Brice Marich of 247Sports visited with Henry in Southern California and confirmed that Morgan had played a considerable role in facilitating the linebacker's Michigan recruitment.
"One of the first things he told me was he prefers Ann Arbor over LA and one reason why is because of Courtney Morgan," Marich wrote.
With his long frame, Henry finished with 65 tackles and 12.5 sacks for a 7-5 Leuzinger team. He previously chose Michigan over USC, Oregon, Arizona State, Washington State, Colorado, Colorado State, San Diego State, UNLV, Utah, Arizona, Kansas and even Fresno State, where Kalen DeBoer was the Bulldogs coach before coming to the UW.
DeBoer and Morgan worked together a year ago at Fresno State and are together again trying to rescue the Huskies' 2022 class caught up in a coaching change.
The Morgan connection might be more than enough for the Huskies to pry Henry loose from Michigan and a Harbaugh program on a hot streak. At the least the analysts think so.
"Yeah, he would be a huge loss," said Jon Simmons, another analyst from Maize n Brew. "He really rocketed up the rankings and was a hell of a find by Courtney Morgan. Usually when a player doesn’t sign who is committed in the early signing period, it’s usually a warning and usually means he’s going to leave. ... I think it will be hard for them to overcome the Courtney Morgan connection."
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