2021 four-star WR Xavier Worthy commits to Michigan

Michigan just landed a huge piece to its offense of the future. California speedster, 2021 four-star wide receiver Xavier Worthy, committed to the Wolverines on Friday, giving them their third wide receiver in the class and second four-star.

Worthy has been one of the biggest risers in the industry throughout the spring and summer, despite not being able to attend any camps or on-campus visits. When Michigan offered him Feb. 28, he was a three-star who was just bumped to an 88 rating on 247Sports.

Since then, his recruitment exploded. He picked up offers from almost every national power in the country, including Alabama, Georgia, LSU and Auburn, who all made his final six schools with Michigan and Oregon.

He kept rising in the rankings, cracking the top 100 on 247Sports and pulling his overall ranking to 175th on the composite. There is still potential for Worthy to rise since Rivals, somehow, still has him ranked as a 5.6 three-star and 47th in the state of California.

The biggest asset allowing Worthy to rise is his speed. The 6-foot-1, 160-pounder ran a 10.55 100-meter dash as a sophomore, which is faster than Roman Wilson and A.J. Henning ran as seniors, for reference. That speed helped him rack up 54 catches for 992 yards and 16 touchdowns as a junior at Central East High School in Fresno.

Despite the presence of top SEC schools in his top six, it was Oregon that provided the biggest threat to Michigan. After jumping out to an early lead in his recruitment, Oregon was able to briefly overcome Michigan by leveraging its crowded wide receiver class to influence Worthy to commit soon.

He set an original commitment date of June 27, but that was eventually pushed back after Michigan pushed back hard and got him to reconsider. Alabama kept fighting until the end, but after Worthy announced his new commitment date of July 10, the crystal balls flipped back to Michigan.

Fellow Californian and potential breakout star Giles Jackson provided a legitimate assist in this recruitment. The charismatic Jackson was constantly interacting with Worthy on social media and talking with him personally about his experience as a similar type of player coming from across the country. Worthy also has family in Michigan and his uncle, who lives in California with him, is a huge Wolverine fan.

He will still be a prospect to keep an eye on if visits are allowed once again this fall. He hasn’t visited any of his finalists yet, including Michigan, so trips to schools like Oregon and Alabama are definitely possible down the line. But for now, Michigan has his commitment and still sits at eighth in the country and second in the Big Ten with 20 commits total.