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The Michigan Wolverines made a short list cutdown from 2022 five-star defensive lineman Walter Nolen, as he narrowed his list from 10 to eight on Good Friday.
Honored to say tht I have cut my list down to 8 recruitment is still wide open @Rivals @ChadSimmons_ @ESPN3ALLDAY @HamiltonESPN pic.twitter.com/hhXdl3FhoY
— Walter Nolen9️⃣ (@WalterNolen4) April 2, 2021
Michigan made the list along with LSU, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Oregon, Ohio State and USC. The two schools he eliminated from his list were Auburn and Tennessee, the latter school being somewhat significant considering Nolen is from the state of Tennessee.
The 6-foot-4. 300-pounder is the No. 2 overall player and the No. 1 defensive tackle in this class, according to the 247Sports composite. He took a self-guided visit to Ann Arbor for the first time last weekend and will be back on an official visit from June 18-20 for Michigan’s big recruiting weekend being called “Victors Weekend.”
In a recent interview with 247Sports’ Steve Wiltfong (FREE), Nolen also revealed two other official visits he is hoping to take later this year — Georgia and Ohio State. It seems safe to say those two schools, along with Michigan, are standing out to him as of now.
The entire coaching staff is recruiting Nolen hard, but the go-to guys here are defensive line coach Shaun Nua, defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald and safeties coach Ron Bellamy. Five-star Michigan cornerback commit Will Johnson and four-star Michigan cornerback commit Kody Jones are also doing their part recruiting him as well.
“(Bellamy is) great,” Nolen told Wiltfong. “I mess with Will, he’s a cool dude. You can tell anytime you’re with him he’s ready to work and that’s a good mindset to have.”
The Wolverines are obviously in a good spot with Nolen right now. But to seal the deal with Nolen, they will have to absolutely knock the official visit out of the park. With so many other prospects coming to campus the same weekend, including the aforementioned Johnson and several other top targets for the Wolverines in the 2022 recruiting cycle, they will have a prime opportunity to do so. The next couple months in this recruitment could prove to be vital, so stay tuned for more.