Michigan Football Recruiting: The Curious Case of Jordan Diamond

After Michigan was stung by the proverbial bee in the Josh Garnett sweepstakes, Brady Hoke has turned his attention to another offensive lineman who is a highly-rated recruit from the Chicago area. His name is Jordan Diamond.

ESPN.com and Rivals.com have him rated four stars, while Scout.com has the offensive tackle rated five stars. Diamond has narrowed his search to Michigan, Ohio State, Auburn, Arkansas and Wisconsin. But according to mgoblog, he has since dropped Ohio State from the running for an unknown reason.

What a shame.

So who exactly is Jordan Diamond? He's rated the 94th-best recruit in the country in the ESPNU 150. He's 6'6" and weighs 290 pounds. He attended high school at Simeon Vocational and started all four years.

Ironically, Diamond's high school team was called the Wolverines.

CBS Sports recruiting expert Tom Lemming says this about Diamond. 

"

He has a take-no-prisoners attitude, never lets up, shows good hand/punch in pass protection, can seal and sustain blocks, and he's exceptionally strong at the point of attack. One of the most dominating LTs in the country.

"

So, will he become a Wolverine? One factor that could help Hoke is that Diamond would be able to reunite with his former teammate and close friend OG Chris Bryant, who was a 2011 recruit.

Wisconsin has had a great history of sending offensive linemen to the NFL. And the word is that  Arkansas made a pretty good impression on him recently as well. Jordan is said to announce where he's attending school on February 3.

Michigan needs this recruit to solidify what already has been a great class. Diamond will add more depth to the offensive line and his upside is off the charts.

The sting from losing Garnett will be a lot easier to get over with Diamond in the fold as the next great Wolverine offensive lineman.