Devery Hamilton Switches Commitment from Michigan to Stanford

Prized offensive tackle recruit Devery Hamilton shocked the University of Michigan on Saturday by switching his commitment to Stanford despite agreeing to play for the Wolverines in June.

According to Steve Wiltfong of 247Sports, Hamilton made the decision during an in-home visit from Cardinal head coach David Shaw on Friday.

Per 247Sports, Hamilton is a 4-star prospect who rates as the No. 22 offensive tackle recruit in the entire nation.   

According to Wiltfong, Hamilton's assistant coach at Gilman High School in Baltimore, Henry Russell, said schooling played a big role in the offensive lineman's decision to flip.

"I think just the academics that Stanford has to offer and his parents having a family friend out there who can help make the distance more doable," Russell said.

Brandon Justice of Go Blue Radio touched on how significant the loss of Hamilton is from Michigan's perspective:

Also, Nick Baumgardner of MLive pointed out that losing commits has turned into a disturbing trend for the Wolverines:

Hamilton is a big, athletic tackle at 6'6" and 290 pounds, according to 247sports, and stealing him away from Michigan is a major coup for a Stanford team that relies heavily on its running game, spearheaded by Christian McCaffrey.

The switch is a somewhat interesting one considering Hamilton opted to go from head coach Jim Harbaugh's current team to the program he led prior to his stint as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.

Shaw convinced Hamilton to make a move completely across the country, which speaks to how respected the Stanford football program has become in recent years.

Harbaugh undoubtedly started that transformation, so in some ways, he played a role in his own demise with regard to Hamilton.

Michigan is still very much a program on the rise, even with Hamilton no longer in the fold, but replacing a player of his caliber this late in the recruiting process will be an extremely tall task for Harbaugh.

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