From Boise State commit to Michigan superstar: The chain of events that led Mason Graham to Ann Arbor

When Michigan superstar defensive lineman Mason Graham took the field against Fresno State on Saturday night, it wasn’t far-fetched to think that, back in the summer of 2021, this would be a regular occurrence.

At the time, Graham was committed to Boise State, and the Anaheim native figured he’d be playing against the Bulldogs for Mountain West Conference titles. At one point, Fresno State was his only offer, so he might have even ended up in a Bulldogs uniform.

Yet it was the former director of player personnel at Fresno State who helped change the trajectory of Graham’s future, giving the Wolverines a standout on the interior en route to the 2023 national championship and cementing Graham’s status as an All-American and one of college football’s elite defenders.

Mason Graham’s recruiting beginnings

Graham had 7.5 tackles for loss and three sacks in 2023 en route to second-team All-America honors. 
Getty Images

The Bulldogs were the first to offer Graham, doing so largely based on sophomore film, as California’s high school season had been postponed in the fall of 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Courtney Morgan, then Fresno State’s director of player personnel and now college football’s highest-paid GM at Alabama, was doing what many football staffers were doing during the pandemic — immersing themselves in as much film as possible. There were no college camps that summer, half the country wasn’t playing in the fall, some were waiting until the spring of 2021, and there were hardly any showcases, unofficial visits, or official visits.

So, Morgan scoured the internet, watching as much film as he could,…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/from-boise-state-commit-to-michigan-superstar-the-chain-of-events-that-led-mason-graham-to-ann-arbor/

Author : Brandon Huffman

Publish date : 2024-09-04 19:08:41

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