At the linebacker position in the 2025 recruiting class, no player is a higher priority for Michigan football than four-star Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. And he felt it during his official visit to Ann Arbor.
Michigan was already one of his favorite schools and he had been on campus before. But this time, everything felt different. Partly it was because he was able to have his family there, but ultimately, the attention he received from the coaching staff really exceeded his expectations.
“I would definitely say the people there are different,” Owusu-Boateng told WolverinesWire. “From Coach Moore to the recruiting people. From Sam Popper to Wink to Coach BJ. I just felt like this could potentially be a good fit for me. Because everything I felt – everything just felt right. From the academic meeting (and) the presentation, just talking to Coach Moore and just seeing how much love they put into me.
“To experience all of this. And of course my family was up here with me, because they weren’t here the first time. And now it was a great feeling that my uncle, my aunt, my mother and my father were up here with them this time.”
What was different for him about this visit than he had previously expected? Owusu-Boateng had certain expectations for his last official visit. He would go through the usual activities, photo shoots, campus tours and the like.
But he couldn’t stress enough how much he loved the people in and around Schembechler Hall.
“So when I came in, I thought it was going to be like the other visits. But there was something that stood out to me about this one. And that was the people,” Owusu-Boateng said. “The people there really care about you, the people, they really care about your development, not just as a football player but as a human being. So, the development aspect and not only that but the people. That’s something I’m going to stress throughout this interview, the people there are just – I don’t know, it’s different.”
In recent weeks he has visited Notre Dame (where his brother played) and Ohio State, but this particular visit was, in his eyes, the best of all – again because of the people.
“I mean, this one stood out, but others stood out too,” Owusu-Boateng said. “But I would say this one stood out to me the most because my expectations going in weren’t that high, but when I left, my expectations were exceeded. So this one definitely left a good impression on me.”
Earlier Sunday, one of his high school teammates, 4-star running back Donovan Johnson, had committed to the Wolverines. Another, center Kaden Strayhorn, received predictions on several recruiting sites that Michigan will be his final school of choice.
With that in mind, are there any talks of the trio (and others at IMG Academy) playing together in Ann Arbor? It seems like that’s the case, but that won’t necessarily be the deciding factor for Owusu-Boateng.
“Right now, I just don’t know what to say. But these guys are reaching out to me and letting me know that not only can we do this at the high school level, but we can continue and do it at the college level.”
Before his official visits, Owusu-Boateng had his eye on the early signing day in December for his likely decision, but didn’t rule out a late summer commitment. Now he says everything is a bit up in the air and he could stick to his original timeline, but if everything feels right he could speed things up a bit.
“My timeline right now is to go through everything and narrow down the top two. If I can sign before the season, great. If not, then sometime during the season. If not, then early signing day. But that’s something I definitely don’t want to rush. I’ll definitely make sure that everything I need to make sure happens afterward.”
Owusu-Boateng is ranked as the 70th best young player in the country regardless of position according to 247Sports.
