The Michigan Wolverines' football program added to its already-impressive 2021 recruiting class last week with the late addition of Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peter's Prep four-star defensive end George Rooks.

The inclusion of Rooks bumped U-M's class up to the No. 11 haul in the country, and gave the Maize and Blue 13 four-star prospects.

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Michigan's 13 four-stars are now tied with Georgia for the eighth most of any team in the nation, trailing only Alabama (17), Ohio State (16), LSU (15), Oregon (15), USC (15), Clemson (14) and Texas A&M (14).

There is still a possibility the Wolverines could add another four-star to their 2021 haul, most notably in the form of Oak Park (Mich.) High defensive tackle Rayshaun Benny. He is currently committed to Michigan State and has been since early November, but there is still a lingering hope he will potentially flip to U-M.

Nevertheless, the 13 four-stars Michigan has already reeled in is quite impressive when looking at it from a historical perspective. Rivals.com began ranking prospects in 2002, and there have only been four classes since then where the Maize and Blue have signed more four-stars than they did this year.

Two of those occurrences came under current head coach Jim Harbaugh (signed 16 four-stars in 2017 and 15 in 2016), with the other two happening in 2008 (17) and 2013 (16).

It's also worth noting Rooks is rated as the No. 227 overall player in the country and will remain there (Rivals.com will not adjust its 2021 player rankings again), giving Michigan its 11th Rivals250 prospect.

During the first four years of the Rivals era, the outlet only numerically ranked the top 100 recruits in the nation, and then expanded that list to include the top 250 in 2006. Since 2006, the average number of Rivals250 prospects U-M has reeled in on a yearly basis has been 8.8, with this year's haul obviously exceeding that total.

The 2017 (15), 2016 (13), 2013 (13), 2009 (13) and 2008 (12) classes have been the only hauls since '06 that have seen the Wolverines reel in more Rivals250 prospects than the 11 they have in this cycle.

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