Michigan Wolverines football redshirt sophomore linebacker Ben VanSumeren has entered his name into the transfer portal. TheWolverine's Chris Balas reported the impending move yesterday morning and the inevitable impact it would have on the recruiting trail.

Sure enough, VanSumeren's younger brother, class of 2022 Garber (Mich.) Essexville four-star defensive tackle Alex VanSumeren, wound up decommitting from the Maize and Blue last night.

RELATED: Michigan Wolverines Football Podcast: Balas & Skene, Feb. 10

RELATED: Todd McShay Projects Kwity Paye, Jalen Mayfield As First-Round Draft Picks

VanSumeren came to U-M as a three-star athlete from Essexville, Mich., settling in as a fullback upon his arrival in Ann Arbor. He redshirted while playing in four games on both offense and special teams as a freshman in 2018, though he never received any carries.

He transitioned into more of a standard running back role as a redshirt freshman in 2019, carrying nine times on the year for 20 yards and a touchdown. Ineffectiveness and fumbling issues quickly dropped him from the rotation, however, and he received just one carry after the month of September.

VanSumeren was moved from running back to linebacker heading into the 2020 campaign, and made the biggest impact of his collegiate career there.

The 6-2, 253-pounder played in all six of Michigan's outings at linebacker this past season, receiving the starting assignment in losses to Indiana and Penn State. VanSumeren racked up seven tackles on the year and served as one of the main contributors in U-M's linebacking unit, averaging 12.8 snaps per game.

He concluded his Wolverine career with appearances in 15 games. VanSumeren is the ninth Michigan player to transfer since fall camp began, joining center Zach Carpenter, running back Zach Charbonnet, punter Will Hart, quarterback Dylan McCaffrey, linebacker Osman Savage, linebacker Charles Thomas, running back Christian Turner and defensive end Luiji Vilain.

---

• Talk about this article inside The Fort

• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel

• Listen and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine

• Sign up for our daily newsletter and breaking news alerts

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @Balas_Wolverine, @EJHolland_TW, @AustinFox42, @JB_ Wolverine, Clayton Sayfie and @DrewCHallett

• Like us on Facebook