Rivals.com updated its Rivals250 for the 2021 class on Tuesday, an annual list that simply ranks the top 250 high school prospects in the nation.
An interesting aspect regarding the list that both fans of the Michigan Wolverines' football program and Michiganders in general will want to be aware of is the amount of local top-end talent the state is producing in 2021.
Nine players from Michigan currently reside in the Rivals250, which is on pace to be the second most ever (we note it's 'on pace' because the rankings will be adjusted and altered several times before these high schoolers get to college).
If the state of Michigan does finish with nine prospects in the final Rivals250, it will finish second only to the 11 that concluded there in 2007 (Rivals.com began ranking the nation's top 250 players in 2006).
The Maize and Blue are off to a hot start with the local 2021 crop, already holding a commitment from Sterling Heights Stevenson four-star offensive tackle Giovanni El-Hadi, who is rated as the second best player in the state and the No. 49 overall prospect nationally.
Michigan is also in outstanding shape to land several of the state's other top prospects, most notably Clarkston High four-star offensive guard Rocco Spindler, who currently resides as the third best local prospect and the No. 55 overall player in the nation.
Below is the full list of the nine Michiganders who are ranked inside the Rivals250:
Another noteworthy aspect surrounding the local crop of 2021 prospects is the amount of high-end talent it contains.
Five of the nine prospects reside in the Rivals100, a feat that has never been seen since Rivals.com began ranking its top 100 national recruits in 2002.
In fact, the state of Michigan has only produced at least four top 100 players twice since 2002 — in 2008 (Detroit Cass Tech four-star cornerback Boubacar Cissoko, Grand Haven High four-star offensive tackle Dann O'Neill, Detroit Martin Luther King four-star defensive end Nick Perry and Detroit Country Day four-star running back Jonas Gray) and 2011 (Detroit Renaissance four-star linebacker Lawrence Thomas, West Branch Ogemaw Heights four-star defensive end Anthony Zettel, Saginaw High four-star receiver DeAnthony Arnett and Grand Blanc High four-star running back Justice Hayes).
It's also worth noting the state's loaded crop of 2007 — which had a record 11 players in the Rivals250 — only contained three prospects among the nation's top 100 (Muskegon High five-star receiver Ronald Johnson, Orchard Lake St. Mary's four-star cornerback Dionte Allen and Detroit Cass Tech four-star defensive tackle Joseph Barksdale).
The state of Michigan as a whole has seen a spike in high-level talent in recent years, evidenced by not only the 2021 class, but the two before it as well.
The 2020 class featured six prospects inside the Rivals250 and the 2019 haul eight, marking the most in the state over a two-year span since 2007 and 2008 (18 total).
The amount of top-end talent in the state was bleak prior to 2019, with only three Rivals250 prospects residing in the 2018 class, five in 2017, eight in 2016 (this year being an exception), two in 2015 and three in 2014.
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