A History of Michigan Prospects and Ohio State Football

Ohio State fans are well aware how much Michigan football needs the state of Ohio to prosper. Benny Friedman, an outstanding quarterback and arguably the first "great" passer in college football, went to Michigan from Cleveland's Glenville High School in 1923. The iconic coach who coined the term "Michigan Man" (and won exactly zero national championships), Bo Schembechler, was from Barberton. Two of Michigan's three Heisman winners—Desmond Howard and Charles Woodson—were from Cleveland and Fremont.

This is not confined to Michigan's distant past either. Twenty-two players on the roster came to Michigan from Ohio, a fact that will be repeated through Saturday's broadcast. After all, a "Michigan Man" is little more than an apostate Ohioan, a fact that Brady Hoke essentially confirmed when he took the head coaching job in 2011.

What about the Michigan expats to whom Ohio State provided sanctuary from life in the Wolverine State? It's easy to forget that Michigan has served Ohio State football well when Michigan needs Ohio talent more than Ohio State needs players from Michigan.

Below, we compiled a list of every recruit from Michigan that signed with Ohio State from high school. Where possible, we provide a summary of what that player provided to the rich history of Ohio State football.

A History of Michiganders and Ohio State Football, 1970-2015
Year	Name	Position	City	High School	Accomplishments
1973	Bruce Ruhl	DB	Southfield		4x letterwinner (1973-76)
1974	Douglas Bargerstock	FB	Taylor		1x letterwinner (1974)
1974	Joseph Dixon	DL	Trenton		3x letterwinner (1975-77)
1976	Greg Castignola	QB	Trenton	Trenton	3x letterwinner (1977-79), prominent back-up to Rod Gerald in infamous 1977 Oklahoma game
1978	Tony Greene	FB	Detroit	Kettering
1978	Jerome Foster	DL	Detroit	Kettering	Graduated ninth in tackles and first in TFLs (now 15th and 7th, respectively)
1979	Steven Simpson	OL	Temperance	Bedford	3x letterwinner (1980-82)
1979	Avery Barton Taylor	LB	Detroit	Northern
1982	Thomas "Pepper" Johnson	LB	Detroit	Mackenzie	All-American (1985), 5x Super Bowl winner (as player and coach)
1983	Ray Holliman	DL	Holland	West Ottawa	3x letterwinner (1984-85, 1987)
1984	Dino Dawson	WR	Detroit	Cooley	1x letterwinner (1984)
1986	Orlando Craig	LB	Detroit	Mackenzie	3x letterwinner (1987-89)
1990	Randall Brown	LB	Detroit	Cooley	3x letterwinner (1992-94)
1992	Ryan Miller	LB	Allen Park	Allen Park	4x letterwinner, 1997 Rose Bowl champion
1993	Larry Waldon	OL	Detroit	Mackenzie	2x letterwinner (1996-97), 1997 Rose Bowl champion
1993	James Ross	LB	Detroit	Mackenzie
1994	Dan Gibbons	DL	Birmingham	Brother Rice
1995	Charlie Sanders	RB	Rochester Hills	Adams
1999	Craig Krenzel	QB	Utica	Henry Ford II	National champion QB; molecular genetics major
2000	Marco Cooper	LB	Detroit	Cass Tech	2x letterwinner (2000-01)
2004	Vernon Gholston	LB	Detroit	Cass Tech	2x letterwinner (2006-07), All-Big Ten (2007), 21.5 career sacks (fifth all-time)
2006	Aaron Gant	RB	Orchard Lake	St. Mary's	4x letterwinner (2006-08, 2010)
2007	Taurian Washington	WR	Orchard Lake	St. Mary's	3x letterwinner (2008-10), spring game legend/folk hero
2009	Reid Fragel	TE	Grosse Pointe	Grosse Pointe South	4x letterwinner (2009-2012), converted to RT for undefeated 2012 season
2009	James Jackson	WR	Grand Ledge	Grand Ledge
2010	Johnathan Hankins	DL	Detroit	Southeastern	3x letterwinner (2010-12), All-Big Ten (2012)
2014	Damon Webb	DB	Detroit	Cass Tech	Current nickelback on the defense
2015	Josh Alabi	DL	Detroit	Cass Tech	Redshirting as true freshman
2015	Michael Weber	RB	Detroit	Cass Tech	Likely redshirt as true freshman

We thank these noble men from the "Mitten" who took sanctuary in Columbus after high school for their contributions to Ohio State's rich football lore.