Sam McGuffie, High School Football Phenom (and Youtube.com Star), Commits to Michigan

Sam McGuffie, a running back whose youtube.com highlights (found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4IJ17ODo_s) have made him a cult hero among high school football fans on the Internet, committed to the University of Michigan to play football on July 29th, 2007 at 11:30 ET on live on a local sports news show on KPRC NBC Local 2 in Houston, Texas.

McGuffie is ranked as the number-one all-purpose running back by the popular recruiting service scout.com as well as a 4-star prospect. He committed to Michigan over Notre Dame, USC, Florida, and Texas A&M mainly because he said the UM players and coaches "felt like family" to him according to scout.com and also because he developed a close relationship with running backs coach Fred Jackson, who McGuffie lauded for "recruiting him as a person and not just a player" on KPRC after he made the announcement.

Michigan also got a leg up in the race for McGuffie due to the fact that his father is from Lapeer, Michigan, a medium-sized town a few hours north of Detroit. He had never been to Ann Arbor before until his official visit, but he called his trip there to meet with the coaches and players "everything he hoped it would be" according to GoBlueWolverine.com. McGuffie is expected to have a fair shot in 2008 to replace All-Big Ten running back Mike Hart and will battle with holdovers Brandon Minor, Carlos Brown, and Kevin Grady (depending on his return from a torn ACL) for the starting running back position.

McGuffie put up a staggering 3,200 yards and 44 touchdowns for Cy-Fair High School last year playing in 5A ball, a high level play in a state (Texas) that is often considered one of the top 2 or 3 in the entire country at producing football talent. His running style is unorthodox but exciting to fans, which has made him such a popular player. McGuffie's signature move is the hurdle, which he has done on several occasions, leaping over stunned defenders on his way to touchdowns. He also has the breakaway speed (timed in the 4.3 range in the forty) to outrun defenders on his way to the end zone.