Michigan Football Recruiting: Ondre Pipkins Earns 5th Star

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After having a strong showing in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, Michigan football commit Ondre Pipkins received a bump in the recruiting rankings on Rivals.com. The Kansas City defensive tackle was previously considered a four-star recruit, but now he has five stars after the impressive performance. Here's the reasoning behind his jump in the rankings:

"Pipkins was a guy we had all loved in camp settings but we had never seen him in pads," said Southwest Analyst Brian Perroni. "He was dinged up when I went to Kansas City this year so the Army week was my first time to see him in pads in person. He was a force all week and proved almost impossible for the interior linemen to stop on the pass-rush. His motor is probably most impressive, though, and he made a spectacular hit on the quarterback all the way by the sideline in the actual game itself. That was an example of what we saw from him all week. As a big body already that should have no trouble plugging the middle against the run, he could certainly have a very early impact at Michigan."

Pipkins could have an early impact not only because he is talented, but also because there will be an opportunity for him to play from day one. With Mike Martin and Ryan Van Bergen graduating, depth is not exactly great at defensive tackle, so it's entirely possible Pipkins could come in and be a starter very early on in his career.

With Pipkins being upgraded to five stars, Michigan now has two commitments for 2012 in the top tier of Rivals' recruiting rankings. Offensive lineman Kyle Kalis is the other five-star recruit set to become a Wolverine, and him and Pipkins are a big reason why Michigan has a top-five recruiting class right now. Here's a full look at Michigan's commits for 2012:

Michigan Football Recruiting Class Of 2012

1. OT Ben Braden (Rockford, MI) - 6'6", 285 lbs., ***
2. OG Caleb Stacey (Cincinnati, OH) - 6'4", 275 lbs., ***
3. MLB Kaleb Ringer (Clayton, OH) - 6'0", 219 lbs., ***
4. OLB Royce Jenkins-Stone (Detroit, MI) - 6'2", 215 lbs., ****
5. TE Devin Funchess (Farmington Hills, MI) - 6'5", 205 lbs., ***
6. TE A.J. Williams (Cincinnati, OH) - 6'6", 260 lbs., ***
7. OLB Joe Bolden (Cincinnati, OH) - 6'2", 225 lbs., ****
8. MLB James Ross (Orchard Lake, MI) - 6'0", 209 lbs., ****
9. DE Mario Ojemudia (Farmington Hills, MI) - 6'3", 215 lbs., ***
10. DT Matt Godin (Novi, MI) - 6'5", 253 lbs., ***
11. CB Terry Richardson (Detroit, MI) - 5'9", 160 lbs., ****
12. S Allen Gant (Sylvania, OH) - 6'2", 210 lbs., ***
13. DE Tom Strobel (Mentor, OH) - 6'6", 245 lbs., ****
14. OT Erik Magnuson (Carlsbad, CA) - 6'6", 275 lbs., ****
15. S Jeremy Clark (Madisonville, KY) - 6'4", 205 lbs., ***
    
16. OT Blake Bars (Nashville, TN) - 6'5", 275 lbs., ****
17. S Jarrod Wilson (Akron, OH) - 6'2", 190 lbs., ****
18. OT Kyle Kalis (Lakewood, OH) - 6'5", 302 lbs., *****
19. FB Sione Houma (Salt Lake City, UT) - 6'0", 211 lbs., ***
20. DE Chris Wormley (Toledo, OH) - 6'4", 255 lbs., ***
21. DT Ondre Pipkins (Kansas City, MO) - 6'3", 325 lbs., *****
22. RB Drake Johnson (Ann Arbor, MI) - 6'1", 200 lbs., ***
23. WR Amara Darboh (West Des Moines, IA) - 6'2", 190 lbs., ****
24. WR Jehu Chesson (St. Louis, MO) - 6'3", 182 lbs., ***

(Height, weight and stars from Rivals.com)

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