2023 WR Makhail Wood Could Be an Immediate Answer
Would you look at those standings? Says EMU's recruiting class is third-best in the league.
EMU Football Recruiting Update: WR Makhail Wood Latest to Commit
Looking at Eastern Michigan’s current roster set-up, there are a handful of seniors set to lead this offense this year, then graduate from the program in the winter.
One of the seniors set to leave EMU is Dylan Drummond, who never (read: barely) missed a game in his college career, and was not very highly sought-after out of high school in Cleveland (Cuyahoga Heights). Drummond was on some radars, but EMU was the only team to offer. Drummond joined and played in every game as a true freshman in 2018, then was promoted to full-time starter by 2019, and we’re in year five of seeing Drummond featured in the EMU offense.
As far as the class of 2023 is concerned, this program’s looking for guys who might be able to fill Drummond’s role with the team.
On Tuesday, July 12, 2023 WR Makhail Wood (Hoschton, Ga. / Mill Creek HS) announced his decision to commit to EMU over four others: Eastern Kentucky, Georgia Southern, Incarnate Word, and USF. For measure, Wood’s Hudl lists him at 6’1, 155 lbs.
Wood first met Eastern Michigan via Shaq Vann, the former Creighton recruit and EMU running back who now coaches for the team, at a football camp in 2021.
Throughout Wood’s recruiting process, he’s been in conversations with EMU wide receiver coach Dyrell Roberts and head coach Chris Creighton about the plan for what it’d look like if Wood went to Eastern.
“Coach Roberts said if I come in on my freshman year and I perform like I need to perform, then I won’t even need to redshirt this year,” Wood told me in a phone interview. “So that was very interesting for him to tell me.”
By 247sports composite, Wood has a three-star rating (0.8237), third-highest among current Eastern commits for the 2023 cycle. Wood is the #206-rated 2023 wide receiver, Georgia’s #132 recruit, and #1442 nationally.
Wood was offered by five schools, which was jump started by Eastern Kentucky and Eastern Michigan in February, then Georgia Southern, Incarnate Ward, and USF all followed suit.
Last year as a junior (12 games), Wood caught 23 passes for 361 yards and was second on his team with 4 touchdowns scored.
Wood’s high school team went 11-2 and made a deep run in the Georgia 7A state playoff, and his receiving talents had a lot to do with Mill Creek’s success in 2021.
“I can play anywhere. Outside, inside, wherever you need me to play because I’ve got anything. Speed, route running, hands, I’ve got all of it. I’ve got everything in a receiver’s package,” Wood said.
Wood added that the best part about his game is his route-running ability, and that he’s great at getting in and out of his breaks.
After this football season, Wood will finish out his basketball career by playing his senior year (three-year varsity point guard), and will join EMU in the summer of 2023.
Class of 2023 Commits
DE, Messiah Blair — Detroit Martin Luther King HS (MI) / 247sports composite: 3-star, 0.8693
DT, Malik Tullis — Creekside HS (GA) / 3-star, 0.8267
WR, Makhail Wood — Mill Creek HS (GA) / 3-star, 0.8237
CB, Caleb Dobbs — Cocoa HS (FL) / 3-star, 0.8170
DE, Luke Fletcher — Port Huron Northern HS (MI) / 3-star, 0.8094
TE, Cedric Anton — Rabun Gap-Nacoochee HS (GA) / 3-star, 0.8050
S, Jaivian Norman — Springfield HS (OH) / 3-star, 0.8000
LB, Bryce Eliuk — Linden HS (MI) / 2-star, 0.7683
OL, Trenton VanBoening Libertyville HS (IL) / NR
EMU Third In Recruiting Rankings
By team rankings, Eastern’s class currently ranks third in the MAC in total points, even though 1st place Central Michigan and 2nd place Western Michigan both have larger classes with 20 and 14 commits, respectively.
The reason for that, 247sports composite’s math says, is the quality of commits EMU has been able to bring in.
Seven of EMU’s nine commits currently hold 3-star rankings — tied for second most in the MAC. WMU has eight 3-stars, CMU has seven.
Here’s 247sports’s current team rankings for the 2023 recruiting cycle:
Central Michigan — 20 commits, 7 three-stars / 82.18 player avg. / 106.43 recruiting pts.
Western Michigan — 14 commits, 8 three-stars / 81.99 avg. / 96.36
Eastern Michigan — 9 commits, 7 three-stars / 81.49 avg. / 84.63
Toledo — 12 commits, 6 three-stars / 84.06 avg. / 80.35
Miami OH — 11 commits, 6 three-stars / 83.49 avg. / 77.09
Northern Illinois — 10 commits, 4 three-stars / 81.98 avg. / 47.01
Ball State — 13 commits, 3 three-stars / 82.78 avg. / 38.00
Kent State — 8 commits, 2 three-stars / 83.28 avg. / 26.48
Akron — 11 commits, 2 three-stars / 82.08 avg. / 24.10
Ohio — 8 commits, 1 three-star / 82.06 avg. / 12.06
Bowling Green — 4 commits
Buffalo — no commits
Not that recruiting rankings should be taken biblically, but this is still a great look for how the program. There’s a lot of promising talent that simply looks good spelled out on paper, and we’re still only a year away from this coaching staff putting the finishing touches on this 2023 singing class.
This, so far, is a really talented class with a lot of room to grow.
Top 25 Class of 2023 MAC Commits (so far)
Rankings by 247sports composite.
WR, Ardell Banks (Toledo) — 0.8700
DE, Messiah Blair (EMU) — 0.8693
DE, Brent Hoppe (CMU) — 0.8550
DL, Kobi Gorman (Miami OH) — 0.8517
OT, Mason Ludwig (Toledo) — 0.8511
QB, Kadin Semonza (Ball State) — 0.8500
ATH, Mychal Yharbrough (Miami OH) — 0.8478
WR, Shantavious Hogan (CMU) — 0.8470
DL, Laith Shamma (Toledo) — 0.8467
WR, Javien Brownlee (Kent State) — 0.8450
QB, Brennan Storer (WMU) — 0.8419
LB, Christian McKinney (Miami OH) — 0.8417
ATH, Tyler Jefferson (CMU) — 0.8417
WR, Javorian Wimberly (CMU) — 0.8417
WR, Ryan Sims (Miami OH) — 0.8378
S, Jamari Holliman (Toledo) — 0.8356
RB, CJ Hester (WMU) — 0.8350
TE, Brennan Wooten (WMU) — 0.8350
WR, Sam Smith (Toledo) — 0.8300
LB, Kameron Cheatom (Akron) — 0.8317
OT, Michael Jimmar (NIU) — 0.8317
WR, Logan Lester (WMU) — 0.8317
OT, Ben Decker (Miami OH) — 0.8304
R.J. Mukes III (Ball State) — 0.8278
CB, Kiwaun Davis (WMU) — 0.8267
DT, Mark Tullis (EMU) — 0.8267
OT, Jacob Welch (NIU) — 0.8267
