Trieu: New Jersey DE Dominick Giudice 'fired up' to join Wolverines
Jim Harbaugh got on FaceTime with Freehold (N.J.) Mater Dei defensive end Dominick Giudice on Wednesday and offered the 6-foot-4, 260-pound junior a scholarship.
By that evening, Giudice had committed to the Wolverines.
Of the four commitments in the 2021 class, Giudice is the sleeper of the group. Michigan was his first Power 5 or Big Ten offer, but his production last season — 24 sacks and 43 tackles for loss — suggest the Wolverines may have found a gem.
“He’s a really smart kid and he has a great motor,” said 247Sports’ Jersey-based analyst Brian Dohn. “He’s going to work his tail off. He has the frame to offer position flexibility. He can play defensive end. If you want to put another 30 to 40 pounds on him, he can move inside and has the mentality inside to clean up blocks and let the backers make tackles.”
Giudice has followed Michigan, so when the offer came up, it was a fairly quick and easy decision.
“Coach (Shaun) Nua told me last week that he really liked my film and that he was going to get back to me and just be able to have conversations with me,” Giudice said. “I guess he showed (defensive coordinator) Coach (Don) Brown and Coach Harbaugh my film and then we were on a group FaceTime call when they offered me. Michigan has always been my dream school growing up as a little kid. Since I was 5 years old, I’ve been working for this. I am so fired up.”
In addition to the size and production Michigan gets, there are also a lot of intangibles that add to his value.
“He is a high character kid,” Dohn said. “The academies offered him and he is a really good student. A bunch of Ivy League schools offered him as well.”
During their call, the Michigan staff told Giudice that they saw him as a strong-side defensive end or a three-technique.
He is rated a three-star prospect and is ranked the No. 40 junior prospect in New Jersey by 247Sports.
IMG center picks Michigan
Michigan also received a Wednesday commitment from Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy offensive lineman Greg Crippen, a one-time Notre Dame commit.
Prior to transferring down to IMG Academy, Crippen (6-4, 285 pounds) was at Milton Academy in Massachusetts, where the Wolverines signed linebacker Kalel Mullings from.
“Academics was priority one going into this process,” Crippen said. “I plan on majoring in business. The Ross School is a top school and (a great step) for my future. I also wanted big-time football. The Big House gives you that while playing in the Big Ten.”
Ranked by 247Sports as a guard, Crippen could also play center in college. He had 11 offers in total with Alabama, Auburn, Duke and more on his list.
He joins Sterling Heights Stevenson’s Giovanni El-Hadi as offensive line commits in the 2021 class.
Wolverines offer Ohio pass-rusher
Michigan extended a scholarship offer to Akron Hoban’s Darryl Peterson this week. Peterson (6-3, 235 pounds) had 21 sacks and 24 tackles for loss as a junior.
He previously named a top three of Alabama, Wisconsin and West Virginia, but said he would now be interested in taking a trip to Michigan when recruits are able to visit campuses again.
Michigan has one Hoban grad on their roster in true freshman offensive lineman Nolan Rumler.
More information
Allen Trieu covers Midwest football recruiting for 247Sports. He has been featured on the Big Ten Network on its annual Signing Day Show. His Michigan and Michigan State recruiting columns appear weekly at detroitnews.com.