Country's No. 1 center Cesar Ruiz commits to Michigan football

Cesar Ruiz to enroll early at University of Michigan

The University of Michigan picked up another big commitment Monday when the nation's No. 1 center, Cesar Ruiz, announced his decision to play for the Wolverines.

Ruiz is a four-star recruit out of Bradenton, Florida, and attends IMG Academy, a high school at which Jim Harbaugh and Michigan have spent plenty of time creating relationships with some of the country's top players. Ruiz is the first player in this class to commit to the Wolverines.

Recommended Videos



You can watch Ruiz's commitment video below.

I Have Officially Committed To 🙏🏾💯 ... pic.twitter.com/zgUjbNUPyL

— S A U C Y ™ (@_OverCees) December 19, 2016

The 6-foot-3-inch center is the No. 11 recruit in talent-rich Florida and the No. 58 overall high school football player in the country, according to 247 Sports. He chose Michigan over Auburn, Alabama and several other interested schools.

Ruiz had scholarship offers from 33 schools, including Michigan State, Penn State, Maryland and Rutgers from the Big Ten.

With Ruiz, Michigan's 2017 class grows to 23 commitments: one five-star, 14 four-stars and eight three-stars. Ruiz joins Kai-Leon Herbert, JaRaymond Hall, Andrew Stueber and Joel Honigford on the incoming offensive line.

Ruiz announced in January that he would graduate in December and enroll early, which means that he will sign with Michigan next month.

Harbaugh is looking to have another big recruiting week after landing a pair of elite wide receivers last week. Four-star Tarik Black committed to Michigan on Wednesday and the No. 1 player in Michigan, Cass Tech's Donovan Peoples-Jones, chose the Wolverines the next day.

Michigan now owns the No. 4 recruiting class in the country behind Alabama, Ohio State and Georgia.


About the Author:

Derick is the Lead Digital Editor for ClickOnDetroit and has been with Local 4 News since April 2013. Derick specializes in breaking news, crime and local sports.