Most recruiting commitments come with a press conference or a campus visit. Weston Port's commitment to Michigan didn't come close to that.

The three-star linebacker gave Michigan a verbal pledge through X on Monday while serving a two-year church mission in Spain.

"The culture. The people. The opportunity. I'm beyond grateful to announce my commitment to the University of Michigan," Port wrote on X on June 30.

That's a real statement for a kid who isn't even in the country right now. Port is part of the 2025 class. He stands 6-foot-2, weighs 225 pounds, and will not actually suit up for Michigan until 2027, once his mission is done.

He originally signed with UCLA back in December 2024 before reopening his recruitment. With him overseas, his father, Barry, has been running his social media while he's away.

Port isn't walking into Ann Arbor as an unknown name either. Out of high school, he was ranked the No. 684 overall prospect and No. 69 linebacker nationally on the 247Sports composite, and he held 33 offers, including one from Michigan back under Jim Harbaugh.

There's also a direct tie to the current staff. Kyle Whittingham, now Michigan's head coach, offered Port while he was still at Utah.

Recruiting analyst Greg Biggins explained why Michigan's staff stayed on Port even after he initially picked UCLA.

"Port is a versatile linebacker who probably projects best as an inside guy at the next level. He has a crazy motor, and you love the relentless style he plays with," Biggins said, as published by Sports Illustrated. "That instinct and motor are exactly the traits teams chase when a recruit reopens, since it doesn't fade just because a kid is overseas for two years.

Now he is Michigan's second linebacker commit in a week, joining four-star Fredderick Ford.

Fredderick Ford’s commitment already has Michigan’s linebacker room looking different

Ford picked Michigan over LSU, Tennessee, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State, ranked the No. 224 overall prospect per the 247Sports composite, per GBM Wolverine.

Linebackers coach Alex Whittingham offered him in early June, and Ford canceled an official visit to LSU to take a return trip to Ann Arbor.

Michigan had landed 26 blue-chip commitments across the 2026 and 2027 classes before Ford signed on. Not one of them played linebacker.

Whittingham’s staff is finally putting together real talent at a position Michigan had ignored for too long.

Do you think Michigan is putting together its best linebacker class in years? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Farheen Fathima

Edited by

Zaid Quraishi