In the middle of the week, it was reported that another Big Ten school would be the likely destination for transferring Michigan wide receiver Ahmir Mitchell. On social media, Mitchell made that move officially come to fruition.
In a tweet posted to his personal Twitter account, Mitchell confirmed that he has decided to transfer to Rutgers and continue his collegiate playing career with the Scarlet Knights. The New Jersey native stated in the missive that he found “it best for me along with my family to go back home.”Thank you to all whom has been on my side since day one, much love❗️🛡⚔. https://t.co/Og0S59V9xq pic.twitter.com/d6YpdSBO0T
— Ahmir_SoDevoted (@TheDeuce_2_Nice) September 2, 2016
In an interview with nj.com following his announcement, Mitchell delved a little deeper into the decision.
“Throughout my entire recruitment, Rutgers was always within the top three,” he said. “For a while they were leading. It basically came down to the staff. And now that they have a better staff at Rutgers, that’s what made me basically want to come back home along with everything going on back at home with my family and stuff like that. So it just seemed like a good fit and every aspect just pointed back home.”
Mitchell announced a little over a week ago that he was leaving UM and reopening his recruitment. That departure from Ann Arbor was certainly an odd one, cloaked in uncertainty and secrecy.
Jim Harbaugh had confirmed earlier this month that two of the three Michigan football players not present for a team photo — Mitchell, running back Kareem Walker and defensive lineman Shelton Johnson — had been suspended, although he declined to specify which two. A couple of weeks later came Mitchell’s decision to move on.
A four-star 2016 recruit, Mitchell was rated as the No. 5 player at any position in the state of New Jersey and the No. 167 player overall on 247sports.com‘s composite board. He was an early enrollee who participated in spring practice.
Mitchell will be forced to sit out the 2016 season, and will apply for a waiver through the Big Ten that would prevent him from being stripped of another year of eligibility as an intra-conference transfer. If granted the waiver because of extenuating circumstances at home, Mitchell would have four years of eligibility remaining beginning in 2017; if denied, he’d have three.