State robbery: Michigan reaches across enemy lines to nab players

Michigan's football team doesn't hate the state of Ohio; just Ohio State football.
Ask any of the 13 players on Michigan's football team who are from Ohio and they will tell you the same.

With such a fierce rivalry between OSU and Michigan, it's hard to believe that any player from the opposing team's territory would cross the state line into enemy territory. It still happens year after year, more so for Michigan.

Of the 13 Ohio natives on Michigan's roster, four of them are starters. They include sophomore tight end Kevin Koger from Toledo, redshirt freshman safety Jordan Kovacs from Curtice, redshirt junior place-kicker Bryan Wright from Bryan, and redshirt senior punter Zoltan Mesko from Twinsburg.

Ohio State's football team includes four players born in Michigan, none of them starters.
In fact, Ohio State finds most of its players from inside the state. Of the 118 players on the roster, 82 are from Ohio.

Coach Jim Tressel made a point of harnessing the talent within the state a few years ago when criticized for letting players leave the state to attend other schools.

Michigan recruits more players from outside of its state. It has 64 players on its roster from out of state and 51 players from in state.

Of Michigan's three Heisman Trophy winners, two are from Ohio. Charles Woodson of Fremont won it in 1997, and Desmond Howard of Cleveland won in 1991. The third, Tom Harmond in 1940, was from Indiana.

Most of Michigan's recent marquee players have come from out of state. Mike Hart is from New York, Mario Manningham is from Ohio, Tom Brady is from California, and both Chad Henne and Steve Breaston are from Pennsylvania.

This is not the case for OSU. Of OSU's six Heisman Trophy winners, four were from Ohio and the other two were from Pennsylvania and Indiana. Two, Archie Griffin and Howard Cassady, were from Columbus.

Of the 13 players on Michigan's roster from Ohio, 11 have committed within the past two years, which coincides with the inaugural season of Rich Rodriguez.

According to Rivals.com, Michigan has already received commitments from seven Ohio players for the 2010 recruiting class, including four-star wide receiver Jerald Robinson from Canton, Ohio. Robinson received a scholarship offer from OSU before choosing Michigan.
OSU has received no commitments from any players from Michigan at this time in the recruiting year.

Lack of recruitable talent up north might have something to do with it. Rivals.com lists 59 high school players from Michigan on a star rating, two through five stars, which indicates a player's skill level and potential. Only seven of those players have a rating of four stars or higher.

Ohio has 161 high school players with star ratings and 14 players at or above four stars.
Michigan depends on players from Ohio, and anywhere else, to stock its team with talent. Without a powerhouse recruiting state just to the south, there is no way to know where Michigan football would be.