Deandre Bidden laughed on the sideline of Tom Allen Field, Wayne State’s football domain, as he reflected on the previous weekend.
Bidden, a rising junior at Harper Woods High School, took second place in the state championship in the 100-meter dash, running a 10.82, just three one-hundredths of a second off a win.
“Stumbling, but it’s cool,” he said with a smile. “We won the state championship [as a team].”
Bidden is one of the top football recruits in the nation in the class of 2028 and holds an offer from Michigan football. The same can be said for Dakota Guerrant, his high school teammate at Harper Woods, who is the top player in the state in 2027.
The two combined for 40 of Harper Woods’ 47 points in the state championship meet over the weekend, but there’s little doubt the gridiron is where their futures lie. Both are five-stars and among the top 35 players in the country for their age.
Guerrant, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound wideout, is No. 1 in Michigan, the No. 6 wide receiver in the country and No. 35 overall player among rising seniors, according to 247sports composite rankings. Bidden, meanwhile, is No. 1 in Michigan, the No. 6 wideout in the class of 2028 and No. 22 overall player for his age.
Given the age difference, the two are understandably at different points in their recruitment. Guerrant is set to announce his decision next month, with a top five of Oregon, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State and Texas A&M.
He was a Max Preps Junior All-American last season, primarily playing as a wide receiver but also lining up at quarterback, contributing at corner and safety and handling special teams duties on kickoff and punt return. He caught 55 passes for 1,074 yards and 26 touchdowns on offense, racked up 40 tackles, nine pass breakups and three INTs on defense, and scored three more touchdowns on special teams.
Guerrant has two official visits set up, going to Oregon next weekend before an official visit with Michigan over the June 19 weekend.
“It’s been good,” Guerrant said of his connection with U-M. “They’ve been trying to recruit me hard, really pushing and trying to make me a priority.”
Guerrant describes himself as a “versatile” wide receiver, someone who can line up out wide or in the slot, is able to win with physicality or speed, prides himself on his route running and “can do a little bit of everything.” He tries to model his game after Ja’Marr Chase and Davante Adams and has plenty of connections in Ann Arbor.
While he’s two years younger, he grew up with Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood and his cousin, Jacob Oden, is a defensive back on the team. While those ties are important, the reason Guerrant is still strongly considering Michigan goes beyond familiarity with the team.
“I mean, the connections you have outside of football, one of the biggest alumni [bases] and the education when you get that degree,” he said of what else stands out. “It’s so much more than just football with Michigan. And it’s the hometown state, so the connections are unlimited.”
Bidden, who said he’s looking for “development, honesty and brotherhood” for his future school, is not as far along in the process. He hasn’t whittled down his schools yet, but he is a fan of the new Michigan staff, which includes wide receivers coach Micah Simon, who’s leading his recruitment.
“They started to speed up their recruitment a lot,” he said. “Trying to be more in touch with them, visit them a lot more. … When I go up there and talk to [Simon], he’s not only a coach, but like a good person in general. It’s not always a coaching moment where you got to yell and scream, but a cool person to chill with.”
Michigan hasn’t landed a five-star wide receiver since Donovan Peoples-Jones out of Cass Tech in 2017. The Wolverines have bolstered their wide receiver depth the past two years, first landing Andrew Marsh in 2025, then adding J.J. Buchanan (Utah), Jaime Ffrench (Texas), Salesi Moa and Travis Johnson this past winter.
Bidden, meanwhile, has been seen as one of the nation’s elite players since he received seven offers during his eighth grade season, which included one from U-M’s former staff. Now, the key for the new staff is getting one of these elite prospects across the finish line.
Historically, U-M has found itself as the bridesmaid and never the bride with the top-flight pass catchers because of its run-first offense.
Under Kyle Whittingham and offensive coordinator Jason Beck, it’s likely that Michigan will still heavily emphasize the ground game, but Bidden smiled again when discussing what he’s been told about how U-M’s offensive design.
“Coach Ron Bellamy [now in the front office], coach Simon, I feel like they’re good receiver coaches,” he said. “For them not to have [elite] receivers, I don’t know. So for them to recruit me, I feel like it’s special because they’re great coaches.
“They’re going to throw the ball, get Bryce active a bit.”
Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan football a contender for state’s No. 1 players in 2027, 2028
Reporting by Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
