2025 is officially here, and with this most of this recruiting cycle signed and bowl practices now over, the majority of recruiting energy for the Michigan Wolverines shifts towards the 2026 class.

To kick off the first edition of the Recruiting Roundup this year, we discuss one of the top ball carriers in the 2026 class showing interest in Michigan.

Five-star RB has Michigan at the top of his list

Five-star Savion Hiter, the top running back in the 2026 class who is ranked 14th overall in his class, told On3’s Steve Wiltfong Michigan is his top school at the moment, with Georgia, Ohio State and Tennessee also being top contenders.

“Michigan, I’ve built a good relationship with coach (Tony) Alford and the entire staff really,” Hiter said in August when he put Michigan in his top five. “He first recruited me back when he was at Ohio State and he’s been solid ever since. He’s already been showing me how he could use me in their offense, develop me for the next level and gave me tools to work on and get better.”

Michigan has been a top destination for running backs, with Hassan Haskins and Blake Corum headlining what has been one of Michigan’s most talented position groups. When you combine that with the connection Hiter has made with Alford, things are certainly trending in the right direction.

Per Brian Dohn at 247 ($), Hiter plans to make official visits to all the schools listed above before making a decision. With official visit season several months away, be on the lookout for more news when those visits get scheduled.

Michigan competing with Texas for four-star RB

Hiter isn’t the only 2026 running back the Wolverines are pursuing, as Michigan is also going after four-star Javian Osborne.

Osborne was in Ann Arbor for the Texas loss in September, and while he’s got a 247Sports Crystal Ball prediction to commit to the Longhorns, he told On3’s EJ Holland last month he’s still high on the Wolverines.

He expanded on his Michigan interest earlier this week with On3’s Steve Wiltfong ($).

“No. 1, I love that they run the ball,” Osborne said. “They utilize their running backs. They use different schemes, zone, power whatever it is. I feel I can fit in. Since coach TA (Tony Alford) came in the building, he’s been on since the first day he came into the office.”

It appears Notre Dame, Alabama and Florida State are in the mix for the Texas native as well. After attending that game in September, the sheer size of the crowd at the Big House impressed Osborne. Another visit in that environment this fall for Osborne is — I would imagine — on Michigan’s to-do list.

“Definitely playing in front of 110,000 every game,” he said of what stands out about Michigan. “You know, that’s big time.”

Wiltfong wrote that Michigan “hold(s) the slightest of edges in a fluid process to date,” so it doesn’t sound like getting both Hiter and Osborne is out of the question.

Michigan among trio of visits for top uncommitted 2025 prospect

Four-star edge Zahir Mathis, the top-ranked uncommitted player in the 2025 class, has been a Michigan target since he de-committed from Ohio State in November.

He did not sign in December, so he is now set to take some visits before signing at his future school in February. Mathis told Dohn ($) Michigan is one of the three official visits he’ll be taking this month, with Michigan being his final destination from Jan 27-29. He will visit UCLA and Florida State prior to Ann Arbor.

“I have a real good connection with them,” Mathis said. “I’ve been having good conversations with them since the decommitment so everything has been going smooth.”

Holland ($) said head coach Sherrone Moore and defensive line coach Lou Esposito are leading the recruitment for the Wolverines. Mathis noted the production Michigan has gotten with that position is enticing for the Philadelphia native.

“With the edges they have there and the edges they had there, they all develop well,” Mathis said. “Each guy has high explosion, quick hands and fast feet like myself.

“I want to see a good bond between the players. I want to see how I can be evaluated with those players and break it down and make sure I’m getting playing time and make sure I’m doing the right things to get on the field.”

CHICAGO (CBS) — Every New Year’s Day as sure as noisemakers at midnight, the Polar Plunge makes the news in the Chicago area and beyond.

The Polar Plunge has been around for a long time. But back in the 1970s and 80s, a Chicago diving club had a different take on the general idea. They didn’t race into the water in Speedos and swim caps—they put on dry suits or wet suits, donned scuba tanks, and submerged themselves in the icy waters of Lake Michigan, no matter what the weather on New Year’s Day.

And in what became a New Year’s Day tradition for a while, the late reporter Bob Wallace used to go on that frigid dive too. For Channel 2 News.

The 20 Fathom Club practiced at the old Lawson YMCA on Chicago Avenue, and took open water diving trips everywhere from Lake Michigan to the Caribbean. The late CBS Chicago sound man and video editor Bob Gadbois, and cameraman Jim Mulqueeny, were both members. In the interest of full disclosure, the parents of the author of this digital story were also members of the 20 Fathom Club, but they never took part in the icy New Year’s Day dives.

Wallace, however, did so numerous times—the first of which was on Jan. 1, 1981. The dive always took place just south of Navy Pier, and on that particular New Year’s Day, the video shows overcast skies, but no snow coming down.

The water had turned murky from recent storms that New Year’s Day. Yet Wallace said divers were cavorting in the water “like bunch of playful seals.”

“I tell you, we practice here so that we can dive in places like Jamaica—and all those exotic places,” the late LeRoy Winbush, then president of the 20 Fathom Club, told Wallace that day.

Wallace didn’t put on any scuba tanks, but he wore a wet suit, fins, goggles, and a snorkel as he lowed himself into the water. He said after a while, it was “kind of fund, just like a summer’s day… in Antarctica.”

A year later to the day, Wallace returned for another New Year’s Day dive with the 20 Fathom Club on Jan. 1, 1982. Conditions were sunny that day, yet weather records indicate the highs were in the 20s. Wallace again put on a wet suit, and found the rocks just below the surface of the lake a challenge when trying to walk around.

But the event was growing by 1982—with about 20 divers out that New Year’s Day compared with 10 the year before. Some of the divers called it a perfect hangover cure for anyone who might have overdone it a bit on New Year’s Eve.

There is video in the CBS Chicago archive of the 20 Fathom Club dive on New Year’s Day 1983, which fell on a Saturday, but Wallace seems not to have joined them that year. Wallace did, however, return a year after that on Jan. 1, 1984—a day on which the video makes clear the weather was quite miserable.

Snow was coming down on New Year’s Day 1984, and the water in Lake Michigan was covered by ice. So the divers—and Wallace—had to go out a ways and find a hole in the ice at the end of the breakwater south of Navy Pier.

This kind of weather required some extra safety measures. The regulators for the divers’ scuba tanks were freezing up, resulting in a hiss of compressed air. A little hot water solved that problem—at least temporarily.

Also, Wallace accidentally broke off the ice floe the divers were all holding onto—making the diving hole even bigger.

But every time, a grand—if chilly—time was had by all.

Purdue women’s basketball dropped a second straight conference game to start 2025, falling 77-59 to Michigan State on New Year’s Day. Since Big Ten play resumed, the Boilermakers have fallen victim to Iowa and Michigan, as they are at the halfway point of a stretch against ranked opponents.

Another slow start plagued the Boilermakers on Wednesday, finding themselves in an early 21-9 hole at the hands of the Spartans. Purdue was unable to string together stops in the opening frame, surrendering 30 points, which was the most in a single first quarter in program history.

Michigan State shot 52.6% from the field and hit four threes in the first quarter to build a 30-18 lead. Purdue also handed the Spartans ample opportunities, having ten turnovers, which led to nine Michigan State points.

Purdue saw that deficit expand in the second quarter as the shots stopped falling, after shooting north of 50% in the first quarter. Mahri Petree knocked down a three at the 7:59 mark to make it an 11-point game, but then the wheels completely fell off.

In the ten minutes prior to halftime, the Boilermakers were 1-12 from the field and had eight more turnovers, with a scoring drought lasting 7:59. That allowed Michigan State to go on a 16-0 run to take a 48-21 lead into the break.

Purdue’s 18 turnovers proved to be the biggest discrepancy in the first half, as the Spartans had just six, while turning the Boilermakers’ ball security woes into 18 points off their own.

While it was too little too late, Katie Gearlds’ squad came out more inspired in the second half, actually having the advantage in the third quarter, outscoring Michigan State 18-15 out of the break. Purdue shot 43% from the field and connected on two triples, but were unable to make much of a dent in Michigan State’s lead, who took a 63-39 lead into the fourth quarter.

The chipping away at the lead continued in the fourth, as Purdue went on an 11-2 run to start the final frame. The Boilermakers were able to get the Michigan State lead to as little as 15, but the Spartans coasted to the win down the stretch.

Purdue finished the day shooting 41% from the field and 39% from three-point range, which outpaced Michigan State despite the discrepancy in the final score. Turnovers continued to be the Achilles heel for the Boilermakers, handing it to Michigan State 25 times, who had 23 points off turnovers.

Only two Boilermakers finished in double-figures, with Destini Lombard and Lana McCarthy both finishing with 10 points in the loss, serving as the two lone consistent options for Katie Gearlds on the offensive end. Kendall Puryear and Ella Collier both finished with eight points, while Collier added five rebounds and three assists, while Puryear had a team-high six rebounds.

The Boilermakers will return to West Lafayette on Tuesday to take on No. 1 UCLA in Mackey Arena.