Michigan’s 2027 class experienced a blow on Sunday when three-star Las Vegas (Nev.) Centennial safety Maxwell Miles announced he was flipping to Minnesota.

Miles’ decision to join the Wolverines took place in March during the program’s first commitment surge of the offseason. He took a visit during spring camp and quickly pledged.

Miles becomes the second safety this cycle this decommit from Michigan following Darrell Mattison flipping to Ole Miss a few weeks ago. Currently, U-M yields 14 commits in 2027 heading into June.

The news came once Miles took an official visit to Minnesota over the weekend, leading to him siding with the Golden Gophers. One of the schools that Miles picked Michigan over included Minnesota, along with Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, and San Diego State. Safeties coach Tyler Stockton was the leading figure in originally landing Miles.

“Me and Coach Stockton have a good relationship,” Miles told Maize n Brew. “He keeps it real with me and pushes me to be better, and I respect that a lot. Same with Coach (Kyle) Whittingham, it’s a strong relationship. He’s someone I can learn a lot from, and I appreciate how he approaches the game with his players.”

Two projected safeties make up Michigan’s 2027 class in four-star Tavares Harrington and three-star Charles Woodson Jr.

Rounding out the group are four-star tight end Colt Lumpris, four-star cornerback Darius Johnson, four-star defensive lineman Xavier Muhammad, four-star wide receiver Quentin Burrell, four-star running back Tyson Robinson, four-star edge rusher Jayce Brewer, four-star offensive lineman Jakari Lipsey, four-star edge rusher Recarder Kitchen, four-star quarterback Kamden Lopati, three-star linebacker Brayden Watson, three-star offensive lineman Sidney Rouleau, three-star running back Lundon Hampton and three-star offensive lineman Louis Esposito.

Rivals lists the class as the 10th-best in the FBS and fourth in the Big Ten.

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s season came to an end just short of reaching the NBA Finals.

After another strong campaign, OKC battled the San Antonio Spurs, but fell in a seven-game series, missing two key players for most of the matchup.

Even with Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell, though, the Thunder’s primary issue against San Antonio was defending superstar Victor Wembanyama. Oklahoma City managed to slow down the 22-year-old in a few matchups, but it ultimately wasn’t enough to win the series.

Mark Daigneault’s team will now head into the offseason with a few opportunites to find answers to this problem, however. In addition to Williams and Mitchell returning to full health, which will be key for OKC, Thomas Sorber, the Thunder’s first-round pick in 2025, should be healthy after missing his entire rookie season with a torn ACL.

Oklahoma City also has two picks in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft, and could add more young pieces to the roster.

A pair of recent mock drafts slotted Michigan big man Aday Mara to OKC, who could be an interesting option to try and combat Wembanyama’s size and length. Mara measured at 7-foot-3 without shoes at the NBA Combine, recording a 7-foot-6 wingspan, 9-foot-9 standing reach and weighing 259 pounds.

Given Wembanyama’s abilities, it seems unlikely that any rookie can fully counteract the MVP Finalist and Defensive Player of the Year, but Mara’s size would give OKC another matchup to try against the Spurs’ standout.

After two seasons at UCLA, Mara had a breakout season with Michigan, averaging 12.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 66.8% from the field. Mara earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and All-Big Ten recognition for his efforts, helping the Wolverines with a national championship in his lone campaign with the team.

Bryan Kalbrosky of USA Today slotted Mara to OKC with the No. 12 overall pick in this summer’s draft, while Cameron Salerno of CBS Sports projected the Thunder to trade the No. 12 and No. 17 selections for the No. 9 overall pick to draft Mara.

Kalbrosky also paired Tennessee’s Nate Ament with Oklahoma City at No. 17 overall. Ament recently said in an interview with Kevin O’Connor that he completed a predraft workout with the Thunder.

Ament measured 6-foot-9-and-a-half without shoes and notched a 6-foot-11-and-a-half wingspan, weighing 210 and recording a standing reach of 9-foot-1-and-a-half at the NBA Combine.

As a freshman at Tennessee, the former five-star recuit averaged 16.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and a steal per game while shooting 39.9% from the field and 33.3% from 3-point range.

Former All-Pro NFL safety Eric Weddle is not a believer in Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood.

During an appearance on the “Zero 2 Sixty” podcast, Weddle, who attended the Wolverines’ spring practices, said that it would not be surprising if Michigan’s backup quarterback is playing instead of Underwood come this fall.

“Mark my words, I was out there for spring ball,” Weddle said. “Don’t be surprised if the backup [is] playing early because that Underwood kid, you know, I don’t think he could throw or play quarterback, so we’ll see.”

Weddle, who spent 14 seasons in the NFL with the Chargers, Ravens and Rams, explained that quarterbacks should be taught to play their position first, and be an athlete second, adding that this is what he tells his son, Gaige Weddle, who is a 2028 four-star QB recruit.

“I don’t understand. I don’t understand, like it’s just quarterbacks in general, but I don’t understand how the position is not being taught like from the pocket,” Weddle said. “Like I try to coach Gaige that you are a quarterback first who can be an athlete.

“You’re not an athlete who plays quarterback…You get to the next level, everyone’s as fast as you, everyone’s as strong as you, like your mind, processing, pocket awareness, feel, and getting the ball out on time is what I’ve stressed to him most, as a quarterback.”

Weddle’s comments come after Underwood, the consensus No. 1-ranked 2025 QB recruit out of high school, had a somewhat underwhelming freshman campaign with Michigan.

Through 13 games with the Wolverines, Underwood, 18, threw for 2,428 yards with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions while posting a 60.3 completion percentage, helping lead Michigan to a 9-4 record.

He added 392 rushing yards with six scores on the ground.

Underwood also had a disappointing performance for Michigan in a 41-27 Citrus Bowl loss against Texas, passing for 199 yards — going 23-for-42 — with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

Despite the poor showing, Underwood recently told reporters that he has high expectations for both himself and the Wolverines heading into the 2026 season.

“Just like the whole team, and everything that happened to us even after the season, I had to get over it,” Underwood said on May 21. “That was the only option we had. It’s the only option I had. We went through a lot, but I think we’re going to be more player-led this season.

“I feel like we are more of a team now.”