Julius Holly is off the board as one of the top pass-rushers in the Southeast makes the call for the Wolverines.
Holly, the No. 22-ranked defensive end in the country out of Alpharetta (Ga.) High in Georgia, committed to Michigan on Saturday. Georgia, Texas A&M and Ole Miss were also finalists for the four-star end.
Michigan offered the best combination of football and education, and that was made exceedingly clear when Holly officially visited Ann Arbor on June 6-8.
“In general Michigan had the best combination of academics and athletics, and it’s one of the best in those areas of anywhere in the country,” Holly told Rivals of his decision.
“That was high on my list to check off,” he added. “Getting to hang out with the coaches and the players, I really connected well with them. It was great being out there. I felt really comfortable … it was a place I could call home.”
The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder from the Peach State is also high on the future of the Wolverines.
Coming off a national championship-winning season, Holly loves the direction of the program under first-year HC Sherrone Moore.
“Getting to know about Coach Moore, find out his path and know what he’s already done helped me figure out what he’s all about and how he’s gonna take the program into the future,” Holly explained. “The way he’s planning to do things and how he’s gonna keep the program going is very intriguing to me.”
Michigan also checked major boxes as far as education and life outside of football.
“They’re big on academics over there within the program and they work a lot on off-the-field things to improve their players in more than just football,” he started. “They do it the best out of the four schools, and that stood out to me because football doesn’t last very long. Michigan is the best place to take me somewhere after football.”
Georgia, Texas A&M and Ole Miss all finished behind the Wolverines in the race for Holly.
The four-star defensive end felt more comfortable in the Big Ten setting as he reached his decision.
“I connected with the players well and I saw myself spending the next four years with them,” Holly said. “The experiences I had there, being able to hang ou with them and the way we interacted, I just felt really comfortable there. No one recruited me harder than the other, but the relationships at Michigan and feeling comfortable there was the biggest part for me.”