He only started playing football a few years ago, but the hype around five-star freshman OT Andrew Babalola is real. Don’t believe us? Just ask his veteran teammate:
Hype is everywhere to be found at this time of year, with the college football season on the horizon and the Michigan Wolverines starting training camp next week.
Hype certainly surrounds Bryce Underwood, the highest-ranked quarterback to ever commit to Michigan. Like how Underwood is learning a lot from defensive coordinator Wink Martindale , fellow five-star freshman Andrew Babalola is learning from his older teammates on the offensive line.
Babalola — who didn’t start playing football until his junior season of high school — has gotten plenty of praise this offseason from head coach Sherrone Moore, who played a huge role recruiting him .
“Andrew Babalola is physically gifted as anybody as we’ve seen since I’ve been here,” Moore said in a recent interview with Sam Webb .
“Two parts — one, he’s physically gifted,” Moore continued. “God blessed him with some gifts that most people don’t get — especially as young as he is. And then two, he’s uber smart. Not only book smart, but football smart. And sometimes those can be two different things. And he just understands the game, he doesn’t make mistakes twice. If he makes mistakes, he corrects it.”
Moore is far from the only one to offer praise for the offensive tackle. Veteran guard Giovanni El-Hadi also sees a lot of great things in Babalola.
“He’s really good, I wasn’t that good when I was a freshman,” El-Hadi told Maize n Brew at the third annual Champions Circle Golf Classic. “He’s a very humble kid, I love him, he does things the right way.
“I feel like me and (center Greg Crippen) try to show everybody and teach everybody how things are supposed to go. Just what the older guys brought down to us, we’re trying to bring it down to them.”
Babalola, who appears to be made out of concrete and may be the leanest 300-pound man I’ve ever seen, also spoke with Maize n Brew at the golf outing. Since getting to campus, he has formed bonds with his fellow linemen.
“They’re awesome, I got to know them pretty well throughout the recruiting process,” Babalola said. “Everybody looks out for each other, everybody takes care of each other. I think over the course of the winter until now, we’ve grown super close as a unit. It’s made playing with them easier, it’s made talking with them easier. The guys are awesome and I’m super excited to play with them.”
Babalola mainly focused on basketball growing up, but when that focus shifted to football midway through high school, he put on weight to be the best offensive lineman he can be. That’s only going to continue with the strength and conditioning program at Michigan.
He doesn’t have personal goals for this season, as Babalola mentioned he is more focused on team goals. He’s very humble, and we have yet to see him take the field beyond the spring game. But based on how his peers and coaches describe him, there’s a LOT to like about him.
“He’s got a chance to be really special, whether it’s this year or the next year or whatever it is, we’ll see. But excited to watch him as we go through fall camp,” Moore said.