News Report: Michigan football misses out on ’26 defensive prospect to Big Ten rival
Back in the middle of April, there was a Crystal Ball placed in favor of Michigan football to land three-star defensive tackle Alexander Haskell. But that was short lived. After Haskell cut his list to Michigan, Syracuse, and Penn State, the CB that was placed switched to Penn State — which likely meant the Nittany Lions were the likely destination.
On Saturday, Haskell made it official and committed to Penn State over both Michigan and Syracuse. The Philadelphia (PA) native is ranked as the 760th-best player in the 2026 class and the No. 76 defensive lineman.
Speaking with 247Sports after his commitment, Haskell said it was his relationship with defensive line coach Deion Barnes that made him pick the Nittany Lions over the other two schools.
“I chose to go to Penn State overall because coach Deion was the first coach to say he truly believed in my ability in march of 2023, and I feel like that moment really carried with me up until now,” Haskell said. “Also I’ve always wanted to put on for my home city and state and this gives me the ability to do that.”
Michigan got in his recruitment later than PSU. The Wolverines got into the recruitment this past fall, while Penn State was the second team to offer Haskell. With Michigan missing out on Haskell, the Wolverines will have to pivot to other defensive line prospects. The Wolverines have edge rusher Tariq Boney committed and five-star edge rusher Carter Meadows listed Michigan in his final four.
