Cedar Creek WR Ahmir Mitchell thrills family by announcing decision to attend University of Michigan

By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher MAYS LANDING — Cedar Creek High School has a pretty nice-sized set of bleachers on the home side at its football field, as far as high school stadiums go. And the Pirates get a good crowd at their Saturday home games throughout the fall. Next fall, current Cedar Creek senior Ahmir Mitchell will be wearing the blue and maize and standing in front of 109,901 fans at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday afternoons. The 4-star recruit wide receiver announced his highly anticipated decision to attend the University of Michigan at a family gathering in Mays Landing on Thursday evening. Cedar Creek coach Tim Watson and many of Mitchell’s teammates and family members were on hand, along with members of several area media outlets, as Mitchell played a video that was produced by Bleacher Report before pulling a Michigan cap out of a backpack, much to the delight of his mother, April Bell, and the rest of his family. Mitchell had been courted by nearly every big-time college football program in the country throughout the past several years, and announced in early August that his decision had come down to Michigan and defending national champion Ohio State, and that he planned to announce his decision prior to the start of the high school season so that it wouldn’t be a distraction to his Pirates teammates. Apparently, 17-year-olds can keep secrets. His mother had no idea of what his decision would be before he pulled the Michigan hat out of his backpack. “It’s really exciting. We were all on edge because he wouldn’t tell anybody where he was going. I learned like everybody else learned. He was ready. He said, ‘mom, I need you to go see these two schools, get a feel for everything, the academics, and let me know how you feel about them.’ So we talked about it all the way home after we went to see Ohio State and Michigan. Last week he told me his mind was made up,” Bell said. “He asked me who I liked most, and I said I liked Michigan the most. Both of them have phenomenal programs, but coach (Jim) Harbaugh kind of won me over. I think he made a good choice. I think he’s going to be a perfect fit there, and that’s a good institution for him to further his education and his football career.” Mitchell and teammate and good buddy Louie Pitale show off the Michigan “M” while taking photos after Mitchell’s announcement on Thursday in Mays Landing. Mitchell plans to graduate early from Cedar Creek so that he can enroll at Michigan in January and get a jumpstart on his career with spring practice. He carries a GPA of better than 3.5 in the classroom, and that has always been priority No. 1, Bell said. She wasn’t about to let her sons slack off with their academics simply because they were good football players. “We are humble and blessed, and definitely grateful. It’s humbling. It’s a breath of fresh air. You see so many things going wrong with our youth today. I’m glad that they stayed on the right path. But they really didn’t have a choice, though. I’m a different kind of mom,” Bell said. “They worked hard, so they deserve it. (Ahmir) loves football and I love academics, and you can’t have one without the other. So he has to give it all in school. He has to have a plan B, and we needed to know what that plan was his freshman year.” Mitchell said having Watson — who was an outstanding high school and college player and who nearly made the NFL — there to lean on has been invaluable. “Coach Watson is more like a father figure than just a head coach, not only to me but to the rest of my teammates. We all see him as the dad of the team. We always call him ‘Daddy Wat.’ So it was always great to have him as a reference to go back and talk to about the recruiting and the coaching aspect, and how I could fit into a scheme,” Mitchell said. Watson said Michigan will be very happy with the player they are getting in 2016. “They are getting a playmaker, a receiver who can come in right away and play for them. And if they need some help on defense, he can help them out on defense. He could certainly slide in and be a safety for them,” Watson said. “I think the biggest thing is, with his size, he has a college-ready body, which is not always the case with guys in high school. He’s ready to compete physically, he’s going to enroll early and he can get into the playbook and compete in the spring, and who knows? But they are getting a kid with a very high ceiling.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullsays [adsense]