PORT HURON, Mich. — On Sunday, Port Huron Northern defensive end/tight end Braiden McGregor announced on Twitter that he was shutting his recruitment down and that he would be making his announcement on Friday.

There were 10 schools left, and the main two who had the lead were Michigan and Notre Dame. In the end, McGregor chose Michigan, but it wasn’t the last minute decision it seemed, especially given what we had heard from people close to the Wolverines in recent weeks.

“I’ve been committed to Michigan for about two weeks now,” McGregor told WolverinesWire. “It’s been a hard secret to keep but I think we did a good job.”

After announcing where he was going to school, McGregor played a video of him telling the coaches that he was staying home and coming to Michigan.

“We did it the day J.J. McCarthy committed,” McGregor said. “I was thinking about it for a while and just wanted to make sure I did it in person, because I just felt like that’s what you kinda have to do — especially when it’s this big and they offer you. So I went, did it in person and got that reaction and it was awesome.”

In the video, you hear the coaches screaming, head coach Jim Harbaugh yelling and then director of recruiting Matt Dudek running and jumping into McGregor’s arms.

For McGregor though, nobody ever jumped in front of Michigan, right from the start.

“Why Michigan? It was always Michigan,” McGregor said. “Growing up in Michigan, being a Michigan kid, that’s who I rooted for when I was younger and just the people there. It’s great academics, great football, and then the people there, my coaches, great guys every single one of them.”

Back in April 2018, McGregor made his first visit to Ann Arbor and saw what the program had to offer. Right then, he knew it was the place for him and everywhere else was a test comparing them to Michigan.

“It’s been Michigan since the first visit I went there,” McGregor said. “I knew I was comparing everything (other schools) to Michigan. Then it kinda clicked to me that I’m ready to make this decision, make it public to everybody when my dad asked me: ‘Where do you want to be if football is not involved?'”

Port Huron is only a 90-minute drive to Ann Arbor, so family and friends will be able to see McGregor a lot compared to the other schools under consideration. McGregor indicated that was important as well as several of his highly-regarded peers also pledging to Michigan for various sports.

“Two of my best friends, they’re committed to Michigan for hockey,” McGregor said. “Got a bunch of friends going there. Just being in Michigan and being close to home, that’s something big for me. This is where I grew up, this is where I want to play football, it’s what I grew up watching so I’m staying home.”

McGregor is rated No. 28 overall by 247Sports, and is currently a four-star prospect. He is the ninth pledge to the 2020 class, and is currently 14th in the 247Sports team rankings.