Michigan football LB Drew Singleton to transfer

Nick Baumgardner | Detroit Free Press

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Michigan football redshirt freshman linebacker Drew Singleton has decided to leave the program as a transfer.

U-M spokesman Dave Ablauf confirmed the news Wednesday. It was first reported by 247Sports.

Singleton joined Michigan as the No. 80-ranked player nationally, per 247Sports, in the 2017 recruiting class. He played at Paramus (N.J.) Catholic High School, the same school that produced former Michigan star Jabrill Peppers and current players Rashan Gary and Juwann Bushell-Beatty.

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Current Michigan special teams/safeties coach Chris Partridge was the head coach at Paramus when Singleton enrolled there. Partridge ultimately left for a job at Michigan in 2015.

Singleton, an inside linebacker prospect, has appeared in four games this season, mainly in a reserve role as the Wolverines have leaned heavily on third-year linebacker Devin Gil and sophomore Josh Ross next to junior All-American Devin Bush.

Singleton did not play in 2017, taking a redshirt year.

Michigan plays at Michigan State on Saturday (noon, Fox).

New transfer rules went into effect Monday, allowing players to transfer without limitation or permission. Now, any school who has a player that's requested a transfer must enter his/her name into a national transfer database within two business days.

At that point, any school in the country is free to contact that player as a prospective recruit.

Rules will still require Singleton to sit out next season, however.

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