The Detroit News

Michigan tight end Zach Gentry is a victim of “the big business of college athletics.”

So says Albuquerque Journal assistant sports editor Mark Smith.

Smith doesn’t like that Gentry, a 6-foot-7, 230-pound redshirt freshman from Eldorado High in Albuquerque, has switched from quarterback to tight end at Michigan.

Gentry was recruited as a quarterback and was one of 14 signees in the 2015 class. He didn’t face the strongest competition in New Mexico, but he was ranked a four-star prospect and the No. 19 quarterback in the country by Scout.com.

Gentry was used at tight end during Michigan’s bowl practices in December. Last week, coach Jim Harbaugh said Gentry is making the move to tight end permanently.

All of which led Smith, who admits to having “zero inside information” about Gentry’s situation in Ann Arbor, to rant about the injustice of the move.

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“I just know one thing,” Smith says. “If I’m a huge fan of another program, say like a New Mexico, I’d be getting word to Gentry and his family — and to a coach, say, like Bob Davie — to lure Gentry elsewhere.

“Like back to Burque.

“Legally, per NCAA rules, of course.”

There is much to be determined over spring and fall practices, but John O’Korn appears to be the favorite to be Michigan’s starting quarterback in 2016. Shane Morris will be in the mix, as will Wilton Speight and Alex Malzone.

The lone quarterback in Michigan’s 2016 recruiting class, Brandon Peters, probably will redshirt.