West Ottawa Mich. Athlete Commits to WMU

Western Michigan University head coach P.J. Fleck picked up a verbal commitment from a southwest Michigan athlete, Samuel Beal. He'll join WMU as an athlete with the abilities to play on either side of the football.

Beal, out of West Ottawa (Mich.), brings good shiftiness and solid speed. For West Ottawa he played both wide receiver and corner back. Beal's film shows good hands, though West Ottawa appears to keep Beal on short routes in an attempt to get the football to him as quick as possible and let his legs do damage.

Also visible is Beal's willingness to get out and block when he's not thrown the football. At 1:05, Beal is on the kick return team and when his teammate snags the ball for a kick return, Beal -- standing around 6-foot-2 and 177-pounds -- pancakes the first gunner he sees, allowing his teammate to turn the corner and pick up over fifteen yards on the play.

Near the 1:27 mark of his film, Beal shows his speed as he explodes off the line of scrimmage and sprints by the corner who is in press coverage. The corner turns his hips to force Beal inside where he is supposed to have help over the top from the safety, but Beal soars into the endzone before any help arrives and both defenders are left trailing him as he hauls in a 40-yard touchdown.

Samuel Beal is recruit No. 19 for WMU and is the third from the greater Grand Rapids area, joining Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian two-star quarterback Jon Wassink who commited in early May, and Jon Keenoy, a three-star offensive lineman out of East Kentwood. Keenoy committed in mid-April

Western Michigan currently sits at No. 47 in the Rivals team recruiting rankings, which also places them atop the MAC. Northern Illinois and Central Michigan are tied for second place in the MAC, both sitting nearly 30 spots below WMU nationally.

Western's 19 total verbal commitments puts them in a tie with numerous BCS teams including, but not limited to, Alabama, Cincinnati, Arizona, Miami (FL), Texas A&M, Clemson and Auburn.

Western Michigan University is attempting to replicate their historic recruiting class last year which placed inside the top-60 in the nation, a first for any Mid American Conference school.