Michigan alum Dave Portnoy could not contain his excitement after playing a role in the Wolverines’ flip of No. 1 quarterback recruit Bryce Underwood.

The Michigan native, who has starred for Bellville High School just 30 minutes down the road from Ann Arbor, was committed to LSU, but the consensus No. 1 player in the 2025 class ultimately decided to stay at home and try to become a hometown hero for the reigning national champions.

Underwood was at the center of an NIL battle between Michigan and LSU, with Barstool Sports founder Portnoy willing to help fund the Maize and Blue’s recruiting efforts in return for marketing opportunities.

Portnoy was in a triumphant mood as Underwood announced his commitment to Michigan on Thursday, taking to social media wearing a crown and holding a mace. He used the opportunity to troll one of his employees, Big Ev, who creates Ohio State content for Barstool.

Just hours before, the Buckeyes fan dismissed Michigan’s chances of landing Underwood despite presenting him with an NIL package in excess of $10 million.

“How’s everybody doing out there?” Portnoy said in the video. “QB No. 1. Number one. Not in the town, not in the district, not in the state. QB No. 1 in the country. Recruit No. 1 in the country.

Underwood is the consensus No. 1 player in the 2025 class ( 

Image:

AP)

“We don’t do four-stars at Michigan, we do five-stars, we do No. 1 recruits in the country, we do national champions. I told you we did.

“Now everyone’s asking ‘Dave, how much were you involved?’ Listen, there was a lot of other factors and I’m not going to spout from my mouth and say this, that or the other.

“Was I involved in a call to the family? Are they lovely people? Did we pitch a plan? Of course we did. Did I know that fat boy from Ohio State, Big Ev – who was making fun of us this morning – would be eating his words by dawn? Of course I did. Because that’s what we do at Michigan. QB No. 1. It’s great to be king!”

Quarterback woes have underpinned a huge regression for Michigan this season. The team lost star quarterback J.J. McCarthy and head coach Jim Harbaugh to the NFL after winning the national title earlier this year.

McCarthy has left a huge void that a revolving cast of Davis Warren, Alex Orji and Jack Tuttle have been unable to fill, leaving the program with a hugely disappointing 5-5 record, needing to beat either Northwestern or Ohio State in the final two games of the regular season to be bowl eligible.

Underwood hopes to immediately solve their problems under center and will almost certainly get the chance to lead the team as a freshman. He is the consensus No. 1 quarterback by a significant margin among all major recruiting sites.