CL South graduate Trevor Keegan and Michigan teammates finish the job

Crystal Lake South graduate Trevor Keegan opted not to go to the 2023 NFL Draft after Michigan lost to TCU in the 2022 Fiesta Bowl 51-45.

Keegan and several of his Wolverines’ teammates felt like there as unfinished business, so they stayed in school one more year.

That business was finished Monday night as Michigan defeated Washington 34-13 in the College Football Playoff championship in Houston. The national championship was the Wolverines’ 10th in school history, their first since 1997.

Keegan was an NFL prospect after last season, but Amanda Keegan, his mother, said several potential professionals wanted to stay with the Wolverines.

“He’s made such good relationships,” she said. “This whole team is just a unit. Goals weren’t accomplished last year, so that was a deciding factor, he wasn’t done yet That 100% played into it.”

Keegan is the first local player to play on an NCAA football champion team. The 6-foot-6, 320-pound left guard helped pave the way for 305 rushing yards and two 100-yard rushers, running backs Blake Corum (134) and Donovan Edwards (104).

Michigan (15-0) lost in the CFP semifinals each of the last two years, to Georgia 31-16 in the 2021 Orange Bowl and to TCU last year.

Keegan, a 2019 South graduate and is projected as a third-day pick in the 2024 NFL Draft (Rounds 4-7).