Quarterback Devin Gardner still plans to enroll early at Michigan

“Yeah," Gardner said. "Not maybe, definitely I’ll be able to compete for the starting job."

Rated the nation's top dual-threat quarterback by Rivals.com, Gardner said his admission is in the hands of Inkster administrators.

Winter term classes at Michigan begin on Wednesday, when at least 6 members of Michigan's 2010 recruiting class are expected to enroll.

Last week, Gardner played in the Under Armour All-American high school all-star game. He completed 2 of 4 passes for 15 yards and a touchdown in helping his team to a 32-7 win, and drew rave reviews during the week of practice.

"Devin is going to be a big-time player at Michigan," former NFL head coach Sam Wyche, who coached Gardner in the game, told ESPN.com. "He's got a great personality. He's going to sell a lot of product for somebody. He can change directions no problem, and [the pressure] doesn't bother him."

Gardner called the experience "great" and "the best time of my life."

“I just once again showed that, because I didn’t have a great championship game performance, I wasn’t 100 percent, but I came out and I gave my all and turned a lot of heads," he said. "A lot of guys questioned (me) because I had one OK game."

Gardner completed just 9 of 17 passes for 134 yards and had minus-26 yards rushing in Inkster's state championship game loss to Lowell, when he was playing with hamstring and shoulder injuries.

He said playing in the Under Armour game gave him taste of what college football will be like.

"There was just so much talent, so much speed," Gardner said. (I have to learn how to read) "defenses even faster because after this week I saw how much speed there is out there. Just make reads faster, decisions faster and go wherever I make the decision."

Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.