HOLLAND, MI – A shoulder injury limited Elijah Reynolds’ junior season to six games, but it couldn’t hide the West Ottawa linebacker’s potential for long, and now he’s set to join the approximately 3 percent of prep athletes playing Division-I college football. Reynolds announced his commitment to Central Michigan University on Tuesday, picking the program that offered his first Division-I scholarship. “I couldn’t be more blessed and grateful for the position I am in,” he wrote in a social media post. “Playing Division-I football has been a goal of mine ever since I can remember. I knew that playing in front of big crowds and for young fans that look up to me was something I’d put any amount of work in to achieve. But most importantly, I wanted to make my family proud, finish what my dad started and wear the last name Reynolds on the backplate of a jersey playing on Saturdays for the whole world to see. “After countless hours in the gym and on the field, 5 a.m. lifts before school since I was 12 and putting the work in for my classes, after a shoulder injury and procedure that I had to overcome, and being patient with the Lord and trusting in His plan, I am extremely blessed to announce my commit to (Central Michigan University).” CMU is the only Division-I program that has offered the 6-foot-2, 215-pound linebacker so far, but he has also visited Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. Reynolds is coming off a junior season that saw him tally 38 tackles (6 for loss), five quarterback hurries, two interceptions and one fumble recovery in six games for the 1-8 Panthers. He is set to become West Ottawa’s first player to sign with a Division-I college football program on scholarship since 2011 grad and fellow linebacker Desmond Morgan started 40 games at the University of Michigan from 2011-15. More recently, the Panthers have produced Western Michigan tight end Blake Bosma, who started his career as a walk-on before earning a scholarship, and current Michigan State walk-on offensive lineman Cooper Terpstra. At CMU, Reynolds will join a Chippewa program coming off a 4-8 season under former head coach Jim McElwain, who went 33-36 in six seasons atop the program. In December, the Chippewas hired Matt Drinkall as McElwain’s replacement following a six-year run at Army, where he served as co-offensive coordinator during the Black Knights’ 11-1 season in 2024. Reynolds is one of three CMU commits in the 2026 class, joining a pair of DeWitt High School teammates in safety Traverse Moore and cornerback Jadon Bender. The son of former Harper College football player, Keith Reynolds, Elijah is also the younger brother of 2024 Michigan Miss Basketball winner Gabby Reynolds, who recently completed her freshman season at George Washington, where she started 19 of 30 games and ranked second on the team with 10.5 points per game.