Picture a frozen pond, scuffed with skate marks, with kids passing a puck back and forth during a pickup hockey game. Now add to that picture a 6-foot-5 15-year-old.

That's what you would have seen had you been watching Michigan offensive line commit Ben Braden (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) two years ago. He was a hockey player for eight years, and that was his main sport.

"I just loved the flow of the game, how it was constant and never really stopped," he said. "The speed of the game was what I loved. I miss it a little bit, but every now and then I still get to play on the pond."

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