With running back CJ Hester having left the team midcamp, Michigan football scrambled this week to make one last roster addition.

And they found somebody.

Rocco Milia, a transfer linebacker from Columbia University with ties to the state of Michigan, signed with the Wolverines this week and reported to training camp on Friday, a source confirmed to MLive/ The Ann Arbor News today.

A team spokesman later confirmed the addition. Milia is enrolled at the university and could begin practicing as soon as this weekend.

A two-year starter at Columbia, Milia has one year of college eligibility remaining. He played in 28 games at Columbia, an Ivy League school that finished in a three-way tie atop the conference standings in 2024.

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, Milia had productive 2023 and 2024 seasons. He had 54 tackles, three interceptions and eight pass breakups as a junior and 49 tackles (four for a loss) and three pass breakups as a senior. Last season, Milia had double-digit tackle games against Dartmouth and Georgetown.

A Birmingham, Mich., native, Milia starred at Brother Rice High School, where he was a three-year starter, first-team all-state player by the AP and coaches, and Mr. Football candidate. He played safety, wide receiver and returned kicks in high school.

Milia will have to work his way up the depth chart to see playing time at linebacker. Michigan already has its starters in place, Ernest Hausmann and Jaishawn Barham, while reserves Jimmy Rolder and Cole Sullivan are in line for snaps. The Wolverines also added a linebacker transfer in the spring, Troy Bowles from Georgia.

The move comes 24 hours after news broke that running back CJ Hester, a transfer from UMass, departed the team. Hester plans to reenter the NCAA transfer portal this fall and play elsewhere for his final year of college eligibility.