Michigan Basketball: No Christopher. No Todd. Where to Next?
Over the last 24 hours, Michigan has been dealt an absolute blow to their recruiting momentum. The Wolverines had the #4 class for the 2020 men's basketball recruiting cycle according to 247Sports entering last night, where they were presumed by many (not by Nick and Zach per podcast Ep. 2) to be the favorite for Top 10 recruit Josh Christopher. It appeared that Juwan Howard had figured out how to dominate the recruiting cycle within just one season.
Since 11:24 PM EST on April 14, things have begun to unravel for the Wolverines. First, it was Christopher announcing that he would be going to Arizona State, per his Twitter page.
— Josh(ua) Christopher (@Jaygup23) April 14, 2020
This wasn't the end of the world, although it was disappointing for the Wolverines. Christopher was going to be the whipped cream, chocolate sauce and cherry on top of the recruiting sundae that fans were enjoying this offseason. But they still had the five scoops of ice cream that produced a phenomenal bowl of ice cream!
This morning, things took another tough turn for the Wolverines. Per Jason Jordan on SI, five-star power forward Isaiah Todd indicated that he will be going overseas to continue his basketball career. Todd had announced his commitment earlier in the recruiting cycle to the Wolverines.
These two changes in the recruiting plan have Michigan in an interesting situation. Last week, both Colin Castleton and David DeJulius transferred from the program, with the public perception being that this was making room for all of the recruiting targets, and for Isaiah Livers to still be able to return if he wished. Instead, the Wolverines now have two empty scholarships to fill.
Where will the Wolverines go from here?
I think that the Wolverines have a few different paths to go down in terms of filling their scholarship quota.
1. They can give a scholarship to Jace Howard (as was originally planned). This could be a one-year solution, and it gives the team an opportunity to have extra space to recruit next season.
2. The Wolverines have one player that they have offered a scholarship to that remains available:
Greg Brown 6-9/195 5* PF from Vandegrift, TX--Brown is the #9 player in the country, and the #1 power forward per 247, and he is the best recruit left in America. Brown is set to announce his commitment on April 24 at 3:00 EST, per his Twitter page.
Michigan is in his Final 5, along with Texas, Memphis, Auburn and Kentucky. Many believe that Texas is the front runner, but that was before Todd's commitment changed. I would follow this recruiting news to see if that alters his decision.
3. The Wolverines could return to the transfer portal. The following are the best players left on ESPN's Transfer Rankings that would be available this season.
Matt Haarms (C/Purdue)--Yeah this ain't happening...
Justin Kier (SG/George Mason)--Kier has already announced a Top 10, but per his tweet below, he is willing to expand that list.
I think if you are Michigan, you give him a call. Kier had a foot injury last season, but he averaged 14.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in 2018-19, while shooting 45.8% from three. He seems like a great choice to fill in the gap left at the shooting guard role.
Rapolas Ivanauskas (PF/Colgate)--Personally, I love this kid's game. He took a step back last season, but he shot 43.4% from deep and was Patriot League Player of the Year two years ago. Despite dropping to 26% from deep last season, he still averaged 13.1 points/7.6 rebounds.
Darius Perry (PG/Louisville)--This one seems unlikely as well, as the combination of grad transfer Mike Smith and Eli Brooks looking to take large minutes at the point guard position. If you thought one of those guys was willing to slide to the shooting guard role (probably more-so Smith), then Perry may get a look. He averaged 40% in ACC play, but he only averaged 5.2 points and 2.5 assists.
Jair Bolden (SG/South Carolina)--This is another guy that should be looked at if you want to fill the shooting guard role. Bolden averaged 8.5 points and shot 41% from three-point range last year.
Drew Buggs (PG/Hawaii)--Like I brought up with Perry, the point guard position doesn't appear to be the largest need, but Buggs is a strong player. He is 6-3/195, so he is a bigger point guard, and he averaged 9.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists last year, so he is a bit of a do-it-all guard.
Quan Jackson (SG/Georgia Southern)--This is a guy that checks a lot of boxes in terms of a two-way player as well. Jackson averaged 13.6 points and 4.5 rebounds, but perhaps more impressively he averaged 2.6 steals per game.
Ryan Betley (SG/Penn)--In terms of academic appeal for Betley, Michigan would have it. He was a double figure scorer in all three seasons at Penn, including this year's campaign in which he finished with 11.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
This morning, things took another tough turn for the Wolverines. Per Jason Jordan on SI, five-star power forward Isaiah Todd indicated that he will be going overseas to continue his basketball career. Todd had announced his commitment earlier in the recruiting cycle to the Wolverines.
*BREAKING* Isaiah Todd (@zaytodd) has informed me that he has officially decommitted from Michigan and will pursue a pro career. He plans to hire an agent.— Jason Jordan (@JasonJordanSI) April 14, 2020
READhttps://t.co/eB0OBE4Bwz
These two changes in the recruiting plan have Michigan in an interesting situation. Last week, both Colin Castleton and David DeJulius transferred from the program, with the public perception being that this was making room for all of the recruiting targets, and for Isaiah Livers to still be able to return if he wished. Instead, the Wolverines now have two empty scholarships to fill.
Where will the Wolverines go from here?
I think that the Wolverines have a few different paths to go down in terms of filling their scholarship quota.
1. They can give a scholarship to Jace Howard (as was originally planned). This could be a one-year solution, and it gives the team an opportunity to have extra space to recruit next season.
2. The Wolverines have one player that they have offered a scholarship to that remains available:
Greg Brown 6-9/195 5* PF from Vandegrift, TX--Brown is the #9 player in the country, and the #1 power forward per 247, and he is the best recruit left in America. Brown is set to announce his commitment on April 24 at 3:00 EST, per his Twitter page.
Stay tuned to HedgeHogFamTV for The Commitment pic.twitter.com/A7gd3IgPAC— Greg Brown (@gb3elite) April 11, 2020
Michigan is in his Final 5, along with Texas, Memphis, Auburn and Kentucky. Many believe that Texas is the front runner, but that was before Todd's commitment changed. I would follow this recruiting news to see if that alters his decision.
3. The Wolverines could return to the transfer portal. The following are the best players left on ESPN's Transfer Rankings that would be available this season.
Matt Haarms (C/Purdue)--Yeah this ain't happening...
Justin Kier (SG/George Mason)--Kier has already announced a Top 10, but per his tweet below, he is willing to expand that list.
— 1 (@Jkiiiiii__) April 13, 2020
I think if you are Michigan, you give him a call. Kier had a foot injury last season, but he averaged 14.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in 2018-19, while shooting 45.8% from three. He seems like a great choice to fill in the gap left at the shooting guard role.
Rapolas Ivanauskas (PF/Colgate)--Personally, I love this kid's game. He took a step back last season, but he shot 43.4% from deep and was Patriot League Player of the Year two years ago. Despite dropping to 26% from deep last season, he still averaged 13.1 points/7.6 rebounds.
Darius Perry (PG/Louisville)--This one seems unlikely as well, as the combination of grad transfer Mike Smith and Eli Brooks looking to take large minutes at the point guard position. If you thought one of those guys was willing to slide to the shooting guard role (probably more-so Smith), then Perry may get a look. He averaged 40% in ACC play, but he only averaged 5.2 points and 2.5 assists.
Jair Bolden (SG/South Carolina)--This is another guy that should be looked at if you want to fill the shooting guard role. Bolden averaged 8.5 points and shot 41% from three-point range last year.
Drew Buggs (PG/Hawaii)--Like I brought up with Perry, the point guard position doesn't appear to be the largest need, but Buggs is a strong player. He is 6-3/195, so he is a bigger point guard, and he averaged 9.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists last year, so he is a bit of a do-it-all guard.
Quan Jackson (SG/Georgia Southern)--This is a guy that checks a lot of boxes in terms of a two-way player as well. Jackson averaged 13.6 points and 4.5 rebounds, but perhaps more impressively he averaged 2.6 steals per game.
Ryan Betley (SG/Penn)--In terms of academic appeal for Betley, Michigan would have it. He was a double figure scorer in all three seasons at Penn, including this year's campaign in which he finished with 11.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
GO OVERSEAS DONT COME BACK!!
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