Michigan Thursday: The Story Is Coming Together

Yesterday, I started wondering out loud if we had the full story regarding the basketball transfers and recruits coming to Ann Arbor.  The dots in that situation are starting to connect.

Leaving

David DeJulius is in the transfer portal

Colin Castleton is also in the portal.  CC has some nice upside, but his frame and strength was always going to be a concern.   

X and Teske are seniors and out of eligibility. 

Coming?

Jace Howard is a solid commit and will now walk-on 

Isaiah Todd announced on IG live last night that he will be a Wolverine 

All reports seem to be positive that 5 star SG Josh Cristopher is heading to Ann Arbor, official announcement on Monday. 

A transfer?  Bryce Aiken is announcing today, his pick is not expected to be Michigan

Coming Back?

Austin Davis will be back for a 5th year.   That was not expected at the start of the season.  

Isaiah Livers will look at the NBA but says if he can't get a guaranteed contract he will come back.  Right now, many mock drafts have him listed between 80-100 which leads to Livers being back.


There can be 13 basketball scholarships, here is how I estimate the slots (highlighted):

Freshman
Todd
Christopher 
Dickinson
Jackson 
Williams 
Howard 

Sophomores
Wagner 
Bajema
Wade 

Juniors
Nunez 
Johns 

Seniors
Davis 
Brooks 
Livers

Transfer?

There you go!  I hope the above happens.

• Remember 2020 DT Denver Warren who decommitted from Michigan?  He is headed to prep school.  

• Michigan is looking at Miss State DT transfer Fabien Lovett, he played for Bob Shoop at MSU.   Did I mention he is 330 pounds?  Yes, Please!!!   Michigan's defense needs a big nose tackle run stopper. 

• 4 star CB from Dallas Ishmael Ibraheem has Michigan in his top 10

Wolverine Wednesday: A Lost Commit and DD in The Portal

It's strange and a bit weird that I missed a football commitment last weekend when LB Casey Phinney became a Wolverine.  Casey is a low ranked LB out of MA and is ranked 1002 in 24/7 composite.   Cleary, this a Don Brown recruit and we hope he sees something that other major programs didn't.  Casey is clearly a good student as his offer list is full of Ivy League schools with Army, Georgetown, and UMass.   I sometimes wonder if Don gets confused and thinks he is recruiting for BC.  

With recruiting and transfers it always seems like we don't have the full story.  Quick example, Tarik Black hasn't picked a new school yet.  What is going on there?  The most I have heard is rumors of Miami or BC.   But that was months ago.  

With that premise in mind, David DeJulius has decided to enter the transfer portal and leave Michigan's Basketball program.  He was expected to be the starter at PG next year, with hopefully a nice mix of veteran and freshman players.  This is another example of not knowing the entire story.  Michigan Basketball has been looking at PG transfers for a few weeks and they are currently over the scholarship limit with 5 Star guard Josh Christopher to still make a decision.   If your wondering, Josh is considered more of a shooting guard then point.  

• There has been some nervousness that Isaiah Todd removed some Michigan stuff from his social media.   This one won't be done until he signs. 

• Livers said he will come back to A2 if he doesn't have a guaranteed contract from the NBA.   He is still ranked between 80-100 in the draft, which means a return is likely.  

•  2021 OL/C Cass Tech Raheem Anderson names Michigan to his top 11 list 

Michigan Monday: Michigan Recruiting Honey Holes: Instate and Baltimore

Michigan has done very well in both places.  Instate there're a plethora of highly ranked prospects in the 2021 class.  With the question mark at MSU, the Wolverines have a chance to grab a lot of local talent that wants to stay close to home.

Michigan was also able to land 3 players from Baltimore last recruiting class which includes Blake Corum, Osman Savage, and Nikhai Hill-Green.  We also know what a program ally that Biff Poggi is in recruiting top talent in Baltimore. 

• Baltimore 4 star LB Aaron Willis from Baltimore named Michigan to his top 7. 

• 4 Star WR from Baltimore Dont'e Thornton has Michigan in his top group with Penn State, ASU, Oregon, and ND. 

• Instate 2021 OT/DT Caleb Banks has also named the Wolverines his top 11.  Its a bit questionable if the Michigan staff has made Banks as a high priority or not.  

• Michigan did not make the final list for 2021 CA TE Brock Bowers 

• Michigan did make the final 8 for 2021 OH WR Markus Allen, who is expected to be a Michigan lean. 

• Congrats to Rudy T and his family for making the Basketball Hall of Fame.  KG was also planning to play at Michigan before he headed to the NBA straight out of high school.   KG at Crisler would have been crazy! 

Michigan Friday: Bartender, Give Me a Tight End with a Kicker!

My grandmother always said that bad news comes in 3's, I guess good news comes in 2's for Michigan's 2021 class.  Last week Michigan grabbed 2 more recruits and Thursday they did the same thing.

First:

Louis Hansen is a 4 star TE to 24/7's composite and rated the 8th TE in the country.  He is 6'5, 225 and from Needham, MA.  Michigan continues to have a strong presence on the East Coast and Sweet Lou (Too Early?) is another example.

Lou's offer list included the likes of BC, Colorado, Duke, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Iowa, Ohio State, MSU, Penn State, Princeton, and others.

Michigan clearly wanted more TE's in 2020 which means they will take 2 in this class.  Lou is the first shoe to drop, Michigan also would like to steal Iowa's Thomas Fiodone from the Hawkeyes backyard.

Welcome Sweet Lou!

Second:

The standard recruiting services don't do a very good job in ranking kickers or punters.   It doesn't drive clicks and not really worth their time.  So when you look to recruit a kicker you go to the high profile kicking camps/services like Kohl's and Kornblue Kicking.

Tommy Doman, Jr. committed to the Wolverines yesterday over the Air Force, BC, Colorado State, Army, WSU, and others.   Tommy is ranked the #3 kicker and #4 punter in the country to Kohl's and Kornblue ranks him as the #8 kicker and #2 punter in the 2021 class.  Having a guy that can do both is a steal and easily makes Tommy a scholarship worthy special teamer.  

Welcome Tommy!  

• MSU's Tom Izzo continues to be in hot water as it seems he was too involved with a witness in a sexual assault case.  

• 2021 4 star LB Jamari Buddin from Belleville tells Sam Webb he is moving up his decision date.  His finalist seem to be Michigan, Penn State, and Minnesota.  You might have noticed the State of Michigan has plenty of talent in this class. 

• 2021 4 star LB Julien Simon has Michigan in his top 8 

• 2021 3 star LB Kobe King has Michigan in his top 7

• 2021 2 star LB Joe Linebacker has Michigan in his top 6 😄

Have a good weekend and stay safe