Michigan Thursday Part 2: A Good Day For The Basketball Program

3 pieces of good news got me to take a few minutes to write about the positive vibes around the football and basketball program.

Lets start with B-Ball:

Charles Matthews is heading back to Michigan and will not enter the NBA Draft this year.   After not being invited to the NBA Combine, this was really the only decision.   Yes, he could of stayed in the draft and been a late second round or even a free agent but that would of been a couple of years of development in the G-League at best.   Now he gets to lead Michigan, which suddenly looks like a pretty decent squad next year.   Welcome Back Charles!

So are you ready to feel old?  Jalen Wilson committed to Michigan Basketball last night as he was named after Jalen Rose.   Next thing your going to tell me is that Juan Howard is the Pistons  head coach! :-) (hopefully!)

Jalen is 6'7 and 200 pound small forward.  He is a high 4 star and ranked in the top 40 to both Rivals and 24/7.  Jalen picked Michigan over his finalists of Baylor, Kansas, Marquette, Oklahoma State, and UCLA.  But if you think about it, he was always destined to wear the Maize and Blue after being named after the host of Get Up on ESPN.  It seems the Wolverines always had Mom's support! 

Jalen is an athletic forward that shoots the ball well and plays defensive.  He will fit well into Coach B's offensive as Coach will work on his shooting touch from 3 point range.   This is blue chip recruit and not under the radar as guys are starting to notice the success Coach B has had at Michigan and the number of guys he is putting in the NBA.

Welcome Jalen!

Now the surprise of the day:

Michigan Football got a surprise commit from Cincinnati (OH) Moeller 2019 offensive lineman Zach Carpenter.  Zach had visited Ann Arbor last month and was offered on the visit.   Zach knew Coach Warriner from Minnesota and was quickly added to Michigan's board.  Zach had a bunch of crystal balls to Clemson and none of the services were predicting him to Michigan.  

Zach is 310 pounds and 6'5 and projected to be a guard in college.  He is ranked as a high 3 star with offers from the likes of Clemson, Arkansas, UK, MSU, Louisville, Nebraska, Ole Miss, Oregon, Pitt, and more.  

Zach joins Karsen Barnhart Trente Jones, Jack Stewart and Nolan Rumler on the offensive line in the 2019 class, which mean the coaches now can be very picky about adding another player to this group.  
Welcome Zach!