eric van der heijden

Last week we covered the existing offers in the primer series for 2021 with Guards, Wings and Bigs. Yesterday my Wish List series kicked things off with the Guards. Today, we’ll take a peek at some Wing prospects that I’d like to see the staff pursue moving forward.

As with yesterday’s, the wish list is based on a combination of Michigan’s needs (playmakers off the bounce), Juwan’s preferred physical profile (size and/or good athlete) and my evaluation/projection.

As a refresher, here is my general blueprint for designating wings:

Wing—has adequate size/length to defend the wing; ideally a competent shooter or plus defender; ideally a secondary shot creator that can attack a closeout at minimum

Number One with a Bullet

Eric Van Der Heijden

• Height/Wingspan/Weight: 6’8/NA/200
• High School/AAU: Millbrook HS (NC)/Team Wall (Adidas)
• Current Composite Ranking: 3star/#140 Overall
• My End of Summer Projection: 4star/Top 50-75 Overall

Scouting: good pull-up jumper off the bounce and has the look of a knockdown floor-spacer off the catch. His vision looks superb, he makes timely passes that are accurate and lead to easy buckets. That’s a hard quality to find for a kid with his size. His handle is solid for a bigger wing, as he can change direction with a live dribble with relative ease. He’s an above average athlete with fluid movements. Not explosive, but certainly not sub-par. He projects as a mulit-year college player that has some pro-potential once he adds muscle mass in a high-major strength and conditioning program. 6’8 wings that can shoot off the bounce, make plays for others and put the ball on the floor with plus athleticism don’t grow on trees. Eric would be my #1 target because his size/skillset is compatible with any style of play and any roster combination. He’s versatile and skilled with a ton of upside.

[Hit THE JUMP for this edition of “Who Dats”]