kennedy chandler

A few weeks back we introduced the existing 2021 offers with the primer series divvied up into Guards, Wings and Bigs. Since then we’ve had some additional offers go out, missed the cut for some Plan As and made top 10 lists. Full rundown below.

Looking Solid Early On

Westtown (PA) guard Jalen Warley picked up an offer from Michigan 2 weeks ago and the Wolverines have a foot in the door thanks to family-ties with assistant coach Phil Martelli.

I spoke with Warley shortly after he was offered and he confirmed as much.

“Coach Martelli coached both my Dad and Uncle at St. Joe’s so there’s a ton of familiarity there. Once the health crisis is over, we’ve talked about setting up a visit there.”

Jalen provided similar insight to Sam Webb a few days later and the Philly alums are talking-up Michigan.

“I think the fact that every time hear from somebody who has attended Michigan, they’re always very prideful about their school (is appealing). I’ve never heard anybody speak negative about Michigan, so I’m just really curious to get down there and meet the people who I would be involved with day to day.”

He has a national level recruitment and has been active with virtual meetings of late, but it appears likely Michigan gets a campus visit when the health crisis permits.

Juwan Howard and crew are turning the heat up on in-state guard Jaden Akins. Howard conducted a virtual meeting with the Farmington guard last week.

Jaden gave standard fluff in this reaction piece with 247, but the key here is that Juwan Howard himself is now taking on the role as point-man.

Rivals’ Corey Evans is transparent in saying that Akins is quite undervalued at #109 in a Free Press article from Saturday. He also believes Michigan State is the leader at this point, which is almost certainly what that staff is feeding him.

The Spartans are definitely a program under heavy consideration, but so are the Wolverines. Another program that is making quite the push that isn’t well publicized just yet is Chris Collins and the Northwestern Wildcats.

Again, making Akins feel like an absolute priority along with the opportunity to make an immediate impact will be key in this recruitment. Michigan is making a move here and has improved their standing recently.

[After THE JUMP: New offers, updates, happy trails]

With the 2020 class all set barring a late add via the transfer portal, Juwan Howard has turned his attention to the 2021 class having pulled in the top recruiting haul in the B10. With a handful of offers going out over the last week, I’ll provide a three-part overview for each position—guards/wings/bigs—in what is functionally more of a primer/evaluation tool than a recruiting update per se.

Prior to getting into the relevant prospects, I find it helpful to convey a shorthand guide to my positional distinctions. While there is obviously some fluidity depending on coaching preference/style of play, I don’t think these will be all that polarizing.

That said, my positional distinctions generally start with a fundamental question. Which position is a prospect likely to defend at the college level?

• Guard—moves well enough to defend the perimeter; generally a competent ballhandler/shot creator in a half-court setting; ideally a competent shooter, but not necessarily
• 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
• Big—has adequate size/length to protect the rim and/or rebound and/or not get bullied by traditional bigs in the B10; can ideally finish as a roll-man

PART I: Guards

Kennedy Chandler

• Height/Wingspan/Weight: 6’0/6’5/170
• High School/AAU: Briarcrest Christian HS/Mokan Elite (EYBL)
• Offer Date: August 5, 2019
• Offers: Every blueblood in the nation and over 30 others
• End of Summer Ranking Projection: 5star/top 25 overall

Scouting: Smallish PG with elite acceleration and open-court speed. Will surprise you with his vertical ability and body control at the rim when finishing. Outstanding vision, consistently finds bigs on dumpoffs once he gets into the paint and forces help defense. Below average shooter, mechanics not ideal. Has some real potential as lockdown on-ball defender that we typically see at Louisville. Projects to be instant-impact freshman as a shot creator off the bounce that gets into the paint and collapses the defense as a playmaker for others that scores in transition. Ideally paired with athletic finishers because he’s a downhill attacker that looks for dumpoffs, but isn’t really a shooter.

Where Does Michigan Stand: Took OV to Ann Arbor in February for win over MSU. Chandler says he’s cutting his list to 5 soon and Rivals’ Corey Evans expects the Wolverines to make the cut. While I don’t doubt Michigan will stay in the mix, I’ve been hearing Duke is the likely destination in the end, with home-state Tennessee being another potential option.

[Hit THE JUMP for the remainder of the current guard pool]

Michigan just completed its biggest visit weekend of the year with no less than seven top 100 prospects in attendance to witness the Wolverines come out victorious over in-state rival Michigan State. With the commitment of Jace Howard last month, it appeared the 2020 class was down to a final spot. But Michigan’s hot pursuit of multiple 5 stars along with fluidity in the scholarship status of Jace may translate to two openings.

The Big Fish

Consensus top 10 prospect Greg Brown hit campus for an official visit and tells me the possibility of teaming up with the high-end talent Michigan has coming in has captured his attention. A quote from my full article below captures that sentiment:

“Its intriguing, it would be a scary sight playing with those guys.”

In speaking with Greg, I didn’t get the vibe Michigan has catapulted to the top of his list, but the Wolverines certainly made a positive impression.

Juwan Howard entered the mix late here, but we’ve seen him close that gap and win races on prior occasion. The Wolverines were once considered an afterthought here, but I firmly believe Coach Howard has given Brown something to seriously consider at minimum.

That said, I still believe Brown ends up elsewhere as of today. Greg’s father played football for the Longhorns and his uncle suited up for the UT basketball team. Considering Kentucky, Auburn and Memphis round out the remainder of his final 5, it seems too much to overcome in tandem with being an out of region prospect.

[Ed-Ace: After Matt wrote up this post, Sam Webb published a long article on Josh Christopher's recruitment. While UCLA and Mizzou are both mentioned as contenders, Michigan and Arizona State, where Christopher's older brother plays, get most of the focus. In an encouraging sign, the brother factor is downplayed, and location apparently isn't an obstacle. Meanwhile, we get the biggest "Juwan Howard knows everybody" flex yet:

“Juwan is just a great dude,” Christopher said. “I think he is a real selfless person. He doesn’t have to be like that. He’s just a great person. He knows the game, (and) has great connections I’m sure. I think he texted Michael Jordan one day I was with him. I was like, ‘whoa, this is Jordan!’ He is just a really good dude, he wants to win like I do, and he knows the game.”

I need the inevitable Brendan Quinn 3000-word feature on Juwan Howard's contact list to hit sooner rather than later.]

New 2021 Offer

Farmington guard Jaden Akins took an unofficial visit Saturday and left campus with a scholarship offer in the aftermath. I caught up with Akins shortly after and he is definitely enamored with the style of play under Juwan Howard:

“I like their style of play. The way they get up and down and how Coach Howard lets you go if you prove you can do it.”

Jaden wasn’t really a priority under the previous regime, but this was his third time on campus since the Summer and things are obviously picking up. 

Your author has been advocating for Akins the last 2 years at this point. He was criminally undervalued until recently, as he’s now just outside the top 100 to both Rivals and 247. I would’ve placed him at 75ish last Summer, and with his recent play this year that may be too low as well.

With his combination of size, length, perimeter shotmaking and quick twitch athleticism, Jaden has a chance to shoot up into the top 50 with a strong Spring on the EYBL circuit with The Family.

Yes, please. 

[Hit THE JUMP for a roundup on other visitors and the latest on Isaiah Todd.]