quincy allen

Six new offers over the last two weeks seems like good enough reason for a refresh on the recruiting front. Juwan Howard and crew have been extremely active recently and the absence of live evaluation periods has allowed the staff to hone-in on relationship building with top targets.

Not Done in 2020?

I speculated a few weeks back that Michigan would probably love to have top-30 center Efton Reid in the 2020 class and he confirmed as much with Sam Webb:

“I talked about it in the Zoom call with Coach Howard, my mom, Coach Martelli, and the other coaches,” Reid recalled. “Coach Juwan was like, ‘whatever decision you make, we want you in both classes. I could go potentially in ‘20, but I don’t know right now. So, I’m still in the ‘21 class, but they definitely want me for both classes basically.”

In the same piece Reid states new schools are still entering the picture, but Virginia, Louisville, Ohio State and Michigan have been among the programs consistently mentioned over the last month or so.

Efton doesn’t have a timeline for cutting his list, making a commitment or a reclassification decision. The global health crisis complicates the matter since visits are off the table, so a final reclassification decision could drop at any time.

Given the depth issues at the center position, you can count on the Wolverines making a push here. AAU teammates and 2020 signees Terrance Williams and Hunter Dickinson are certainly making a pitch, but I just don’t know how appealing it is for Efton to be in the same class as a multi-year college big in Dickinson.

[After THE JUMP: Offers, Updates, Rankings and More Offers!]

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”]