Hoops Recruitin' Is On The Floor
Brazdeikis Nearing Decision
It's getting to crunch time for the 2018 basketball class with visits ongoing and decisions upcoming. It's still mostly quiet on the football recruiting front, so today's roundup will focus entirely on the hardwood.
Scout's Evan Daniels caught up with Michigan's top realistic target, four-star Canadian wing Ignas Brazdeikis, to get his thoughts after his recent official to Ann Arbor:
I really enjoyed it, there was three other recruits with me, two of them committed. It was a great time, just a family feel in Ann Arbor and the coaching staff and the players, I felt like that went really well. They had a big football game against Cincinnati and that was a really cool environment. Getting to see that and talk with Derrick Walton a bit, and seeing what they had to say about Coach Beilein and Michigan, and it was really cool.
He's also visited Vanderbilt, and had good things to say about them too, and there's still an official to Florida on the docket. Both Daniels and Sam Webb, however, suggested that Michigan is in the driver's seat (no gut feeling yet, however). Brazdeikis would be the crown jewel of a pretty impressive class should John Beilein reel him in. Vandy, which is heavily involved with his AAU teammate, five-star Simi Shittu, appears to be the primary competiton. We won't have to wait long to find out which way this one goes:
What’s the plan from here? Are you thinking an early decision after that third visit?
I’m definitely not going to drag this decision on too long. I probably will, yeah, not long after this third visit I will be close to making my decision for sure.
That third visit, to Florida, is set for the weekend of the 30th.
[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]
Locked In?
Last weekend's official visitor, Maryland sharpshooter Noah Locke, hasn't emerged for any interviews, but Rivals's Corey Evans told The Wolverine's Chris Balas that "Michigan is the leader."
There's some concern a prospect like Justin Ahrens could grab Locke's spot before he finishes his visits, which makes this news quite intriguing: Scout's Brian Snow reports Locke moved his Florida official visit up a week to this weekend. Snow expects a decision next week, and Michigan is his "gun to my head" pick. Ohio State, Providence, and Xavier are also in the mix, but it's usually a good sign when a prospect changes his visit schedule after checking out your school.
New Names Emerging
While Michigan has several irons in the fire for the 2018 class, they're not short on backup plans, either. Four-star Chicago Simeon wing Talen Horton-Tucker will be on campus today for an unofficial visit, and while he doesn't (yet) hold a Michigan offer, his sheet includes the likes of Illinois, Iowa State, Kansas, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Purdue. At 6'5", 210 pounds, he could fit in as a two or a three at Michigan:
"During the summer, I remember a few conversations with coaches whose question was, "What's his position?" My response was always "on the floor." I don't care about labeling him a small forward or a shooting guard, I just know he's savvy, plays hard, is very productive and is still only 16 years old," Rivals.com's Eric Bossi said this summer.
This could get interesting in a hurry if he gets an offer. Michigan has the last two picks on his Crystal Ball, including one from 247's director of basketball scouting, Jerry Meyer.
Meanwhile, Beilein dropped in to visit 6'10", 215-pound four-star FL big Colin Castleton recently, and despite coming off an unofficial visit to "dream school" Florida, Castleton is looking to set up an official visit to Ann Arbor, per The Wolverine's Chris Balas:
They're high up there," Castleton said, noting U-M had moved up his list "for sure."
"I had a great time meeting Coach B. I'm planning to make an official visit. I'm just working on dates now."
He's repeatedly called Florida his dream school, but he said last month he'd keep his options open, even after getting an offer from the Gators.
“I want to feel out this final eight and get to know all the coaches more. Yeah, it’s a dream school, but at the end of the day, I want to go to a school that I can fulfill my dreams," he said. "It has nothing to do what my dream school is. I just want to go where I can be successful and go to the next level after college.”
Castleton is a stretch four who Beilein may be eyeing as a stretch five in the Moe Wagner mold. He's taken an official to Illinois and has others set to Purdue and Florida.
Happy Trails, Duane Washington
Happy trails to three-star CA PG Duane Washington, a Michigan transplant who held an offer and committed to Ohio State yesterday. While Washington unfortunately continued the trend of top Michigan hoopers heading out of state to finish high school ball, the in-state talent is as good as it's been in a while:
Counting Duane Washington and with Taylor Currie bumped up a class, Michigan's 2018 class has 9 Big 10 recruits most since 1995, also 9.
— Steve Bell (@BankHoops) September 21, 2017
Washington had been on the fringe of Michigan's recruiting radar, so this doesn't affect their current recruiting much.
September 22nd, 2017 at 12:17 PM ^
September 22nd, 2017 at 12:35 PM ^
Snow, the mis-Informer.
September 22nd, 2017 at 1:26 PM ^
This is an underrated comment.
September 22nd, 2017 at 1:50 PM ^
September 22nd, 2017 at 12:44 PM ^
September 22nd, 2017 at 1:08 PM ^
Sam got that information from him, since they write for the same place.
September 22nd, 2017 at 1:16 PM ^
confirm before reporting it on the Roundup.
September 22nd, 2017 at 12:27 PM ^
Get the same feeling with Brazdeikis that we got with McGary?
September 22nd, 2017 at 2:26 PM ^
Both of them showed up to football games at the Big House(McGary was at the Western game that poured rain, as was I), and both gave really positive vibes following their visit. I see a lot of similarities.
September 22nd, 2017 at 3:25 PM ^
Feel better?
:)
September 22nd, 2017 at 8:38 PM ^
September 22nd, 2017 at 12:35 PM ^
Really want Iggy. Can play lots of different spots for us. He and Jerome Hunter were maybe the top two (realistic) targets, so would be rough to lose out on both.
September 22nd, 2017 at 12:53 PM ^
Isn't RJ Barrett coming for an official next week? Assuming we have less than 1% considering it wasn't even mentioned that the #1 player in the country is visiting campus for an official.
September 22nd, 2017 at 1:02 PM ^
Not only is RJ visiting next weekend, but Adrien Nunez and Colin Castleton are now as well.
September 22nd, 2017 at 1:06 PM ^
Would would it take for Maizen to be happy about this class though?
September 22nd, 2017 at 4:24 PM ^
RJ Barret and Iggy
September 22nd, 2017 at 1:09 PM ^
Good for Michigan Basketball. Love that Coach we got.
GO BLUE!!
September 22nd, 2017 at 1:11 PM ^
This can't be!? I thought JB was the cleanest coach ever?
September 22nd, 2017 at 1:36 PM ^
If he picks us over Kansas and Duke (Jabari Parker's HS), I will fully believe that the Jordan shoe deal will be a bigger factor in hoops recruiting than football.
September 22nd, 2017 at 2:03 PM ^
But I have it on good authroity that the Jabari Parker recruitment was fairly clean (believe it or not). Perhaps Simeon HS is not as dirty as the rest of Chicago HSs.
September 22nd, 2017 at 1:12 PM ^
in terms of players Michigan is attracting. There are fewer marginal players over the last year that seem to be in the mix. Fewer conversations where people are saying that Beilein could mold them into contributors. More who the scouts and close observers just really think (are) fine players.
September 22nd, 2017 at 4:25 PM ^
Saddi seems to be the guy for all these recruits too. I think he should get much of the credit
September 23rd, 2017 at 7:38 AM ^
like with Iggy. It's pretty much a necessity, with the other two assistants just coming on board.
September 22nd, 2017 at 1:28 PM ^
Kobe Kick in his jumper. Defenders always love playing against that kick!
September 22nd, 2017 at 1:36 PM ^
after several inexplicable down years. Michigan has some really good players in the fold currently, and several more looking very good. I think Brazdeikis can be an All Big Ten player here in a few years. He'd be a perfect player in the Beilien system.
September 22nd, 2017 at 2:30 PM ^
September 22nd, 2017 at 2:16 PM ^
Haven't seen him in person, but can't believe he's not rated a bit higher. Very very rare to see a big with his skills. He'll be a match-up nightmare in JB's offense if they get him. Reminds me very much of a taller Sarunas Marciulionis.
September 22nd, 2017 at 4:53 PM ^
His composite ranking is pulled down because one of the recruiting sites does not rank international players.
September 22nd, 2017 at 4:51 PM ^
The difference in recruiting this year as opposed to those previous are the backup plans. Beilein got burned in some previous years by missing out on his top targets (most notably the Tyus Battle fiasco that certainly was not Beilein's fault). This year we missed out on some top targets like Jerome Hunter, Cormac Ryan, and Robby Carmody. In previous years this may have been a death knell for the recruiting rankings. The differencethis year is that we've been recuiting lot of really good guys, so many that it's been hard to keep track of.
Kudos to Beilein for realizing a flaw in his thought process and fixing it
And despite the narrative, our roster is filled with top 50-150 recruits with the exceptions being Centers who are more rare and some late adds like MAAR and Ibi.
September 22nd, 2017 at 6:07 PM ^
September 22nd, 2017 at 7:40 PM ^
I didn't see any traveling. More worrisome as a Michigan recruit was almost 3 minutes of highlights and not one 3 pointer...
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