Juwan Howard has reeled-in his first commitment, and boy is it a big one, as consensus 5-star forward Isaiah Todd made the announcement for the Wolverines today. 

Todd chose Michigan over Kansas, the counterpart in his final two released on October 7th. While a head-to-head victory over Bill Self and the Jayhawks is notable on its own merit, Coach Howard landed a blue-chipper over offers from the likes of Kentucky, North Carolina, UCLA, Villanova, Maryland and Memphis among several others.

In a nutshell, Michigan just beat out every blueblood in the country absent Duke for one of the most sought-after prospects in the country. Such is recruiting for Michigan under Juwan Howard.

GURU RANKINGS

Rivals	ESPN	24/7	Endless Motor
5*, #10 Ovr, #2 PF	5*, #7 Ovr, #1 PF	5*, #14 Ovr, #2 PF, #1 NC	5*, #11 Ovr, #2PF, #1 NC

All of the services agree that Todd is a 5-star prospect that sits in a tight range between 7-14 overall. Rivals, 247 and Endless Motor all list him at 6'10, while ESPN goes with 6'9. The only material difference seems to be the weight, where ESPN and Rivals have Isaiah listed at 215 and 210, respectively. 247 and Endless Motor have him at 195. USA Basketball essentially splits the difference, at 6'10 and 206 pounds as of October 1st.

SCOUTING

No question about it, the Wolverines are getting an elite talent. Todd is a three-level scorer with NBA prototype positional size for a wing/forward at 6’9-6’10 with a 7’ wingspan. He’s a good athlete that has fluid movements and jumps well off 1 or 2 legs with tremendous body control in the air. In terms of skillset, Isaiah is an extremely versatile prospect. He can create his own shot off the dribble, space the defense out as a shooter in pick and pop action, attack closeouts from the wing and face-up from the mid-post area. Todd’s best offensive attributes right now are his pull-up jumper off the dribble, high-level finishing ability in transition and gravity as a stretch-four shooter off the catch. Throw in some defensive chops as a helpside shot-blocker and this is a can’t miss prospect.

Rivals’ Eric Bossi hands out the type of lofty praise that is typically reserved for legitimate NBA-caliber prospects:

“His talent is undeniable. At 6-foot-10 he can put the ball on the floor, has a good-looking jumper and has the type of body and athleticism that make him look like he was born to play basketball.

Jerry Meyer at 247 echoes the three-level scoring ability and great combination of size and length:

“A long and athletic forward who loves to play facing the basket. Can score off post moves but has a finesse game. Building strength and mass is a key to development. Can score at all three levels.”

ESPN sees an athletic pick-and-pop option, but probably shorts him a bit with the range on his jumper:

“Todd is highly skilled for his age and size with a super soft touch and high and compact release. His bread and butter is in short pick-and-pop action to about 18 feet but he also has equally soft hands and touch around the rim with signs of a jump hook that could develop into a definite weapon. He's a good athlete and pretty long but especially fluid and agile for his size. His footwork is advanced for his age and there's just far more polish on his game than there is any other player of comparable size in the class of 2020.”

With a tantalizing combination of size/skill/athleticism, the question is why Todd is considered a top-ten type as opposed to a top 3 prospect? The answer to that seems to be lack of aggression/motor as a physically underdeveloped underclassmen playing a year up on the AAU circuit.

The lack of elite production while playing a year up in the 17u division on the AAU circuit led to some recalibration during his sophomore year after debuting as the number-one overall 2020 prospect per ESPN in August 2017 . Projections of top-three lock, to mere top-ten type status were the end result.

“Ranked in the top 5 of the 2020 class, Isaiah Todd played with Team Loaded NC's 17U team and did a good job of anchoring the middle. He nearly averaged a double-double and blocked four shots during the session. He also showed off his three-point range on the final day of play. Still, coaches would probably like to see Todd a bit more assertive but that should come in time.”

Fast forward a year and his motor caught up to the natural talent against the stiffest high-school competition in the world on the 2019 EYBL circuit. Todd displayed the high-level skill and versatility that made him such a prized-prospect early on.

“It really looks like he has found the right balance of playing on the block, facing the hoop and knowing when to do what. His effort and playmaking were tremendous during a key Sunday game, and with 17.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, nobody can knock his production.”

[After THE JUMP: film that will make you giddy]

OFFERS

Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA, Virginia, Memphis, Baylor, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Miami, NC State, Oklahoma State, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Villanova, St. John’s and several others.

HIGH SCHOOL

Word of God Christian Academy is located in Raleigh, North Carolina.

STATS

The most recent and relevant numbers are from the 2019 EYBL circuit, where Todd averaged 17.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks a game on 50.8% from the field and 29.3% from distance on 58 attempts through 18 games. High School stats via Max Preps during his junior year at Trinity Academy have Isaiah at 28 points, 15 rebounds, 5.4 blocks and 4.3 blocks per outing.

VIDEO

Overtime highlights:

Courtside Films Fall Camp Highlights:

Peach Jam highlights:

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

A prospect of Todd’s caliber is going to play early and play a lot. Expect him to get solid minutes at the power-forward spot as both a face-up option out of Horns sets and a shooter in pick-and-pop action. The only true power forward on the roster in 2020 will be a junior Brandon Johns, with Isaiah Livers manning the SF spot or perhaps off to the NBA ranks. Either way, I think a solid baseline expectation is that Isaiah will be a key rotational piece that sees the floor for a minimum of 15-20 minutes per game, and perhaps more likely, works his way into the rotation as a starter at some point.

In terms of archetype, a good comparison might be the High School version of Kevon Looney. Todd doesn’t defend as well and isn’t as shifty with the ball in relation to HS Looney, but has a similar physical profile and is perhaps a better perimeter shotmaker and athlete. For reference, Looney averaged 11.6 points, 9.2 rebounds and nearly a block per game while shooting 41.5% from distance on low volume during his one season at UCLA. A reasonable projection for Todd may be closer 10 points and 5 rebounds per game.

It would be remiss not to mention the overseas option, as Todd himself says it’s a possibility. The college route seems to be the much more likely scenario at this point, but with the Australia and New Zealand professional ranks becoming more viable recently, it is something to monitor.

In any event, don’t expect Isaiah to be here more than 1 year. Lengthy 6’10 guys with ballskills and athleticism are valuable commodities at the NBA level, and it’d be a near shocker for him to sport a Michigan uniform beyond his freshman season.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Todd is the second member of the 2020 class, joining four-star PG Zeb Jackson. Michigan has at least two more open slots, and possibly three, depending on the status of Austin Davis. The staff is probably working with the assumption that three slots will be open so as to account for possible attrition. Another guard and a wing are clear priorities to round out the class, with five-star guard Nimari Burnett and four-star wing Moses Moody the most plausible options at the moment. Burnett has remaining official visits to Texas Tech and Oregon before making a December decision while Moody is taking an OV to Arkansas this weekend and a commitment is expected sometime in the next few weeks.

As mentioned yesterday, top-40 center Hunter Dickinson now seems to be a viable option if he leaves Durham without committing this weekend after hearing from multiple sources early last week that landing Todd likely meant Dickinson was off the table.

This commitment legitimizes Michigan as being one of those schools………where an offer or interest creates a perception that a certain prospect is entering elite status. In basketball recruiting, relationships and buzz-factor surpass tangible factors such as on-court performance to a large extent. The Wolverines weren’t necessarily at the forefront with those things in the past, but Isaiah Todd to Michigan means Ann Arbor is once again a destination for the cream of the crop among High School basketball prospects.