With Hunter Dickinson back for his junior season, the need for a portal big in 2022-23 becomes much less pressing even with the departure of Moussa Diabate.

Still, it is difficult to imagine a situation where Michigan doesn't add an additional big from the high school ranks for the 2023-24 season, as Dickinson will presumably bolt for the professional path if viable. If that scenario comes to fruition, 2022 signee Tarris Reed would be the only true scholarship center on the roster. Let's take a look at the board coming off the first live evaluation period of July.

 

Papa Kante

Height/Weight: Listed at 6'10 and 225 pounds. Probably closer to a legit 6'8.5 - 6'9 and 215 - 220lbs.

High School/AAU: South Kent School (CT)/Nike EYBL New York Renaissance (NY)

Weekend Performance: 11.5ppg, 9.5reb, 1.5blk, 60.4% FG and 33.3% from distance over six games

Mainstream Ranking: Received massive bump from On3 and now sits at #33 overall after a strong performance at the Pangos AA Camp. I'd take that with a grain of salt personally, as those camps tend to lack defense and structure (and this coming from someone that runs camps). Wide variance among mainstream services with Kante in the 30-140 range overall. 

EM Ranking/Evaluation: After what I saw this weekend, I now project Kante to have the impact of a 60 - 80 level prospect (was previously 70 - 100) and that may be a tad conservative. Papa was impressive as a perimeter shotmaker in Kansas City (see my film above) and looked increasingly confident in his offense. He's now flashing a back-to-the-basket game and the ability to face-up from the elbow/mid-post and hit pull-ups. It's the best offensive performance I've seen from Papa. 

As good as the offense was, defense is still the area where he's an absolute beast. Rens HC Andy Borman gave Kante the assignment of checking 4-star wing Devin Royal (holds a Michigan offer) and he put the consensus top-100 prospect in the torture chamber repeatedly as you can see in my film below.

Royal isn't a great athlete, but Papa beat him to the spot with consistency and Devin simply couldn't create any space. Kante isn't as twitchy as Moussa Diabate at the same stage, but his lateral movement is mighty impressive.

Take a look at this possession below. Papa blitzes a ballscreen against Duke commit and top-30 overall prospect Jared McCain (who appears very overrated), forces him right before recovering and beating McCain to the paint for a block. 

 

Here's Kante on an island against a legit guard in 3-star Lawrent Rice. He beats him to the spot twice and forces Rice to feed Devin Royal on a post-entry pass. Papa then digs down on Royal to force a kickout before beating Rice to the spot twice more as the refs bail him out with a cheap foul. You simply cannot teach that level of agility.

As good as the agility is, the motor is just as impressive. Look at my clip below. 4-Star Oklahoma State commit Brandon Garrison is off to the races in transition for what appears to be an easy dunk in a two-on-one scenario. Not so fast. Papa hauls ass and erases the 12-15ft gap that Garrison initially had to prevent an easy two and force a turnover. 

His timing as a shotblocker is impeccable as well. Kante is a bit undersized for a center, so this element is critical to his success as a rim protector and he passes with flying colors. Look at the discipline and timing below.

Recruitment: Took an official visit to Ann Arbor in June. Juwan Howard was front row for Papa during his first two games of the live evaluation period last week. Nothing has changed here, I still feel good about Michigan's standing with a decision that should be coming within the next month. In my purely hypothetical crystal ball, my confidence level is still a 5-6 (in April I said I'd put in 4-5 crystal ball after breaking news that Kante would visit Michigan). Kante is extremely close with former target and Rutgers commit Gavin Griffiths (Griffiths' family accompanied Papa on his OV to Ann Arbor), but I'm told Griffiths/family aren't pushing Papa to Rutgers with real conviction and are content to let him find the best possible situation. Maryland and Pitt seem to be the other serious contenders, but I like where the Wolverines sit as of now. 

[Hit THE JUMP for Carey Booth, Xavier Booker and Zayden High]

Carey Booth

Height/Weight: Listed at 6'9 - 6'10 and between 190 - 215 pounds. My eye test over the weekend says 6'9 and 195 is about right.

High School/AAU: Brewster Academy (NH)/KC Run GMC (MO)

Weekend Performance: 9.2ppg, 4.8reb, 1blk, 46.9% FG and 23% from distance on 22 attempts over six games

Mainstream Ranking: 4-star/65 - 100 overall

EM Ranking/Evaluation: I had an extensive look at Booth last month in Hamden, CT for the HS live evaluation period. Good physical profile with length and a frame easily capable of carrying another 30 pounds of muscle mass. In terms of skill, he's a really good shooter at that size, burying at least three triples in two games that I took in. The mechanics aren't a thing of beauty, but it goes in. Where he's lacking is ball-skills. His handle is very loose and his decision making can be erratic when putting the ball on the floor. Athletically, he has good straight line speed and solid agility, though he's not necessarily explosive/twitchy. Some of his movements appear awkward occasionally. I do like the motor here, as Calvin hauls ass when running the floor + changing ends and is a willing help defender. That aggression can get him in trouble defensively, where his closeouts are out of control at times and he can be overly aggressive hunting blocks. There is definitely some similarity to Moussa Diabate here in terms of physique, with Booth a much better shooter at the same stage and Diabate the much better handle/playmaker/passer at the same stage. Moussa was also more athletic at the same age. In sum, there is a lot to like in terms of size/shotmaking/athleticism and the upside is very high. Kids of this size/physique have wide variance with development, so he could improve rapidly over the next year with the ballskills and general basketball IQ. As of now, projects to be a lot like Diabate in that he'll likely be a borderline 5-star based on NBA upside, but may not necessarily be a guy that is an all-conference type as a freshman. In other words, a Tier II five star. 

Recruitment:  Offered last month. Son of former Penn State standout and long-time pro Calvin Booth. Visited Penn State and Marquette with an OV to Ohio State scheduled. Juwan Howard opened up the live evaluation period by seeing Booth on Wednesday, so it's safe to say he's relatively high on the board. That said, it is too early to know where Michigan stands given the offer just went out a month ago. Getting a visit is key. 

 

Zayden High

Height/Weight: Listed at 6'7-6'9/185-225. He's a legit 6'8-6'9 and 210 pounds at minimum.

High School/AAU: San Antonio Smithson Valley HS (TX)/Nike EYBL JL3 Elite (TX)

Weekend Performance: 10.8ppg, 8.2reb, .7blk, 43.9% FG and 26.6% from distance on 15 attempts over six games

Mainstream Ranking: Now a universal top-40 prospect in the country

EM Ranking/Evaluation: Projected impact resembles that of a top-50 prospect. Good perimeter shotmaker off the catch or the bounce. Good playmaker/secondary shot-creator for a big with good ball-skills. Not a great athlete, so struggles to finish at the rim in traffic based on lack of lift/twitchiness. Does a solid job of protecting the rim at this level, but probably more of a secondary rim protector at the college level based on his size/length/athleticism. Projects to be a good, multi-year college player that can play the PF or C spot based on matchup. 

Recruitment: Michigan is fighting an uphill battle here based on distance. Zayden loves Juwan Howard and that is keeping the Wolverines in it. High says he intends to visit Ann Arbor and Michigan is among the four schools recruiting him the hardest, but I still don't have a ton of optimism here based on distance and the competition. Unless he makes his way to Ann Arbor, things don't look promising as of now. 

 

Xavier Booker

Height/Weight: Listed at 6'10/205. That appears accurate.

High School/AAU: Indianapolis Cathedral HS (IN)/Independent George Hill All Indy (IN)

Mainstream Ranking: Now top-10 overall for every service exclusive of ESPN. 

EM Ranking/Evaluation: My previous evaluation was about as thorough as it gets. Long story short, Booker is stretch big with some ball-skills and a ton of upside while having some serious motor/physicality issues. The combination of "may not be ready to play from day 1" and "likely NBA player" seems quite risky in the portal era where players enter free agency on an annual basis. 

Recruitment:  Booker was thought to be a heavy Michigan State lean after an OV, but that seems like a lifetime ago with the bluebloods now entering the mix in addition to OTE. Expressly says Kentucky is the dream school and plans to visit Lexington at some point, despite the fact that no offer has been extended. I have yet to see reports of Juwan Howard seeing him during last week's live evaluation period. The writing on the wall here and the Wolverines probably aren't a serious option at this point.