Hoops Recruiting Hits The Reset Button For Bigs
With Hunter Dickinson likely gone in 2022 after a lengthy flirtation with professional options and Moussa Diabate having one-and-done potential, Michigan is absolutely taking a true center in the 2022 class. The Wolverines' options are running thin, as the staff will likely identify new targets starting with this week's live evaluation period. The full rundown at the center position below.
The New Plan A
After Donovan Clingan pledged to UConn and Jalen Duren eliminated Michigan, 4-star Tarris Reed has functionally shot to the top of the board at the center position. The St. Louis native made his way to Ann Arbor last week for an official visit and 247's Sam Webb has sources that believe Michigan did well enough on the OV to be a viable threat. Tarris himself said that player development will be key to his decision-making process in an interview last weekend. Nearly every prospect in the country drops the obligatory player development line, but if that truly is the criteria then Juwan Howard is a very attractive option given his own personal experience in tandem with the absolute beast that is Hunter Dickinson.
On my end I was told that Ohio State was the clear leader after a strong official to Columbus a few weeks back. Fast forward to now and Reed doesn't seem to be in any rush in terms of a timeline per the linked interview above, so this may give Juwan Howard and staff the requisite time to make up ground here, if they haven't already. For what it's worth, Oklahoma was making a strong push to get Tarris on campus for an OV, but they are now out of the picture per a source. Reading between the lines, this seems to be a case where Tarris knows his best fit is the B10, with Michigan battling Ohio State, Michigan State and Purdue.
Still Alive
Top-10 prospect Dereck Lively has Michigan in a final 7, but it feels as though the Wolverines are really in the back-end of that group. Lively completed his blueblood tour fresh off an official visit with Duke after completing an OV with Kentucky a few weeks ago.
As if the competition wasn't already stiff enough, Lively is now openly entertaining the professional route per this interview with Pro Insight:
"It's definitely something I'm open to, but it's just going to take a while for me to figure out if I'm going to take the college route or the G-League/Overtime route. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet so I still have time."
When it comes to Michigan, the primary appeal is Juwan Howard per the aforementioned interview.
"When it comes to other schools like Michigan, I would be working with Juwan Howard himself and throughout my training."
Dereck using the term "other" when speaking of schools exclusive of Kentucky, Duke and UNC is telling in my opinion. And that has a correlation with my information that Kentucky is the team to beat here. This recruitment feels like Michigan is trying to hold-on to something that is likely slipping away, particularly with the pro-option now in play.
[Hit THE JUMP for Flip and the Wait-And-See Options]
Don't Get Your Hopes Up
Juwan Howard extended an offer to 5-star (for me) Kyle Filipowski two weeks ago after watching him during the live evaluation period. No need for me to provide an extensive evaluation. My ranking of him as a 5-star for months while mainstreams have him in the 50-90 range tells you all you need to know about my opinion.
And much like the discussion of his skillset, I'll keep it brief concerning his recruitment. As mentioned in May, Filipowski plays travel-ball for the nephew of Duke leading man Mike Krzyzewski. Kyle was on campus at Duke for an official visit last week and picked up four crystal balls in favor of the Blue Devils in the immediate aftermath. I don't think you need me to tell you how this one is likely to end.
Ernest Udeh: Athletic Rim Protector and Powerful Finisher
Florida big man Ernest Udeh is perhaps the fastest-rising prospect in America right now. 247 bumped all the way up to top-25 status in their most recent rankings update and he's picked-up offers from Baylor, Kansas, Stanford, Indiana, Florida, Alabama, Miami, Illinois among others in the last month.
I've been high on Udeh since seeing him last year at the Showtime Roundup in Orlando and again in April at the OTR Sweet 16 (film above). He's not a legit 7-footer, but he is an imposing physical presence with a great motor that finishes with authority on lobs/dumpoffs and protects the rim at a high level.
Ernest has an outstanding academic resume and would be a great fit in Ann Arbor. I've spoken to him and things are still in the infancy stages with Michigan (no talks of a visit as of last week). The plan is to watch him in July, make an assessment and take it from there. That seems to align with Udeh's own timeline per this interview with Rivals from yesterday.
“After the live period I’ll do all my research and whatnot then narrow down my list. I really haven’t sat down and taken the time to look at my options. I’ll be doing that this upcoming fall.”
Seems like a good option if things don't go as planned with Tarris Reed given the respective timelines.
Christ Essandoko: Trevion Williams + 3 Inches
4-star Christ Essandoko (for me, 247 has him as generic 3-star after update) rivals Udeh's rise with offers from Ohio State, Illinois, Maryland, West Virginia, Pitt and Providence in the last month.
A legit 6'11, Christ resembles a larger Trevion Williams as an outstanding passer with good footwork that is capable of stretching the defense beyond the arch. He doesn't move all that well, but you can use his massive frame as a rim deterrent to good effect in drop coverage much like Hunter Dickinson.
Michigan started showing preliminary interest back in June after watching Essandoko via livestream at the Under Armour event in Indianapolis. The plan is to watch him during the live evaluation periods and assess his standing on the board.
I speak with Essandoko/his coach often and this is a very winnable recruitment right now. He recently took an OV with Maryland and I wouldn't consider the Terps a huge threat as of now. An unofficial visit with N.C. State didn't really move the needle. Providence is the team to beat right now. If Juwan Howard pushes hard, this could end up going well.
Dominick Campbell: Stretch Big With Skill
I've hinted since early June that Dominick Campbell was an up-and-coming prospect that caught the eye of the staff when he faced off versus Clingan in late May. I confirm the intrigue has now turned into interest, as the staff has now made contact.
Campbell finally made his debut in the mainstream rankings, checking in at #132 for 247. The offer list is much more impressive, as Illinois, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Stanford, South Carolina, Minnesota, Virginia Tech, Providence and Penn State all extended offers within the last month.
I have yet to see him play live, but based on film he's in the Will Tschetter mold of undersized stretch 4/5 with good footwork and vision while having limited athleticism. Another prospect with superb academic standing.
I like Reed much more than i like Clingan. But ill say this - if Reed goes elsewhere, i hope Howard goes the way of the Transfer Portal and lands a 5 star next year. Im not overly crazy of the remaining targets we have a legit shot at.
Portal will be very possible regardless of the center we get. Having a freshman as your only true center on your roster would be an extremely risky plan.
I agree with this basic view/strategy. We saw the value of having AD on the roster and it would seem as though having a big of similar value sitting there to give blows for the starter and more minutes in a worst case scenario would be beneficial. OTOH, Tschetter is already sitting there with the possibility of filling a need at both the 4 and 5-and next year he will have a year under his belt. I still believe that Juwan is the smartest man in the room and has things figured out-or will make the savvy adjustments.
Tschetter is 6'7" and can't jump. My mind would be blown if he's ever more than a role player. In no way should Tschetter affect our recruiting going forward.
Tschetter is not quite as big, but much more skilled, than Austin Davis was as a freshman. Great footwork, high motor, really good shooter with range.
Examples of quality bigs in transfer portal in recent years?
Qudus Wahab who just went to Maryland this year. Kofi Cockburn is in the portal right now.
Micah Potter at Wisco, Liam Robbins at Minnesota, the kid who just transferred from Georgetown to Maryland, Colin Castleton just had a solid year at Florida, Kentucky has had a couple...
In addition to Wahab and Cockburn, our own Colin Castleton, who did very well at Florida last season.
Another benefit to reed is that his other top choices are our rivals! Getting him keeps him from Osu and MSU!! Have to think PT is a major plus for him here after hunters inevitable departure.
Absolutely. If we do not land him, then he will be a pain in our ass going forward.
Excellent coverage here, Matt. While I hope that Juwan can reel in one of the "Plan A" recruits it looks as though there are additional good options out there. I fully expect Michigan to end up with a big that is more than simply "serviceable".
Udeh and Christ would both be solid options. If it’s Dom, i think we def need another true center. I feel as if we need to be looking at two rather than one. Hunter and Diabate are prob both gone and that leaves no bigs in 2022.
Like Beilein before him, Howard’s knack for player development just doesn’t seem to be the selling point one would think it should be.
The national championship we win this year will bring in top talent.
Give it time. When Calipari can give you a development plan choice of Anthony Davis and Karl-Anthony Towns, it's hard for us claiming 1 year of Hunter Dickinson in college to compare. Guys at this level want to be NBA stars, not just college ones. Once we start to see those dividends, it will be easier to sell player development.
Howard has a track record of developing NBA talent that Calipari doesn't have.
Uh... if your point is that Calipari's coaching acumen wasn't the cause of UK guys having NBA talent, then maybe. But if your point is that guys didn't succeed in the NBA after having gone to UK, then
- 2010: Bledsoe, Cousins, Patterson, Wall;
- 2011: Kanter, Knight
- 2012: AD, MKG, Terrence Jones
- 2013: Noel
- 2014: Randle
- 2015: KAT, Cauley-Stein, Lyles, Booker
- 2016: Murray
- 2017: Fox, Monk, Adebayo
- 2018: Knox, SGA
- 2019: Washington, Herro, Johnson
- 2020: Maxey, Quickley
Neither was even remotely close to my point.
Purdue probably has the best track record for developing bigs in the country. If we lose Reed to them then it's probably that they have an advantage there
Purdue has edey sitting there for another couple years though. Will be tougher to sell PT.
Does Illinois just offer literally everyone?
Also, Ant Wright tweeted yesterday that his source, who had said that Josh Christopher was always ASU and was never actually considering Michigan, said that Michigan currently leads for Tarris Reed after his visit
Ant doesn't tease info often so I'm hoping this is legit, especially if Reed is at the top of our board now.
Thanks Matt -
How much of an effect does 'timing' of offers have?
Its pretty subjective I know, but it seems like, IMO, Michigan was late to offer guys and they blew up (Trimble, Lively, Filipowski...potentially now guys like Whitmore, Washington, Udoh and Essandoko don't even have an offer as far as I know...In some cases it might make a difference...in others not
To use Trimble as an example, there was a point earlier in his recruitment that he was essentially thought to be signed sealed and delivered to Michigan....but Michigan waited and waited and waited until they offered him - but it was too late as he blew up and tons of schools went after him...
Don't get me wrong, i am happy with Dug at PG...just don't understand why you'd wait to offer guys that similar schools (ie academic profiles) are offering, when clearly you can see things on tape.
Its probably more of a selling point to the other studs at the position that Howard values more and actually offers. If you do not throw out 100 offers to anyone with a pulse, then offers are actually more meaningful to players and makes them feel more wanted/important.
UNC offered even later than Michigan for Trimble. The timing of the offer had nothing to do with how that recruitment went. Michigan was also really not late on Lively. They've been recruiting him awhile and offered him before any of the big wigs did
Matt - Curious your opinion on something as the board has evolved here. Michigan will almost certainly need two (possibly three) bigs next season. Obviously the common sentiment is that one will come via the portal no matter what.
But looking at your list as it stands now, do you think that any TWO of those names would be a good fit together in the class (based on their complimentary skills, timeline of development, etc) and would any of them actually go for that? I know most recruits are turned off by having guys at the same position, but the blue bloods always seem to have multiple top centers.
Let me clarify my question.....sorry. I wasn't talking about them sharing the court together, I was talking about them joining the class together. Normally you'd rather stagger your recruits each year at positions like PG (Zeb, Frankie, Dug) or center (Hunter, Moussa, TBD). But given our expected empty depth chart, would two of these guys make sense to include in the same class?
My thinking is that maybe you could grab a 1-and-done or 2-and-done guy that will be more instant impact and then also grab a guy that's more likely a 3-4-year guy that will take longer to be an impact player. Are there two guys that make sense with that strategy? Or maybe we only take one guy from your list and search the portal for others.....
Good question. Let's assume we lose Johns, Diabate, and HD after this year. We have only T Will (if you consider him a 4) and W Tschetter (probably more of a 4) on the roster. We need at least two more big guys and maybe more. As you say, certainly could be one transfer plus 1-2 recruits.
I like Dom's clip you shared. Guy looks like he has a ton of skill and could be an absolute beast if he gets in a high level strength and conditioning program.
It's probably best to assume Lively and Filipowski are going elsewhere. There are still a few solid legitimate targets with Reed, Udeh and Essandoko. Odds are that we pick up one of these or one of the lower targets. And I would bet that Coach Howard will be actively looking for a second experienced big in the transfer portal. We might not have another Hunter Dickinson caliber player right away. But when all's said and done, we should be in good shape at the center position.
Love how people are ho hum about tarris reed level prospects now after Juwan came on board. He is a top 75 composite player under hot pursuit my OSU, MSU, and Purdue. In many of our best classes, he would be a very hyped piece. I expect his rankings to rise after he transfers to prep school his senior year too and plays better competition too.
I'm still boggling at that first video that suggests Reed is the most dominated forward in the midwest.
Any chance we are sitting strong on a big man for 23 that can reclassify for 22?
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