The things you see when you're a doctor in Burundi. There's an entire continent on which the recent history of Michigan basketball is downright spectacular:

A few weeks ago, we were out on the frisbee field playing on a Sunday afternoon.  The usual crowd was standing around watching.  While running by one side of the field, I noticed that a spectator had a UM shirt.  Nothing that special in that, but on my second pass, I noticed the words "National Champions."  I started to think of the last national championship that UM had won in a sport that would print t-shirts.  It seemed a while ago, which piqued my interest.  How old was this shirt?

I got close enough to see that it was, in fact, a 2018 NCAA Division 1 basketball championship shirt.

Naturally, a trade was made.

Bajema: in. Cole Bajema reaffirms his commitment. So does Zeb Jackson. The Daily got Bajema's father on the phone to talk about the decision:

“Juwan and (Cole) had a conversation and basically agreed that Cole’s his first real recruit in his college coaching career,” Shane said. “The baton, basically, handed from Beilein to Juwan in recruitment of Cole and that’s what really put Cole over the edge and reassured that he could become Juwan’s guy too.

“… It was genuine, it was real, it wasn’t this recruiting talk. (Howard) is genuinely ecstatic to be the coach. And he seemed genuinely pumped to have Cole.”

And when Beilein called, telling the Bajemas that “Juwan’s gonna be a great guy,” and calling it “a perfect fit,” the comfort level only grew.

Bajema's been doing his own version of Camp Sanderson before his arrival; his father says he's added 22 pounds. That might take him from a version of freshman Caris to a guy who can play significant minutes. It's looking like he might have to.

[After THE JUMP: RJ Hampton takes the flight of the conchords]

Cumberland: probably out. Jarron Cumberland announced his return to Cincinnati after going through the NBA draft process. This is bad news for Michigan's pursuit of his cousin Jaevin, who was reportedly down to the Bearcats and Michigan with Jarron being the hinge.

Protip: don't call them Australian. In my experience the only thing that causes the easy-going, friendly inhabitants of New Zealand to grow powerful and angry is asking them if they are Aussies. They are not Aussies. They resent the implication. This is my gift to five-star guard RJ Hampton, who's headed to Middle Earth:

On Tuesday morning, guard R.J. Hampton announced on ESPN's Get Up that he will begin his professional career overseas with the NBL's New Zealand Breakers rather than spend a season in the NCAA. Hampton previously reclassified from the 2020 class to 2019 and had been considering Kansas, Memphis and Texas Tech.

"It’s never been a dream of his to play college basketball, it’s been a dream of his to use college basketball as a vehicle to get to the NBA," Hampton's father Rod Hampton told 247Sports.

Weird? This seems weird. Hampton could just go play in the G League instead of move halfway around the world.

Hampton's motivations aside, this is good news for Michigan's shot at getting Jalen Wilson back in the fold. As you've probably heard ad nauseum, Wilson and Hampton are best friends. Kansas was a potential landing spot for both. Now that's off the table. Also it seems like the potential of sanctions—or maybe a suspension of bagging activities—has significantly dented Kansas's appeal:

Hampton opting to go overseas means Kansas won't sign a five-star for the first time since 2012. … Kansas is also in the mix for four-star forward Jalen Wilson, who recently decommitted from Michigan and could become the Jayhawks' first (and only) top-50 recruit in 2019.

UNC has not experienced a similar dip, though, and that's Wilson's other scheduled visit.

More Howard quotes. He's got a knack for connecting with players:

“He has just always been a mentor to me and is just a person that loves the game of basketball,” said former Heat guard Mario Chalmers, who was Howard’s teammate for three years before Howard retired.

Howard’s was the voice Adebayo heard the most during his rookie trials. It was more than just teaching him footwork and post moves. He was there for Adebayo like family, always lending an ear to a young player. A source close to Adebayo said, “he will miss (Howard) if he leaves.”

And since Adebayo was a one-and-done that's exactly the same age range he'll be dealing with in college.

Also voicing their support is the Heat's Duncan Robinson:

“He’s just the type of guy you want to play for, want to play hard for," Robinson said. "He makes an effort to reach out and connect and be more than just somebody that can teach and coach you in basketball but instead someone that you feel you have a genuine relationship with.

"A lot of times in coaching, that’s more than half the battle, to get people that are willing to buy in because they trust you and understand that you’re genuine in your motivations.” …

"I think he’s more than capable of coaching offense as well," Robinson said. "I think he has a really good understanding of both. The other thing that really impressed me about him was the ability to understand player development, particularly with big men and what it takes to develop that position.”

And everyone lived happily ever after. Rodger Sherman on the Fab Five era, and its aftermath:

And looking back, we see that the path the players from the Fab Five blazed isn’t so bad. Rose is one of ESPN’s best basketball commentators, founded a high school, and has received honors for his off-court philanthropy. Webber is … well, he’s not one of TNT’s best announcers, but he’s a notable on-air personality. And Howard is viewed as one of the brightest basketball minds around, a highly sought-after coaching prospect who is now going back to school to help others along his path. These are the results of the Great Shame of Michigan Athletics? This is what the NCAA wants to stop? The NCAA would have us ignore the Fab Five’s accomplishments at Michigan because one of them broke a rule nobody cares about anymore. They should be the poster children (poster adults?) for what someone can accomplish after a high-profile college basketball career, rather than an example of the systemic failure of not adhering to the NCAA’s rules. It’s probable that few recruits today know much about the Fab Five. They probably don’t even remember the NBA careers of the Fab Five. But it’s still possible to use those great moments as a selling point. I promise none of them will care that Chris Webber got paid.

Read this if you want to be sad. Also from the Daily: beat writers over the past decade talk about John Beilein.

One thing that stands out to me ... I don’t remember what the question was (but) he starts answering the question and then he kinda goes, “You know what someone told me today, Simon? He told me I’m really good to student journalists. And not every coach is like that.” He kinda tooted his own horn for a second.

I was kind of like, “Yeah.”

And he was like, “And you guys should appreciate that.”

I’m sure I turned bright red and totally forgot my question. They had some road game coming up later that week and I think I was trying to kind of capitalize on the opportunity. I was like, “Coach, yeah, you are respectful, you are really good to student journalists. Would you consider putting us on the plane for the road game this week?”

And he was like, “No, I’m not that good.”

Lavert Hill: good. Now to find some other corners:

Lavert Hill and Tariq Castro-Fields both allowed the fewest yards per cover snap among returning B1G CBs. pic.twitter.com/5L0IUEJlHG

— PFF College (@PFF_College) May 22, 2019

In. Also out. Hockey's Josh Norris is gone:

Congrats, Josh!

Norris signs an NHL contract with the Ottawa @Senators.#ProBlue pic.twitter.com/FlKJYmicL7

— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) May 27, 2019

He'll be replaced by Eric Ciccolini, who was expected to be a 2020 recruit but is apparently coming in this fall now:

Ciccolini will play hockey at the University of Michigan this fall, taking a route that took fellow Vaughan residents Mike Cammalleri (Bramalea), Andrew Cogliano (St. Michael’s) and Phil Di Giuseppe (Villanova) took – from the OJHL to the NCAA and eventually the NHL.

It’s no coincidence.

Ciccolini knows his predecessors from the “City North of Toronto”, especially Cammalleri, who is a family friend. And Ciccolini played on summer teams with Jack Hughes, the projected No. 1 pick in this year’s NHL draft. Older brother Quinn Hughes,19, left Michigan for the Vancouver Canucks this month.

Ciccolini is ranked around 100th by the NHL's Central Scouting Bureau and should be a mid-round pick. He should be able to slot in on a scoring line. He's probably not going to replace Norris's production in year one.

Etc.: Don't click here. Zenit St Petersburg used to be a place where you had to pool your money to get a sketchy flight to Siberia. Red tried to fix offsides 15 years ago. "Bold predictions" are mostly an excuse to say some crazy stuff. Say what you want about Nick Saban: at least he doesn't have Dabo's smarmy hypocrisy.