justin pierce
Expect semi-regular basketball recruinting updates until Michigan's roster is set for next year, I guess?
Off the board
Harlond Beverly committed to Miami. The brief burst of optimism about him was evidently unfounded. Akron grad transfer Daniel Utomi, who listed Michigan to Jeff Goodman, is off to USC. He was only vaguely on the board but this is an excuse to talk about this wicked rude photoshop:
Let em talk.. #Lastgoround #Fighton✌❤️ pic.twitter.com/9izYzx9Tfs
— Daniel Utomi (@KINFOLKDAN) April 16, 2019
Usually the "moving on to other things" photoshops aren't tearing the previous jersey away like so much trash. Especially when Ace points out that USC was all of 26 spots higher on Kenpom than the Zips. The Zips were 8-10 in the MAC.
Priorities
The top of the board right now consists of four guys.
Franz Wagner is obviously the #1 gent. Nah'shon "Bones" Hyland is not only an intriguing combo guard prospect but also an excellent reporter. This is the second story he's inadvertently broken:
Hyland told TMI that Beilein wasn't expected to be on the trip.
"No, Beilein will be in Germany I believe," Hyland told TMI when asked whether Beilein will be visiting him this coming week.
Wagner still has a month left in his season with Alba Berlin and was planning to make a decision about his future over the summer. That timeline might get accelerated if Michigan has to make a decisions about birds in hand versus those in Germany.
FWIW, I was talking to Sam at WTKA today and he mentioned that Moe and his parents are in favor of Michigan. With Moe on an NBA contract whatever financial incentives Alba Berlin can offer might be of lesser magnitude than they might otherwise be.
[After THE JUMP: more Bones]
This is a game of telephone, but… Delaware combo guard Nah'shon Hyland is a fast-rising name in the class of 2019 and may have let the cat out of the bag in re: Jordan Poole. In an article for the Maryland 247 site:
Hyland took a pair of officials earlier in his recruitment, to Temple and St. Joe's. He plans to take one to VCU, and has heard from from Maryland, DePaul, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, TCU and Seton Hall. Another Big Ten school reached out to his coach over the weekend.
"Michigan. They said they have an open spot because their shooting guard is staying in the draft," he said.
Possible the Michigan contact didn't say exactly that. Since it goes on the heap of other signs that Poole's gone it means something anyway.
Meanwhile: Bones. Hyland is a riser for the reason many are: he missed some critical months with an injury. How he got that injury is incredibly sad. He damaged ligaments when he jumped out of his house, which was on fire at the time. The fire claimed the lives of his baby brother and grandmother. A year later he's physically recovered and managing to play through what must be a heavy heart. Endless Motor:
Hyland had a superb outing at Under Armour Session I in Chicago, where he averaged 15.5 points and 4 assists while shooting over 41% from distance and nearly 49% from the field overall. Nahshon isn’t content though, he expects more from himself.
“I feel as though I haven’t played my best yet even though I did what I had to. But I haven’t reached the level that I usually play at.”
The Wilmington area product has some of the best handles in the 2019 class, with playmaking ability that can best be described as electric. As a scorer, Hyland has range out to 25 feet with good mechanics and good body control when finishing at the rim.
Hyland is a point guard but has the size and (possibly) the shooting ability to play the two—his 6'3" listed height even seems a little low. At 163 pounds he may not be an immediate answer, unfortunately. But he might be worth it down the road. 247 immediately inserted him in their top 100 at #69.
Michigan seems to be genuinely interested; Josh Henschke reports that Yaklich and Beilein are headed out to Delaware to see him in person in the near future, and that Hyland would probably take an official visit if that goes well. That's significant because Hyland has already spent two officials on St Joe's and Temple and has a VCU visit set up as well. Only two schools outside the A-10 are going to get officials.
[After THE JUMP: eye bleach: bleach for your eyes!]
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