Michigan Men's Basketball scooped up a commitment from their first portal target of the offseason, University of North Texas G Rubin Jones: 

North Texas transfer Rubin Jones has committed to Michigan, per his Instagram. He’s a 6-5 guard who can get to the basket and shot 41.6 percent from 3 last year. Michigan’s second commitment of the day, along with Justin Pippen. pic.twitter.com/v7mgLFFv5A

— Austin Meek (@byAustinMeek) April 19, 2024

We had heard some rumors about a mystery portal target who Michigan was in the advanced stages of discussions with, but hadn't been leaked publicly. That appears to be Jones. A four year player at UNT, Rubin Jones was a contributor over all four seasons he's been there. As a freshman he was a relatively inefficient reserve on a UNT team that upset Purdue in overtime of the NCAA Tournament. Jones played much larger roles in his sophomore and junior seasons, before moving back into a 6th man role as a senior, although he was still high usage when on the floor. Seth graphic: 

For his career, Jones is a .364 three point shooter, a relatively poor .426 from two, and a decent .734 from the free throw line. Listed 6'5", Jones has the ability to guard multiple positions and that versatility makes him a logical fit for Dusty May. Of note, Jones and May have a lot of adversarial experience, as both Florida Atlantic and North Texas were in the Conference USA prior to this past season, when both programs moved up to the American Athletic Conference. That familiarity likely played a role in Dusty's identification of Jones as someone he wanted for his team and also probably played a role in the successful courtship. 

We will have a more detailed rundown of Rubin Jones early next week, when Matt posts a Hoops Hello. There is no content after the jump. 

Dusty May didn't waste time securing his first HS commitment as Michigan's leading man, as Justin Pippen pledged to the Wolverines today. This is a nice pickup given how late in the cycle May came to Ann Arbor in tandem with an extremely small pool of available HS prospects. 

GURU RANKINGS

247 is the most bullish on Pippen, placing him just outside the top 60. Rivals essentially concurs with the national standing, slotting him top-75 in their most recent rankings update. On3 and ESPN are a bit lower on Justin, as they both go with what amounts to a 100-150 ranking. There is  consensus in terms of size, as all services agree on 6'3 and 180 pounds.

I have no basis for ranking any individual in the 2024 class, as I haven't seen enough of those prospects to have an informed opinion. But from a holistic perspective across years, I'd likely lean toward On3 's take here. Pippen has the look of a kid you typically see in that 100-125 range. Admittedly though, the distinction between 60 and 125 is nearly moot these days, so I'm not sure it matters functionally. 

SCOUTING

Though I have sifted through full-game film, I have not evaluated Justin Pippen live. As someone that has scouted professionally for years, multiple live viewings always generate the most informed evals, so caveats apply and my word is certainly not gospel here. With that out of the way, let's get into it.

First and foremost, Pippen is a perimeter shotmaker with legit range. The shot mechanics are very good, with superb balance and nice arc. Justin isn't restricted to stationary shooting, as he knocks down jumpers via pull-ups from midrange and distance with some regularity. From an evaluation/projection perspective, the fact that he maintains excellent balance on the pull-up attempts is really enticing. There is almost zero unnecessary motion and he nearly lands in the identical spot of the initial elevation. 

[After THE JUMP: the full scouting report]

The reigning National Champions of college football, the Michigan Wolverines, play their nationally-televised spring game tomorrow. It will begin at noon EST and will be broadcast on Fox, just as Ohio State's was a week ago. As always, the spring game is a first glimpse of the upcoming season's team, a small "pulling back the curtain" moment of sorts that offers small clues into the progress of spring practice and the depth chart. The score outcome of the game is irrelevant so for this preview we've got seven storylines to watch for tomorrow, as we've detailed each of the last two spring games: 

1.) Do we have a viable QB?

Far and away the #1 storyline going into the spring game is the question that has dominated offseason discussions since the moment JJ McCarthy put his name in the NFL Draft in mid-January... who is Michigan's quarterback in 2024? We probably won't get the decisive answer in the spring game, but we'll get a much better idea of what's going on based on how the respective QBs perform. The clubhouse leader at this point in time seems to be Alex Orji, but reports of his spring practice have been somewhat up and down. We've seldom seen Orji throw the ball in his time at Michigan, so that alone will be of much interest. How does his accuracy look? Can he avoid the "big mistake" throw? 

Beyond that, the other QBs are a jumble. Jack Tuttle has been out this spring, but Jayden Denegal, Davis Warren, and true freshman Jadyn Davis will be on display. Denegal seemed to get off to a slow start to spring but may have improved recently, though the sense is that Orji is still ahead. Warren has been a spring game staple for a couple seasons now but his flashes in this event haven't really translated to regulation game garbage time action. As for Davis, it doesn't seem like he will be the starter in 2024 due to his age/lack of experience (for good reason), but this will be our first chance to see the prized recruit in action. 

The performance of the QBs will inevitably elicit hot takes because that's the way it goes, but the biggest focus should be on whether any of the candidates seem like viable B1G starters. If they don't, then Michigan should go to the portal and look to find an acceptable option. In other words, if Alex Orji wants to be The Guy for Michigan this season, a strong, confident performance in the spring game would go a long way to calming our nerves and shoring things up with the coaching staff. 

[Patrick Barron]

2.) The wide receiver situation 

Another point of conversation in spring practice is the status of the receiver room. Cristian Dixon hit the portal this week (though he may have been playing defense recently), continuing an offseason of attrition at the WR and TE positions. Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson declared for the NFL Draft, while Dixon, Eamon Dennis, Karmello English, and Darrius Clemons hit the portal at the WR position. When you factor in the previous offseason's exit of Andrel Anthony to the portal, there's nothing left at the position from the 2021 recruiting class or earlier. 

That means the WR room is pretty thin, Semaj Morgan and Tyler Morris being somewhat known commodities as the starters and then Fred Moore the next in line. Peyton O'Leary is still hanging around, but after that... *crickets* before you get into the true freshmen. The problems here are two-fold, unproven starters (Morris and Morgan are still pretty green) and a complete lack of depth. Michigan is almost certainly going to look in the portal for WR help after spring practice, given that they were looking aggressively in the winter portal (just didn't land anyone), but there's a big difference between going into the portal looking for a star and looking for depth. They'll definitely go into the portal for the latter, but if Morgan and Morris have good showings and Moore balls out in the spring game, maybe you feel more like there's a need to shore up depth rather than a plug-and-play starter. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: Five more storylines]