Basketball

Remember this morning when I said Michigan still needed a power forward?

Walters chose Michigan over Ohio State, Kentucky, and Louisville after a freshman season as Alabama's 7th man. He profiled last year as a straight-up stretch four Just-a-Shooter plus decent defensive rebounding.

Walters came off the bench every game last year, extending his time on the court to ~15 mpg in the latter part of February. However Walters was stymied by classmate Jarin Stevenson also coming off the bench to play the four, and wasn't very efficient (16th percentile to Synergy) in transition for a team that got 38% of their initial shots (to hoop-math) on the run.

What Walters can do is get a shot up over just about anyone. He was 94th percentile to Synergy on *Guarded* catch-and-shoot jumpers at 43%, actually dipping down to 35% (15/43) when uncontested.

His transfer video shows a pogo-stick with a clean release and not a lot of meat on the bones.

Defense is also predicated on that wingspan. It also sounds like he improved a lot over the course of last season. Feet may limit his NBA upside, but Walters's height and length, and a season of SEC experience, should mean he's not a liability on the other end. On a team filled with creators, adding a floor-spacer like Walters should mean Michigan can score with anybody. Adding a sophomore should also mean Dusty May isn't forced to go portal hunting like this again in two years.

Matt D will have a much more thorough breakdown after he sorts through the rest of this weekend's commitapalooza. Here's what the roster roster looks like:

PG: Tre Donaldson (Jr), Durral Brooks (Fr), [Lorenzo Cason (Fr)]
SG: Roddy Gayle (Jr), George Washington III (So), Justin Pippen (Fr)
Also SG: Rubin Jones (Sr*), [Nimari Burnett (Jr*)], [Jace Howard (Sr*)]
PF: Will Tschetter (Jr), Sam Walters (So)
C: [Vlad Goldin(Sr*)], Danny Wolf (Jr)

Michigan is now up to nine players committed for 2024-'25, with Vlad Goldin widely expected to join them after he goes through the Draft process. Nimari Burnett and Jace Howard (who can be a walk-on) haven't entered the portal or announced returns. From here they're probably going to keep pursuing 2024 5-star Khani Rooths for a 3/4 role, and/or look to add one or two more guards.

Michigan kick-started a roster overhaul when former North Texas guard/wing Rubin Jones announced his transfer to Michigan on Friday. 

Admittedly, I had never heard of Rubin Jones prior to Friday, let alone watch him play at the college level. As an up-transfer, I decided to scout three full games of UNT this season against the very best competition they faced in St. John's (KP #21), Mississippi State (KP #34) and Florida Atlantic (KP #47) to get a better feel as to the potential impact/projection in the B10.

I think Wolverine fans will end up liking this addition a lot more than the buzz suggests. 

SCOUTING (Defense)

It's rare to start off an evaluation of an up-transfer on the defensive end, but that's exactly what I'm going to do here. Jones' defensive versatility and ability to check multiple positions is likely the most projectable part of his game right now. 

I was keen to watch the film against Dusty May's former team in FAU, as the Owls were one of the better offensive teams in the nation (KP #22 AdjO). Rubin drew the assignment of AAC player of the year, Johnell Davis. I'm going to be candid here, Rubin Jones had Davis in the torture chamber in the minutes he was on the floor. Twenty-five seconds worth of hell for Davis below:

Jones top-locks Davis near half-court to prevent a touch initially. Dusty May then gets into Split action in an attempt to get Johnell the ball on the move - look at Rubin's screen navigation/chasing to once again deny a touch. FAU then gets into ballscreen action and watch Jones tag Goldin on the roll + recover to Davis in the corner. 

That screen navigation/chasing was just the start. The intersection of POA defense + screen navigation came together in this possession and my lord was it impressive. 

May starts the set off with an Iverson cut (Davis running from right to left along the 3pt line) and then gets into Ricky action (screen + re-screen for the same player) in another attempt to get the ball to Davis on the move. Rubin's chasing here was superb, as he fights through an egregious moving screen from Goldin to force the Davis catch 30+ feet from the basket. Jones then shades Johnell right (toward his help). Dusty May then counters with Get action (Davis tosses it to Goldin then the DHO right back to him). Jones initially trails by a half step but re-engages in two strides, then uses his length + hand activity to strip Davis. This is a +2 in a hypothetical UFR. 

[After THE JUMP: jumbo playmaker that also spaces the floor?]

Michigan Basketball can field a team again! As expected, SG Roddy Gayle has become the third transfer, and fourth commitment to Dusty May since Friday. This time it's also at the expense of a rival. Like Tony Alford says, if you won't ever beat them again, join 'em.

Like some of the other guards that May has picked up, Gayle profiles as an efficient creator with good size, good defense, and an elevated turnover rate that will hopefully come down when playing with a lot of other guys who can generate their own offense. Unlike the others, Gayle gets to the foul line a ton.

He was also part of a team-wide run of bad luck on threes that got Chris Holtmann fired on Valentine's Day before reversing itself in time to get Jake Diebler assistant hired. That improvement didn't include Gayle, who shot 29% (23/78) behind the arc before February 14th and 24% (6/25) afterwards. Add his 43% (21/49) from his freshman year to get a 33% (50/152) career shooter thus far. Before that Gayle was a top-50 prospect whom 247's Jerry Meyer compared to Josh Christopher.

Has a college ready body with good length (long arms) and great strength. Is a powerful athlete who thrives in traffic. Handles contact extremely well and loves to dish out the contact. Shoots the ball well off the catch with an efficient and smooth low release. Also scores with pull up jumpers where he elevates and can also score at the rim. Most notably, he has a niche as a potent post up player. Ball handling is solid and efficient. Has the ability to deliver to the open man. Rebounds his position quite well and can ignite the fast break. Has potential to be a formidable and versatile defender. Overall has a well rounded game that impacts a game in virtually all facets.

Like we said on the pod, he should be a useful Big Ten starter with a lot of upside if his shooting returns to form. Matt D will have a more detailed scouting report in a few days (I'm holding off his Jones Hello for this).

The roster, with unannounced predictions in brackets:

PG: Tre Donaldson (Jr), Durral Brooks (Fr), [Lorenzo Cason (Fr)]
SG: Roddy Gayle (Jr), George Washington III (So), Justin Pippen (Fr)
Also SG: Rubin Jones (Sr*), [Nimari Burnett (Jr*)], [Jace Howard (Sr*)]
PF: Will Tschetter (Jr)
C: [Vlad Goldin(Sr*)], Danny Wolf (Jr)

May still needs to add a power forward and could theoretically push Jones to 6th man if they can find another impact guard.