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M Among Finalists For Justin Smith

Four-star 2017 IL wing Justin Smith announced his final seven schools on Monday, and despite being the only school not to put forth an offer yet, Michigan made the cut along with Illinois, Indiana, Stanford, Villanova, Wisconsin, and Xavier. Smith was at Michigan's team camp in June and the coaches followed him closely throughout the recent evaluation period; he's expected to be back on campus August 14th, when he could very well land an offer.

In a thread on the Scout board, Brian Snow mentioned that Villanova, Stanford, Michigan, and Indiana are likely ahead of the other three schools, and official visits—Smith plans to use them—will play a huge role. Smith looks like he'd be a great fit at Michigan; he's long, athletic, and boasts impressive court vision for a point guard, let alone a 6'7" wing.

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(But don't fret, that's coming later this afternoon.)

In-State Squads Offer Livers

As anticipated, Michigan offered four-star 2017 Kalamazoo Central PF Isaiah Livers on Monday, one day after Michigan State came forth with their own offer. Livers visited Ann Arbor in June and had extremely high praise for the program in the aftermath, per Sam Webb:

"June 22nd was the day of the visit… it was on a Wednesday… it blew me away,” said Livers.  “It was so far ahead of the other colleges I've been to. The University of Michigan was what you’d expect. It blew my mind, my dad was blown away. It just caught our attention, out of all the schools they're just ahead of everybody. They have the technology.  What I like the most is the angle shooting (machine). You would shoot, and you would turn it on, and it would say what your angle was on the jump shot so you could fix it. It was really sweet. That school just blew me away.  They’re academics of course are outstanding. It's just crazy. I'm going into business, so it kind of helps having a top ten school in the country."

Assistant coach Saadi Washington has recruited Livers dating back to his time at Oakland, and Livers said they have a strong relationship. Based on his size and this recent scouting report from Scout's Brian James, Livers sounds like a great fit for the four in Beilein's system:

Livers is a long 6-foot-8 player that has been working hard on his perimeter touch.  He’s hit 37 plus percent from the arc in EYBL and against UBC the long forward sunk a trey in the corner and another at the top of the key.  Livers is becoming a more confident shooter with his feet and his one-dribble pull-up jumper looks strong as well.  Also had a passing lane jump that he pushed the other way moving through traffic and producing a finger roll.

Isaiah looks like a defender that can defend multiple positions.  First off, Isaiah has really good length and he uses that length well.  Players had trouble getting looks over the top of him and his hands up in the passing lanes led to three deflections.  Also, this is a guy that seems to love to make strong box-out hits.  Once a shot goes up Livers turns to locate, makes a stiff forearm contact, and then holds his man well after making the initial hit.  Also does a very good job getting over in help to use that length. 

While Livers had a great Michigan visit, he's far from a lock; he grew up a Michigan State fan and has made several visits to East Lansing. He told Scout last week that he'll visit MSU for a football game in the fall, and he's also looking to visit Michigan, Minnesota, and Cal; he plans to take all of his officials before making a decision.

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