[waves hand]

You did not see this post hit the front page for two minutes earlier today right as Nojel Eastern announced his transfer plans.

Ari Wiggins Commits to WBB

The commitment video of Indianapolis Heritage Christian guard Ari Wiggins, who made her announcement earlier this week, is well worth a few minutes of your time.

Wiggins is the #12 overall 2021 player and #4 point guard on Prospects Nation and #30 overall on ESPN; both rate her as a five-star prospect. ESPN also gives five stars to Michigan's other 2021 pledge, Cincinnati guard Laila Phelia. Prospects Nation likes Wiggins a great deal whether the 5'8" guard is running the point or hunting shots:

Wiggins looks and plays vastly more mature now than she did when we first saw her as a freshman. She's a dynamic option who likes to get downhill off the bounce. Wiggins is super explosive in that regard but also showed here the ability to knockdown the open 3-pointer. A left-handed dominant guard, Wiggins gives Michigan a potential threat on or off the ball.

ESPN's robust women's hoops scouting service has three camp reports of similar ilk. They see her as an explosive combo guard:

Boo Williams Invitational-April 2019: Athletic combo-guard explodes off the dribble, brings attack mode in transition game; handles in transition, changes pace; rises on jumper in mid-range game, emerging deep threat arsenal. (Olson)

The 5'11" Phelia should also bring athleticism and scoring ability to the table, according to ESPN:

Classic-in-the-Country Challenge-January 2020: Athletic guard manufactures shots, knocks down jumpers at the arc; executes in half-court game, creates into the defense, rises over defenders and delivers in mid-range game; competes on both ends of the floor; among the elite guards in the class of 2021. (Olson)

This class follows a four-signee class of 2020 that includes ESPN five-star Cameron Williams and three others rated as four-star recruits by Prospects Nation, topped by their #40 overall recruit, guard Meghan Fiso. (I wrote plenty more on that class in my early look at the 2020-21 season.)

Kim Barnes Arico is putting together a program with the talent to make a serious run at the top of the Big Ten and a chance to make some noise nationally. The 2021-22 roster, which is projected to be led by senior versions of Naz Hillmon and Amy Dilk, looks particularly loaded. We're already pretty much there—this is looking like the golden era of Michigan women's basketball. There's ample room on the bandwagon.

[Hit THE JUMP for a couple MBB transfer possibilities, Matt Painter's bad quote, and more.]

Transfer Target Updates: Jalen Coleman... Lands?

On the men's side, Juwan Howard still has one scholarship available for next season, and even before the vote on an NCAA-wide immediate eligibility waiver, potential targets are entering the transfer portal.

You may remember guard Jalen Coleman-Lands for a couple reasons. John Beilein pursued the top-40 2017 prospect back when he was known as Jalen Coleman (we have a site tag and everything), then he played at Illinois for two seasons before transferring to DePaul. He's a grad transfer who's already been granted a sixth year of eligibility for an injury that wiped out most of his 2018-19 season. JCL already has Michigan in a top five with Cal, Iowa State, NC State, and USC.

While Coleman-Lands hasn't lived up to his recruiting hype at either collegiate stop, he's a scoring guard with shooting upside that hasn't been reached yet, and Michigan could sure use one of those. While he only made 32% of his three-pointers last season, he's a career 80% free throw shooter and 36% three-point shooter. At 6'4" with limited finishing ability, he's never going to be more than a ~45% scorer inside the arc (career mark: 40%), but with the right role he could be a 35-40% three-point gunner.

Another option is Wake Forest transfer Chaundee Brown, who UMHoops reported took a virtual visit with the coaches this week that "went well," added Michigan to what had previously been a final four of Gonzaga, LSU, Illinois, and Iowa State. While Brown would need a waiver to play immediately, he'd be worth the wait even if he has to sit before playing his final year of eligibility.

Brown is a burly 6'5", 220-pound wing who does his best work at the rim and from midrange. He's a plus rebounder for his position and his 83% career mark at the free-throw line indicates there's some untapped shooting upside—he's at 33% on threes over his three years with a season-best mark of 34%.

In a more far-fetched possibility, Georgetown junior-to-be Mac McClung withdrew his name from the NBA Draft process and intends to put his name in the portal, according to an ESPN report. The athletic, high-usage guard didn't mention any schools; given he's an athletic, high-usage guard, I could see Michigan getting involved. McClung would also need a waiver to play in 2020-21. He'll be one of the most hotly pursued transfers in the country either way.

Michigan needs both the immediate boost to backcourt depth that JCL could provide and the added roster stability and balance that Brown or McClung could bring for 2021-22 if they sit a year. 247's Zach Shaw has a list of more names Michigan could go after in the transfer market if the top targets don't work out.

Yeah, I Wouldn't Have Said That

This is a thought Matt Painter probably should've kept to himself.

"You might’ve got your degree from Purdue, but you’re not a Boilermaker if you walk out the door at the end and say, ‘Hey, I want to make the league.’"

Yeesh. https://t.co/XERtSwl15B

— Stephen Brooks (@StephenM_Brooks) May 13, 2020

Painter was discussing the departures of center Matt Haarms, who grad transferred to BYU, and—well, wouldn't you know—Nojel Eastern, Michigan's latest pickup.

Both players were of paramount importance to Purdue's recent success, including as starters during their 2019 run to the Elite Eight. Eastern was one the nation's best all-around defenders. Haarms was a fantastic rim protector and interior scorer.

Painter reduced both of their roles this past season. Eastern's was justified given his offensive struggles without Carsen Edwards around to bend defenses. Haarms, however, was largely the victim of circumstance; Painter had a younger big man, Trevion Williams, who he also wanted to play big minutes but didn't pair well with Haarms.

Painter's quote is bad on its face and worse the more you look at it. Those two are Boilermakers. They also have aspirations of being paid to play basketball and could find better opportunities for that elsewhere. For a multi-millionaire coach to speak out against that—after reducing both players's minutes!—is backwards-minded. If Purdue has trouble recruiting, Painter will have nobody to blame but himself.

Buzzer Beaters

The NCAA is simplifying the NET rating for men's basketball and (finally) using it to replace RPI for the women. I'm no expert on this stuff but it appears they mostly removed redundancies in the overall rating; meanwhile, almost anything is an upgrade on RPI, so the selection committee for the women will be better equipped.

Sam Vecenie's latest NBA Draft big board has Isaiah Livers at #87 overall. The NCAA has indefinitely pushed back the underclassman withdrawal date, which was initially June 3rd, until the NBA determines a timeline for the pre-draft process, so we may not know his status for a while.