Hoops Recruiting: The Centers of Attention
Adding some quality depth to the frontcourt in the 2023 class is a priority. With visit season upon us, Michigan appears to be in solid position to land a top-50ish prospect in the frontcourt as we head down the homestretch in multiple recruitments. All the latest intel below.
Papa Kante
Height/Weight: Listed at 6'10 and 225 pounds. Probably closer to a legit 6'8.5 - 6'9 and 215 - 220lbs.
High School/AAU: South Kent School (CT)/Nike EYBL New York Renaissance (NY)
Final EYBL Stats: 10.2ppg, 8.5reb, 1.5blk, 54%% FG and 27.3% from distance on 33 attempts over 26 games
Mainstream Ranking: Received massive bump from On3 and now sits at #32 overall after a strong performance at the Pangos AA Camp. I'd take that with a grain of salt personally, as those camps tend to lack defense and structure (and this coming from someone that runs camps). Wide variance among mainstream services with Kante in the 30-140 range overall.
EM Ranking/Short Evaluation: Likely to be in the 40-60 range for my upcoming rankings release. Impact defender that is a switchable big with good agility and defensive instincts on rotations, while being surprisingly disciplined on shot-fakes, etc. Burgeoning offensive skill and getting more comfortable and accurate as a perimeter shooter in recent months. Some potential as a face-up option from the elbows. Still a bit of a tweener that may not be big enough to defend the true mammoths of the B10. Will need development offensively. Multi-year college player.
Latest Recruiting Intel: Currently in Africa to see family, will deliberate on college selection and likely make a public commitment sometime in the new few weeks as it stands now. Official visit to Michigan in June went about as well as it could. Extremely fond of Juwan Howard. Other legit contenders include Rutgers (Gavin Griffiths + family connection), Maryland and Pitt. Wolverines are in solid position here with a decision on the horizon. My hypothetical crystal ball in favor of Michigan remains at a 5-6 confidence level.
Zayden High
Height/Weight: Listed at 6'7-6'9/185-225. He's a legit 6'8-6'9 and 210 pounds at minimum.
High School/AAU: Arizona Compass Academy (AZ)/Nike EYBL JL3 Elite (TX)
Mainstream Ranking: 4-star/35 - 65 overall
EM Ranking/Short Evaluation: Likely to be a top-50 prospect in my finalized rankings. Skilled F/C that can knock down perimeter shots off the catch or the bounce, can put the ball on the floor for a few dribbles and make a play. Athleticism a bit below average in terms of agility + vertical pop. Tweener that lacks the size/length to defend B10 centers with NBA size, and probably not agile enough to check legit wings on the perimeter. Multi-year college player.
Latest Recruiting Intel: I'm told that Zayden kept a good poker face for the majority of his OV to Ann Arbor. But the protective wall started to show signs of overt happiness on the final day of the visit. Gave standard fluff to Rivals in the aftermath. Much like Kante, HC Juwan Howard is resonating in a major way with High. Playstyle/lineup combinations under Coach Howard means that Zayden can realistically see himself playing a more perimeter oriented PF position, which is appealing to him. He plays things close to the vest, so its difficult to ascertain the primary competition. Took OV to Villanova in June along with unofficial visit to Texas. Accepted thought seems to indicate that North Carolina + Arkansas and the aforementioned programs are seriously in the mix.
[Hit THE JUMP for Carey Booth + Happy Trails]
Carey Booth
Height/Weight: Listed at 6'9 - 6'10 and between 190 - 215 pounds. My eye test over the weekend says 6'9 and 195 is about right.
High School/AAU: Brewster Academy (NH)/KC Run GMC (MO)
Mainstream Ranking: 4-star/65 - 100 overall
EM Ranking/Short Evaluation: Likely to settle in the 60-80 range in my upcoming rankings. PF/C that thrives in pick-and-pop action as floorspacing big. Above-average athlete with good motor. Ballskills + decision making need a lot of work. Will need to add 25 -30lbs of muscle mass before he's ready for heavy rotation minutes at the college level. Can be a bit out of control on the court at times. Multi-year college player with a high ceiling.
Latest Recruiting Intel: Very little mention of Michigan since being offered in June. Has visited Marquette twice and took an OV to Penn State (son of former PSU standout Calvin Booth). Looking to visit Iowa, Ohio State and Texas. Michigan has other prospects higher on the board and it looks like the ship has sailed here.
Happy Trails
5-star Xavier Booker committed to Michigan State over the weekend. Booker seemed like a lock to the Spartans before blueblood interest stalled things out. An up-and-down spring/summer meant that Kentucky never offered and Duke stopped recruiting him after the Pangos All-American camp. Xavier is a polarizing prospect. The massive ceiling is obvious here, as the NBA potential is very real. But the lack of motor, defensive intensity and physicality can be glaring at times. Don't know that he's an instant impact player at MSU next season and that might be volatile considering the recruiting pedigree and expectation level.
In closing, I can't remember how many instances I can recall where a top-10ish prospect (won't be top 10 for me and isn't for ON3 either) fails to land UK/UNC offers, doesn't hold a commitable Duke offer and is cut from the USA team. That says something about something.
August 2nd, 2022 at 10:49 AM ^
It's been a struggle keeping my mouth shut to MSU friends on Booker. The motor/effort issues are glaring on film and the blue bloods just straight up stopping their recruitments of him should be a pretty glaring red flag as well. Wonder how his career at MSU will turn out. Will his inconsistent defensive effort turn Izzo into a screaming red munchkin man? Will Izzo be able to get the most out of Booker? Will Booker be a one and done or will he be the next 5* that Izzo convinces to stay at MSU against their best interest?
August 2nd, 2022 at 11:55 AM ^
He will be what every 5star will be under IZZO. An under-achiever. And I'm positive about that. You can quote me.
August 2nd, 2022 at 10:27 PM ^
Not many players seem to reach their potential under izzo
August 2nd, 2022 at 12:21 PM ^
"Will his inconsistent defensive effort turn Izzo into a screaming red munchkin man?"
Y'mean there's an even higher level of Izzo's screaming red munchkin man? Does it go to 11?!
August 2nd, 2022 at 12:37 PM ^
I'm not knocking MSU, Izzo, or Booker but this is just a bad fit. Izzo will get passed, try t9 make a statement by putting him in his dog house. Booker will transfer and that will be that. Izzo is not the coach you want to go play for if you only want to go to college one year. He's a coach where if you're 6'8 and red headed, he is your guy.
August 2nd, 2022 at 11:12 AM ^
Honestly, MSU seems like a great landing spot for Booker. High effort culture and Izzo won't stand for him dogging it. He'll either become a lot better on the effort front or will quit/transfer.
August 2nd, 2022 at 11:14 AM ^
I had my window small and thought this was a commit post. That's a pretty swag(ger) pose for Zyden High. Hope that kid gets famous enough to have a highschool named after him. Zayden High High.
August 2nd, 2022 at 11:46 AM ^
Booker is a very good looking prospect, but he's raw. If he's a OAD then MSU won't likely be getting a ton out of him for the eight months he's on campus.
Nonetheless, a class of Booker, Fears, Normand (looks to committing to MSU shortly) is a solid start for state.
August 2nd, 2022 at 11:57 AM ^
Their cupboard is bare. Unfortunately, IZZO's on his way out. I never want him to leave. The kids have to want to be yelled at and ready to lose in the first couple of rounds. That's in their immediate future.
August 2nd, 2022 at 12:23 PM ^
Booker absolutely seems like a guy who'll either really turn it around effort-wise at MSU or transfer after being yelled at by Izzo for a year. I do think we may need to retire the "Izzo is all about teaching hard work and making people better" mantra that's been applied to him for years now. Is there a recent player (whether highly regarded or less so) who demonstrably improved under Izzo? Sure, if he keeps a kid in college for 4-5 years he's likely to play better against 18-year-olds than when he was younger, but with a couple of exceptions (Denzel Valentine and Winston more recently, Draymond a decade ago) he doesn't seem to get more out of his players than what you'd expect given their ceilings when they arrived.
I wish no ill will toward Booker but the fact he's so highly considered and yet all of the true blue bloods passed on him without much reservation isn't a great sign.
August 2nd, 2022 at 12:24 PM ^
Tillman.
August 2nd, 2022 at 12:44 PM ^
Is there a recent player (whether highly regarded or less so) who demonstrably improved under Izzo?
Look - it's fun to rag on Izzo. But last year alone, Hoggard and Bingham (for him it was really '21 and '22 vs '19 and '20) were significantly better than they were previously.
in '21 Aaron Henry took a huge leap from what he was his first two years.
'19 and '20 it was Tillman.
Izzo is overrated as a talent developer but that doesn't mean he's bad at it. Just not as good as people make him out to be. One more I'd add in addition to others mentioned is Matt McQuaid. Was a very solid B1G player by the end of his career. Steadily improved every year at MSU.
I think the MGoFan's perception of Izzo is clouded by the thought that he recruits highly rated players, when in reality he gets a ton of guys in the 50-100 range, with a few exceptions at the top. And for the most part - guys in the 50-100 range aren't going to be NBA players. Like - there's nothing he could do to make Nick Ward (42nd in his class) an NBA player, but he probably maximized his college abilities.
(I do agree with the first poster that some of the growth in guys like McQuaid and the ones I mentioned could just be becoming upperclassmen)
I hear what you're saying but how many 50-100 guys or below did Beilein land in the NBA? A few that come to mind (and there are more)
- Jordan Poole (#51 ESPN)
- Isaiah Livers (#75 ESPN)
- DJ Wilson (>100 ESPN)
- Zavier Simpson (#49 ESPN)
- Nick Stauskas (#76 ESPN)
- Trey Burke (#84 ESPN)
Izzo isn't bad, but we were blessed with Beilein and look forward to many more years from Howard here.
High definitely has that D.J. Wilson vibe all-around. I hope he goes Blue.
I enjoyed the Happy Trails section. Underachieving Top 10 prospect the coach has to play due to recruiting rankings and/or NIL is something I don't mind at all. Can we do Happy Trails every week?
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