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Hoops Recruiting Sees Martelli Do Work
A few weeks back we introduced the existing 2021 offers with the primer series divvied up into Guards, Wings and Bigs. Since then we’ve had some additional offers go out, missed the cut for some Plan As and made top 10 lists. Full rundown below.
Looking Solid Early On
Westtown (PA) guard Jalen Warley picked up an offer from Michigan 2 weeks ago and the Wolverines have a foot in the door thanks to family-ties with assistant coach Phil Martelli.
I spoke with Warley shortly after he was offered and he confirmed as much.
“Coach Martelli coached both my Dad and Uncle at St. Joe’s so there’s a ton of familiarity there. Once the health crisis is over, we’ve talked about setting up a visit there.”
Jalen provided similar insight to Sam Webb a few days later and the Philly alums are talking-up Michigan.
“I think the fact that every time hear from somebody who has attended Michigan, they’re always very prideful about their school (is appealing). I’ve never heard anybody speak negative about Michigan, so I’m just really curious to get down there and meet the people who I would be involved with day to day.”
He has a national level recruitment and has been active with virtual meetings of late, but it appears likely Michigan gets a campus visit when the health crisis permits.
Juwan Howard and crew are turning the heat up on in-state guard Jaden Akins. Howard conducted a virtual meeting with the Farmington guard last week.
Jaden gave standard fluff in this reaction piece with 247, but the key here is that Juwan Howard himself is now taking on the role as point-man.
Rivals’ Corey Evans is transparent in saying that Akins is quite undervalued at #109 in a Free Press article from Saturday. He also believes Michigan State is the leader at this point, which is almost certainly what that staff is feeding him.
The Spartans are definitely a program under heavy consideration, but so are the Wolverines. Another program that is making quite the push that isn’t well publicized just yet is Chris Collins and the Northwestern Wildcats.
Again, making Akins feel like an absolute priority along with the opportunity to make an immediate impact will be key in this recruitment. Michigan is making a move here and has improved their standing recently.
[After THE JUMP: New offers, updates, happy trails]
New Offers
The Wolverines extended the 2021 pool on May 2nd when Pace-Academy (GA) wing Matthew Cleveland received an offer.
Michigan has been involved with Cleveland for quite some time, so this one isn’t out of the blue. Pace Academy is a strong academic institution with national recognition and the educational component in Ann Arbor may be appealing.
I’m not as high on Matt in relation to the mainstreams, particularly 247 which has him as a 5star/#14 overall, but he is definitely worthy of an offer. A good athlete with a high-floor, Cleveland has some real potential as a defensive stopper that is a secondary option in the half-court offense.
Unranked guard Angelo Brizzi was up next when he was offered on Friday. Suiting up for Highland HS (VA) just a short drive from the DMV-area, assistant coach Phil Martelli definitely has a large role in this recruitment.
Don’t be discouraged by this ‘who dat’ offer, Brizzi is a shotmaking guard with good vision. While he has some physical limitations, his range extends out to 35 feet and ballscreens can help mitigate potential issues with ball-pressure. Not having the benefit of viewing him live yet, I’d tentatively rank him in the 70-100 range for my 2021 rankings.
Michigan dished out a 2022 offer to Jaden Bradley on Saturday, an early 5star type from the Cannon School (NC).
2022 Caleb Houstan has been offered per Rivals. The Montverde Academy (FL) star camped at Michigan as a youngster, and is considering reclassifying to 2021.
Top Tens
Top 10 pic.twitter.com/irsRgmz7xI
— Harrison Ingram (@Harrisoniingram) May 11, 2020
Top 20 wing/forward Harrison Ingram released a top 10 list that included Michigan. While a list of this size isn’t generally indicative of legitimate interest, particularly with a high-profile prospect, it is noteworthy the Wolverines make the first cut having offered only 2 days prior.
While I think a top 20 ranking may not be warranted here, Ingram is a versatile prospect with some skill that will likely produce early in his college career.
In other top ten news, the Wolverines make an appearance on the list of 5star Patrick Baldwin. I wouldn’t get my hopes up here, as Duke is the leader, Dad is on staff at Milwaukee and both parents attended Northwestern.
Not So Fast
I’ve been the only one pumping the brakes on the “Michigan leads for Kobe Bufkin” train.
In a lukewarm interview with The Wolverine, Bufkin admits being raised in a Michigan friendly household, but didn’t sound all that enamored otherwise.
““It was a good experience for my family, who was more excited than I was."
Today, I was able to confirm that Kobe will conduct a virtual meeting with LSU head coach Will Wade on Friday.
Despite what mainstreams are pushing, I definitely would not consider Michigan the leader for Bufkin. DePaul is very much involved here and LSU will likely offer Friday. Michigan is in the conversation, but not remotely close to wrapping up a commitment any time in the near future.
Elsewhere
5star wing Jonathan Kuminga says he’s 50/50 on reclassifying to 2020. Frankly, it doesn’t matter all that much. He’s not coming to Michigan.
Hillcrest Prep (AZ) forward Michael Foster is weighing a potential reclassification to 2020 as well. Same story here, doesn’t really impact things because the chances are slim with Foster.
Michigan is among the seven schools pushing the hardest for 2021 5star Moussa Diabate from IMG Academy (FL). Chances don’t appear to be great here, but we’ve been mentioned with him rather consistently. He’s likely G League or a reclass candidate for sure.
I confirmed the Wolverines have reached out to top 30 guard Hunter Sallis out of Millard North HS in Nebraska. Likely just preliminary interest here, but another name to monitor.
Happy Trails
5star guard Kennedy Chandler released a top 5 that did not include Michigan. Probably for the better, as Michigan can now concentrate efforts on more attainable guards in 2021.
How is Will Wade still coaching in the NCAA? If there is no penalty for paying players (*cough* Coach K *cough*), why can't we pull up a money wagon? The benefit/jersey sales of a perennial final 4 team with an occasional national championship would more than offset the cost of paying the players. ...and for the "Michigan isn't pure" crowd, that's great. Why are we half-assing it then?
(I like that we are supposedly pure, but it is dumbfounding how these guys cheat for years with zero penalties.)
Will Wade is still coaching because LSU is an embarrassment.
I would actually challenge haters to ID a croot Michigan clearly, or even probably offered "inducements"?
Michigan may not be "pure", whatever that even means - but we do things with a certain level of class & finesse either way!
Isn't the only reasonable conclusion at this point is that it's not really cheating?
Thanks for putting this together, Matt. I'm wondering if you think it's cause for concern that Michigan doesn't have a 2021 commitment or seem all that close to landing one yet. Per 247, Michigan is one of only four Big Ten schools to have not yet secured at least one 2021 commitment, and many schools have more than one kid in their class already. Especially given Michigan's need for a large 2021 haul, I guess I'm wondering if that's something to be nervous about or not.
Not at all. We have to accept the fact that Michigan's recruiting approach has drastically changed under Juwan Howard. It more closely resembles a Duke/UK model where we get in the conversation for elite prospects as a priority, give them a few months before moving on, wrap that class up before moving on to the next tier and/or next class.
Functionally, this means we'll go longer without someone getting on board because those recruitments face more competition. But when we do get a commitment, it will typically be a big fish (Todd/Dickinson).
A key attribute, and one where I think Juwan is starting to find his sweet spot of late, is identifying elite prospects/borderline elite prospects before their ranking/offer sheet indicates that. Think Jaden Akins type of kids.
What is your gut feeling on whether the staff will look to close some recruitments from the 50-120 range early in the cycle given the large size of the class rather than waiting to see how the top-50 guys shake out?
It was important this year that we got Zeb, Williams, and Dickenson in the fold while waiting out the 5-stars who ultimately went elsewhere. Targeting more 5-stars and targeting them earlier will help...but the class size is going to be huge.
My perspective is a bit different given that I am evaluator/scout. So for me, guys like Matthew Cleveland and Harrison Ingram are closer to top 50 types than 5stars. Based on how the offers were delegated, I'm assuming Juwan has them ranked similarly on his board.........hence my claim earlier that he seems to be finding that sweet spot in terms of both identification and timing.
To sum it up, I think its important to identify a robust talent pool, irrelevant of rankings/starts and compose a tiered big board.
"I’ve never heard anybody speak negative about Michigan"
Clearly not a football recruit
Unless a 5* prospect is a Michigan fan or native, I think we are wasting a lot of effort recruiting them because landing them against g league offers and the dozen top teams that are willing to drop money bags is extremely low yielding. I’d like to focus on those outside the top 25. Unless we are going to count on Nike/Jordan helping us out with only a wink.
I was in the minority on this board when we discussed a few weeks back, presumably because most are heavily slanted toward college sports, but the G League/Pro Option is simply going to be a fact of life that we have to deal with. It's not exclusive to top 25 types/5stars despite what some may think.
The composite #62 just signed a G League contract
https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1259833152803127296
Again, I'm in the minority on this board, but I think the professional path will grow in influence as time goes on. Bottom line is that kids want to be paid, its really just that simple.
That said, shoot your shot, all the kids can do is tell a coach no.
I agree with 'shoot your shot' with the five stars. The trick is having other options and filling out the class with program 4-stars like we did this year. That's what worries me about this approach.
Some exciting prospects! I like the mix of some 5 stars and some slightly lower ranked players. I think with Juwan we will always be in the running for some of these 5 stars even though we don't have the bag men. Odds are good that we can pick up one or more per year. Regardless, if we are getting high 4 stars who might stay more than a year, it won't really matter. It's great to hear we are getting in on players like Warley (#28) and Akins (top 100). Hopefully, we can get some early commits and signings and avoid some of the prolonged drama this time.
- "I’ve never heard anybody speak negative about Michigan"
This line made me lol, but glad we're making progress with Warley
- Cleveland looks like a good player, but definitely not #14 in the country
- "DePaul is very much involved here and LSU will likely offer Friday"
Sounds like Bufkin is tryna get paid. Never heard of anyone growing up in a Michigan household then being lukewarm on Michigan. Weird.
- Caleb Houstan is a baller and maybe we can sell him on the Canadian pipeline and playing with Zeb
I'll tell you a player from a Michigan family that always seemed lukewarm on UM to me:
DPJ!
Rather than being an early commit to his class & becoming a lead dog recruiter, he waited quite a while, sifting offers.
Once on the team, he was clearly outworked by Nico & Bell (and who knows who else, that his physical gifts & seniority kept him above on the depth chart?!)
And now there's whispers he's badmouthing the program in o-FUCKING-hio of all places!!
So while those of us from Michigan fams may not be able to comprehend it, I think it happens!
How long are we expecting Martelli to be with the program? I imagine this guy is itching to be in charge again somewhere soon and that he's not planning on being an assistant until retirement. I'm thinking he's gone next summer.
Yeah I think it'd been clear for a while that he's been looking for a head coaching job
Matt, are there any players that we've offered that you feel we have the lead for?
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