Hoops Recruiting Is Talking About The Man In The Middle
With Hunter Dickinson already testing the draft waters and Moussa Diabate having one-and-done potential, Michigan is absolutely taking a true center in the 2022 class. The Wolverines are firmly in the mix for a few elite bigs and starting to explore other options as the upcoming live evaluation periods in July are quickly approaching. The full rundown at the center position below.
Still Alive
Number one overall prospect Jalen Duren is not coming to Michigan. I will continue to beat this drum so as to prevent disappointment when the inevitable happens.
With that out of the way, let's talk about Duren's on-court trajectory a bit. From all reports, he has been outstanding at the Pangos All-American (literally leads the event in assists at 6'10!) Camp in Las Vegas with representatives from every NBA team in attendance. While I don't put much stock into these events for evaluation purposes because of the all-star game like environment, it's hard to dismiss Jalen now flashing the ability to hit triples in tandem with his elite athleticism, defense and passing ability. If this is a consistent part of his game, good luck defending him.
Top 2022 Michigan hoops target Jalen Duren knocks down the open shot #GoBlue @PangosAACamp pic.twitter.com/NyqRjzWQWI
— "EJ Holland" (@EJHolland_TW) June 7, 2021
Circling back to his recruitment, Jalen has locked in official visits with Miami, Memphis and Kentucky. As I've been saying for months, the professional route is very much in play and Miami should be viewed as the favorite if college is a stopgap on his journey to the NBA. That said, Duren told Rivals' EJ Holland that Michigan is a favorite to get one of his two remaining OVs. I'm not going to pretend as if the Wolverines are likely to secure a commitment here, but if you can get him on campus then the puncher's chance approach applies.
[Hit THE JUMP for the latest on Lively and others ]
Sitting In Tier II
I was first on the Dereck Lively 5-star train and it appears that college coaches agree, with Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina surging to the top of his recruitment and securing visits as I reported last week.
Those three programs should be considered the functional leaders here, with Kentucky likely near the very top. In the Holland piece mentioned above, Dereck confirmed that Michigan is battling UCLA and USC when it comes to securing an official visit. Again, when I last spoke to Lively in late April, the plan was to OV to Ann Arbor. While the bluebloods weren't in heavy pursuit at that time, I'm still inclined to believe Michigan will get a visit here. Again, get him on campus and anything can happen.
Yes Please
During last week's update on the bigs, I forgot to mention an under-the-radar prospect that I was extremely impressed with in Indianapolis for Under Armour Midwest. Christ Essandoko immediately popped-out to me as a big with legit NBA size + length and incredible playmaking/vision for a prospect of that size. He fits our defensive schemes as a rim-protecting big in drop coverage as well. I immediately bumped him to 4-star status in my database.
It's near shocking that he's currently unranked to the mainstream services given that he plays for a well-known HS in Winston-Salem Christian (NC) with several other Division I prospects and suits up for a shoe-sponsored club in Team Curry for AAU. While industry evaluators may not agree with me, college coaches do. Maryland, Pitt and Providence all extended offers in the last week alone.
The staff was made aware of Essandoko and I'd expect Michigan to reach out here. The intersection of talent level/play-style/positional need seems to be in play here and I hope the Wolverines offer soon should Donovan Clingan not jump aboard over the next two months. Christ is on the same level as Clingan, at minimum, on my board. He will be ranked no lower than top-60 for me when my rankings are published later this Summer. Christ looks a lot like Trevion Williams plus an additional 3-4 inches and that's something I'd like to have.
Elsewhere
4-star Tarris Reed is still being pursued and is looking to visit per an interview with Rivals:
I am really just trying to pack out June and go to as many campuses as possible. I am trying to set up visits also with Michigan, Ohio State and Iowa as well.
Reed just completed an official visit with Michigan State and explicitly acknowledges being a fan of Kansas growing up. Tarris is still Tier II for the staff and so we probably won't get a lot of traction here until he visits Ann Arbor.
- If Duren can hit threes, then there is no way he doesn't go pro. I'm not sure what his player comparison is anymore. Like a combo of Joel Embiid and Dwight Howard
- Essandoko definitely looks like an intriguing prospect. His passing and ability to play drop coverage really popped off the screen. Any idea what his measurables are? Looks 6'10"ish?
- Any word on how Jaden Bradley's official visit went and if there was any pendulum swing?
Essandoko is a legit 6'11 at minimum. I'm told his wingpan exceeds 7'2
No word on Bradley just yet
Bradley posted some pics on Twitter. One clowning with Juwan.
At the very least, it looks like he had a positive experience!
Based on the highlights, he looks like an MPJ with Dwight Howard rim protection tendencies. Didn't see much of his handle but it looks good enough (and given the assist rate) to be a Top-5 player in the NBA in terms of ceiling. I would think he would want to do the G-league all-stars option but you never know....
If by MPJ you mean Michael Porter Jr, who has one of the smoothest jumpshot forms in the NBA, shot 45% from pro 3 at like 20 years old, literally the second highest true shooting % of all time? That seems very premature based on him making a couple of outside shots. I know you're probably basing it on height for the comparison but I don't see it, MPJ also has no real awareness or defensive chops. I think the original comment mentioning Embiid had a pretty close comp, can be elite as a big in the paint and also has the athleticism and J to spread the floor.
"Christ looks a lot like Trevion Williams plus an additional 3-4 inches and that's something I'd like to have." You and me both, brother.
Woah. I just made the mistake of watching his highlights. Duren is an absolute beast. As for a comparison, you don’t even have to squint…dude is Webber v2.0
Love his penchant for “Game, Blouses” dunks. His swag has a very Fab 5 vibe to it.
Christ hits miracle shot to win the game!
And then taps his chest and points his finger to the sky.
Seems overly appreciated of his father in post games.
He always has to head to the locker room in the 1st quarter with a serious injury, then miraculously emerges 3 quarters later to save the game.
He once died on the court and came back to life to win the game.
He is known to turn water into Gatorade.
You will have to recruit the father, the son and the holy spirit - at least no McDonald's bag will be necessary.
Do we have that many scholarships available?
Thanks Matt!
its amazing that Duren is 18...I'd be shocked if he doesn't go to the G-League, but who knows...experiencing one year of college is a something that you'll never do again...not sure if i'd spend that year in Miami, but he's the kind of player that could take you far in the tournament.
Essandoko definitely looks the part; he seems pretty nimble on his feet...weird that he's not on the radar yet, especailly with his AAU team and HS being well scouted...gotta keep other irons in the fire, as you never know what will happen
I used to think that all his players should go to college for at least one year to experience college life but itsnjust too risky, and not just because you have the fact that you're not getting paid and could rusk injury and not ever getting paid but there are far more illegal temptations when you're in college.
You're surrounded by coeds, drunken coeds and stuff happens... you also encounter a lot of underage girls at parties. You do dumb stuff with friends in college because it's just what you do. Could be taking a snap with a bong, etc.
At least if you're a pro it's more like a job and you're surrounded by people more focused. Less likely to mess up with a 16 year old...less likely, not unlikely.
I'm not sure big time college athletes experience college like the rest of us. It's probably much more rigid.
I think one huge benefit that I've noticed regarding the G-league/NCAA for one-and-done types is the massive exposure that playing in college and in March Madness gives you. The latter takes over the country and it's difficult to put a price on hype.
On the other hand, getting paid 200K to work your way to a contract that you would have gotten by going to college is hard to beat. The G-league has two guys in the top five of the mock draft, but no one until the second round I think. Now, would Isaiah Todd have been a top ten pick had he come to Michigan? It's hard to say. Maybe he will be just as successful than if he went to college, with the added G-league contract on top.
Hard to say, especially with how much the NBA loves projects/potential
The look of defeat on every white kid’s face in the first video has me crying ??? they can’t wait for it to be over
My team once had to play against a team full of D1 players and they kicked our asses. I can relate to their feelings lol
In college I roomed with some guys from Traverse City who had to play against Chris Webber when he was at Detroit Country Day. They said it was almost a joke he was so much bigger, stronger, and faster.
Pistons need to find a way to get Duren next year
"Ditch for Duren"
my god..Jalen is just in another universe.
Matt - given that we will almost definitely need two centers next year, do you see any two of the names on your board fitting together in the same class or would you expect/recommend that Michigan grabs one in the portal and one as a top-60 recruit?
In general, in speaking with all of my subscribing coaches in the last few moths, there is simply much less emphasis on recruiting HS prospects and much more emphasis on the portal.
It's just common sense that more priority is placed on the more-proven commodity with a bigger sample against better competition. There is much less stress among the college coaching circle because of it. As much as folks like to trash the NBA model, I can certainly tell you that the CBB version of free-agency is something universally liked by my subscription coaches.
That said, if Michigan can't grab one of the five-ish HS prospects currently being pursued at various levels, the transfer portal will absolutely be where things are addressed.
Judging from the top photo, Jalen Duren is a grown-ass man who's physically ready for the NBA right now.
So was Webber. Seeing Duren reminded me how ahead Webber was.
Matt - I know you're talking about Centers in this post, but since we discussed Jaden Bradley I thought I'd ask what is going on with Jarace Walker? We were once near the top of his top 3, and now it seems like we're outside looking in. Did the staff cool on him, or did he lose interest?
This is just my opinion rather than anything I've confirmed. In short, I don't think Walker is a recruitment we're likely to win and the staff may be coming to that same conclusion.
That's disappointing. About a month or two ago, he had indicated Michigan was on him hard and I it sounded like they had a good chance to land him. As you said, with the Transfer Portal it is not as big a deal not bringing in top recruiting classes every year. Schools can make up for it there.
At this point I consider Duren to be a pro in everything but name and income; if he can just OV Michigan and say positive things about it that’s a recruiting plus by itself.
Would imagine the G League and Overtime Elite would have a bidding war over Duren's services.
The Bewley twins supposedly each received 2 year, $1 million contracts from Overtime Elite.
Would imagine that Jalen could shake 7 figures/year out of either, on top of a 7 figure shoe/apparel contract.
Gimme some of that EssentalDunko.
Christ Essandoko update. Ask and you shall receive
https://twitter.com/endless_motor/status/1402430976135938051
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