MBB makes Top 3 for 4 star Center Mark Williams
Williams plays for IMG academy and is the 29th overall player and 5th ranked Center in the 2020 class
His top 3 is Duke, UCLA, and Michigan
He will announce his commitment in 23 days
https://247sports.com/Player/Mark-Williams-46047763/
October 9th, 2019 at 1:40 AM ^
I don't know exactly what positions Howard is looking to fill in this class but if Todd commits then I imagine that could help pull in Williams as he will be committing somewhere shortly after
Zeb+ 6'10PF+ 7'C all highly ranked would be pretty nuts. But again Im not sure if Howard would only want to take 1 big man and a SG as opposed to 2 big men
October 9th, 2019 at 2:01 AM ^
Seems like Hunter Dickinson is a more likely get than Williams. Both are probably going to Duke. But Todd is a great first domino to fall, and who knows who may follow?
October 9th, 2019 at 12:19 PM ^
I wouldn't say Dickenson is probably going to duke.
October 9th, 2019 at 7:26 AM ^
A center is a priority in this class.
Williams seemed like a lock to Duke. His sister goes there and he's close to a couple of their commits. The only question is whether he and Dickinson both want to be in the same class. Duke wants both. They are both accelerating their decision, which they would do if they don't want to play together.
Dickinson is visiting Notre Dame this weekend, Duke the next. It will be interesting to see what date he picks for his announcement.
October 9th, 2019 at 8:31 AM ^
Well to be fair Duke already has three five stars and two four stars in their class. Why wouldn't they take both top big men we're still in on?
This class feels like it could be quite good or a total question mark, but we need to land 1-2 of these top guys that we've made the final cuts for.
October 9th, 2019 at 9:41 AM ^
Crazy that Duke is trying to take a 7 man recruiting class in a sport with 13 scholarships.
October 9th, 2019 at 10:00 AM ^
Well when you have three guys drafted in the top 10 last year it’s a little less crazy
October 9th, 2019 at 6:05 AM ^
This (Howard) regime is amazingly high-variance so far. He could get a few of these guys or none of them. This season could go very well or just so-so. Should be fun and interesting .....
October 9th, 2019 at 10:47 AM ^
The fact that he's in on so many top guys after a late start and having just joined the college coaching ranks is a really good sign. If he lands even 1 of them that will be amazing. Obviously expectations will be higher in following recruiting classes, but that so many touted recruits are taking Howard seriously shows he has something going for him.
October 9th, 2019 at 6:34 AM ^
According to that picture, M is trailing the other two.
October 9th, 2019 at 7:45 AM ^
..and Duke is the clear front-runner. (go figure)
October 9th, 2019 at 12:35 PM ^
naw, you guys are both missing the hidden message - he's going to commit to UDM
October 9th, 2019 at 8:07 AM ^
I have this dream where we end up with 4 Top 100 kids in this class with 3 in the top 50. I know I'm setting myself up for sadness but if one piece falls our way it could legitimately happen. It is hard going against the blue bloods though.
October 9th, 2019 at 8:31 AM ^
In general, from purely the recruiting/commit probability side, being in the final 2 or 3 or whatever as a first time, under the radar addition is an indicator of very strong interest. Duke may want both Dickinson and Williams but for those kids it would be in their best personal interest not to make this happen-and these kids know what the deal is here.
As Michigan recruiting stands right now it appears as though Howard has things lined up very well. The chances that some very Michigan-favorable decisions are going to be made on this front are very high. In fact, it is not unreasonable to believe that this class could end up with Zeb, Namari, Moses, Jace, Isaiah and Williams/Dickinson...yes, they would find/make room for six-Jace could be a walk-on.
October 9th, 2019 at 10:59 AM ^
Name checks out. Hope you're right. :)
October 9th, 2019 at 9:33 AM ^
Duke already has Jalen Johnson Brakefield and Coleman at the forward spots. Surely Williams or Dickinson will see the logjam.
October 9th, 2019 at 11:19 AM ^
Those guys are all 6'7" or 6'8" PF types. Wilaims and Dickinson are both 7' and definitely fives.
I'm not sure I follow? I hope that they both don't want to go to Duke to fight for the 5 when one of them could be starting for us, but not sure how the PF types factor in?
October 9th, 2019 at 4:29 PM ^
I'm more referring to the logjam in the post in general. One of them is already guaranteed to be a backup unless they are going really big. Even if they are playing position less basketball, that's a lot of bodies in the post. I also dont know who they bring back either. I guess I'm kind of seeing Michigans roster as being pretty open with a new coach and we are low on post players
October 10th, 2019 at 9:53 PM ^
It's pretty rare in basketball today to run an offense with 2 post players. I'm not familiar with those players though, are they primarily post players?
October 9th, 2019 at 11:43 AM ^
If I was an elite high school big-man who wanted to learn how to develop into a multi-year NBA star, I would pick Howard to be my coach over Coach-K in a nanosecond.
October 9th, 2019 at 11:46 AM ^
kid looks good in the all maize, regardless of where he chooses to go.
October 9th, 2019 at 11:50 AM ^
He'll pick Duke, so we need to throw the bag at Dickinson.
October 9th, 2019 at 3:07 PM ^
He’s a Blue Devil but it’s nice to be in the mix for some top level kids. Howard is going to have recruiting success I would imagine. It looks like Todd will be his first big pull. You never know what can happen after you get a big recruit or two. I think some kids may want to see how the team is going to play before they pull the trigger. Hopefully he will have some success this year on the court and then next year pull in a monster class.
Go Blue!!
October 9th, 2019 at 4:31 PM ^
That would make for a subpar 2020 season and could potentially give kids pause in the 21 class
October 10th, 2019 at 5:53 AM ^
I remain hopeful since we are still in the mix for several remaining top players. But looking at the overall recruiting picture objectively, it's worrisome. It could be a boom or bust year. The top 15 or so programs have all basically inked full recruiting classes and Howard hasn't grabbed a single 2020 commit yet. It's coming down to a few top big men and guards who are still considering us. The second tier (50-100) is thin on uncommitted prospects and I don't think we are aggressively recruiting any of these.
If we get one domino to fall, we could reel in several top players. Or it could go the other way. If the latter occurs, 2020 looks like a likely down year. We really need a big man to replace Teske and quality depth at other positions. We do have Zeb who should be great but he needs some help.