Remember this morning when I said Michigan still needed a power forward?

Walters chose Michigan over Ohio State, Kentucky, and Louisville after a freshman season as Alabama's 7th man. He profiled last year as a straight-up stretch four Just-a-Shooter plus decent defensive rebounding.

Walters came off the bench every game last year, extending his time on the court to ~15 mpg in the latter part of February. However Walters was stymied by classmate Jarin Stevenson also coming off the bench to play the four, and wasn't very efficient (16th percentile to Synergy) in transition for a team that got 38% of their initial shots (to hoop-math) on the run.

What Walters can do is get a shot up over just about anyone. He was 94th percentile to Synergy on *Guarded* catch-and-shoot jumpers at 43%, actually dipping down to 35% (15/43) when uncontested.

His transfer video shows a pogo-stick with a clean release and not a lot of meat on the bones.

Defense is also predicated on that wingspan. It also sounds like he improved a lot over the course of last season. Feet may limit his NBA upside, but Walters's height and length, and a season of SEC experience, should mean he's not a liability on the other end. On a team filled with creators, adding a floor-spacer like Walters should mean Michigan can score with anybody. Adding a sophomore should also mean Dusty May isn't forced to go portal hunting like this again in two years.

Matt D will have a much more thorough breakdown after he sorts through the rest of this weekend's commitapalooza. Here's what the roster roster looks like:

PG: Tre Donaldson (Jr), Durral Brooks (Fr), [Lorenzo Cason (Fr)]
SG: Roddy Gayle (Jr), George Washington III (So), Justin Pippen (Fr)
Also SG: Rubin Jones (Sr*), [Nimari Burnett (Jr*)], [Jace Howard (Sr*)]
PF: Will Tschetter (Jr), Sam Walters (So)
C: [Vlad Goldin(Sr*)], Danny Wolf (Jr)

Michigan is now up to nine players committed for 2024-'25, with Vlad Goldin widely expected to join them after he goes through the Draft process. Nimari Burnett and Jace Howard (who can be a walk-on) haven't entered the portal or announced returns. From here they're probably going to keep pursuing 2024 5-star Khani Rooths for a 3/4 role, and/or look to add one or two more guards.

Michigan kick-started a roster overhaul when former North Texas guard/wing Rubin Jones announced his transfer to Michigan on Friday. 

Admittedly, I had never heard of Rubin Jones prior to Friday, let alone watch him play at the college level. As an up-transfer, I decided to scout three full games of UNT this season against the very best competition they faced in St. John's (KP #21), Mississippi State (KP #34) and Florida Atlantic (KP #47) to get a better feel as to the potential impact/projection in the B10.

I think Wolverine fans will end up liking this addition a lot more than the buzz suggests. 

SCOUTING (Defense)

It's rare to start off an evaluation of an up-transfer on the defensive end, but that's exactly what I'm going to do here. Jones' defensive versatility and ability to check multiple positions is likely the most projectable part of his game right now. 

I was keen to watch the film against Dusty May's former team in FAU, as the Owls were one of the better offensive teams in the nation (KP #22 AdjO). Rubin drew the assignment of AAC player of the year, Johnell Davis. I'm going to be candid here, Rubin Jones had Davis in the torture chamber in the minutes he was on the floor. Twenty-five seconds worth of hell for Davis below:

Jones top-locks Davis near half-court to prevent a touch initially. Dusty May then gets into Split action in an attempt to get Johnell the ball on the move - look at Rubin's screen navigation/chasing to once again deny a touch. FAU then gets into ballscreen action and watch Jones tag Goldin on the roll + recover to Davis in the corner. 

That screen navigation/chasing was just the start. The intersection of POA defense + screen navigation came together in this possession and my lord was it impressive. 

May starts the set off with an Iverson cut (Davis running from right to left along the 3pt line) and then gets into Ricky action (screen + re-screen for the same player) in another attempt to get the ball to Davis on the move. Rubin's chasing here was superb, as he fights through an egregious moving screen from Goldin to force the Davis catch 30+ feet from the basket. Jones then shades Johnell right (toward his help). Dusty May then counters with Get action (Davis tosses it to Goldin then the DHO right back to him). Jones initially trails by a half step but re-engages in two strides, then uses his length + hand activity to strip Davis. This is a +2 in a hypothetical UFR. 

[After THE JUMP: jumbo playmaker that also spaces the floor?]

Panic over Michigan's 2025 recruiting class can subside for a moment, as one of their top targets over the course of several DL coaches just committed to Lou Esposito and the Wolverines.

Marshall is a top-100 player to all the sites, and is near the 5-star cutoff to some.

The rankings will come down a bit as the class settles but right now we're looking at the fifth-highest rated freshman to come to Michigan since 2020 after Edwards, Will Johnson, McCarthy, and Derrick Moore. In fact Marshall draws a few comparisons to the rising junior star currently playing the "Heavy" edge position. Already close to 270 pounds, Marshall is coming in as an edge who can also function as a DL swingman (see also: Enow Etta and Cameron Brandt). Given the relative depth at tackle and edge, it's likely the Heavy depth chart will be responsible for filling the Jeter role of third DT in Michigan's 5-2 sets.

He has a basketball background and also plays some wildcat QB and receiver in Illinois Class 6A, in case you're wondering if Marshall has the requisite athleticism to remain outside.

Marshall was a priority recruit for Mike Elston, and his familiarity with Greg Scruggs might have played a role in that hiring. Miami (YTM) had Marshall on campus this month and was starting to gain confidence out Michigan's multiple coaching changes. But Esposito was also quite familiar with the Chicago star. It's a good sign for his recruiting chops that he was able to lock down Marshall at this point.

We'll have Alex Drain do some scouting and get back with a full hello. Michigan's 2025 class is now at four commits, but Marshall's was not the next name we expected to join it. Check back in a couple of months to see where they're at.