Exit: Caleb Houstan
A few hours after Moussa Diabate announced his departure from the Michigan Basketball program, fellow freshman Caleb Houstan followed him out the door:
#BREAKING: @umichbball freshman forward Caleb Houstan is staying in the NBA Draft.https://t.co/9jGzzMzoYe
— Michigan Daily Sports (@theblockm) June 1, 2022
It had been trending this way for some time, so the decision should not come as a surprise to those following the dialogue. Houstan declined an invite to the Draft Combine in May, which indicated either certain return, or that he already had assurance from an NBA team that he was going to be drafted. All the reporting indicated the latter. Mock drafts have continued to show Houstan as a borderline first round prospect, with ESPN's Jonathon Givony pegging him at #25 in his most recent mock.
Houstan averaged 10.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game, while shooting 38.4% from the field and 35.5% from three as a freshman this past season. His rookie year with the Wolverines was enigmatic, especially for a 5* prospect who had lottery pick projections when the year began. Houstan had his moments, games where the threes went down and he seemed like an indispensable piece of the offense, including 19 points against Indiana in Assembly Hall and 21 against Illinois and Rutgers at home.
But there were also ugly performances where Houstan's athletic shortcomings and defensive struggles were magnified, while contributing next to nothing offensively. That includes a grand total of five points and five rebounds in a combined 60 minutes (!!!) against Tennessee and Villanova in the NCAA Tournament. There were nights where you saw the raw shooting promise, but too often those were immediately bookended by games that were the Tony Snell meme personified.
Houstan takes good size with him to the NBA, 6'8" and 205 lbs., and if given space and time to shoot, he is an accurate three-point shooter. More importantly, he was once a 5* recruit who scouts saw many times during his time at Montverde Academy next to the likes of Cade Cunningham and Scottie Barnes. Once a 5*, always a 5*, in the minds of many scouts, and that, above all else, is carrying Houstan to the NBA Draft this month.
Juwan Howard and Michigan now have some work to do on their 2022-23 roster. They have just 11 players on scholarship, two below the maximum 13. There is still a clear hole in the backcourt, and a need at wing or PF too. The transfer portal will likely be the source to solve plug these holes, and following that over the next couple weeks will be a likely hobby for many Michigan hoops fans. There is no content after the jump.
Knew this was coming but still sad that we won’t get to see him take the next leap in his development as a Wolverine. Best of luck Caleb!
Good luck to the young man. He could stick somewhere if his shooting is above average from NBA distance and if he can hold up on defense.
Fire up the hot stove (don't really get that expression) season!
Need two guys. Agree with Alex that biggest needs are a guard capable of playing PG and probably a wing, but maybe a center because I actually feel more comfortable with Jace as the third wing along with Twill and Jett than I am comfortable with Reed as backup center.
Pete Nance would be a great get as a wing. Might be tougher to get a starter quality guard given the current roster but Courtney Ramey would be a good get.
This team is going to be massively lacking in rim protection so I wouldn't mind if they took a crack at Mouhamed Gueye out of WSU, if they can't get a top quality wing.
"Hot stove league" is a "back in the old days" expression. It comes from the image of fans spending time in the cold winter months talking baseball while gathered around a hot stove.
Presumably their cable was out.
I assume their internet was down and they were out of cell range as well.
Yeah. The hell that those people had to endure is mind-boggling.
Still think his closest comp is Reggie Miller, but without the track record of running off of every screen ever set. I'm also not sold that Reggie doesn't still have a bigger vertical.
Or hit a 3 on the move
Except Miller was 25-30 pounds lighter, way more athletic, and a 2 not a 3-4 tweener.
What a weird comparison. The similarities are "about the same height" and "good at shooting standstill 3's" with literally everything else basketball related completely different.
duncan robinson is a better comparison. hopefully, for him, he can blow up like duncan did.
Serious question, is this satire? Your best comp to a freshman who couldn’t crack the all big ten freshman team is one of the best shooters in NBA history? That’s not to dog Caleb, but that is a pretty lofty comparison there.
Good luck to him. I’m shocked he found a first round offer. I know people were surprised when Poole left, but Poole was a three level scorer in his final season. Houstan did improve defensively, but he was just a shooter that didn’t shoot an elite percentage.
Kind of a downer season with a roster with two first round picks and Dickinson.
There is no jump after the content.
Emoni Bates, come on down !
I expect there to be some very interesting transfer portal action involving Michigan in the near future.
Pete Nance or Jacob Grandison would be good gets to replace Houstan
NBA sucks. Excited to hear about Houston and Diabate’s success in the NBA though I’ll probably never see them unless they play for the pistons and the pistons are good.
Excited to see who we get to replace them and how quickly. You have to think Juwan has some guys lined up.
It seems like Howard was as surprised as this average Joe. Excellent summary of Houstan’s strengths and gaps. The athletic limitations seem like a killer issue for NBA potential, but hopefully his shooting gives him a long career. Best of luck to him.
We return about 63 minutes out of 200 per game, between four players - Hunter (32 mpg), TWill (15), Kobe (11), Jace (5). Sheeeit.
Llewellyn looks very experienced, has always gotten 30+ mpg
But no one else has gotten any real college action - Tschetter, Barnes and obviously none of the four true freshmen.
Going to need Jett to step right in, as well as minutes from the portal (someone who can back up Llewellyn and maybe a big who can play the 4/5)
I seem to recall Sheeeit playing more minutes than you are crediting him.
I don't remember him getting subbed out at all against Minnesota
Holy Sheeeit we r f*cked.
the worst part of this will be the dozens of “hey, we should look at this guy in the portal” posts in the coming weeks. wake me when it’s over.
Not there's much else going on but yeah, hoping for a nice run from the baseball team.
Wish him luck. I've said my piece about how I view his pro prospects at this point but can't begrudge a kid looking at a huge payday.
He is at least two-three years from being an NBA contributor. He might have been ready to become a better contributor at Michigan. Don’t blame him for taking a shot at the NBA $$$$$$ sooner.
Diabate probably has bigger upside if he gets stronger & develops as a pull up & 3 point shooter. He is also 2 years from being a serious NBA contributor.
This is a head scratcher.
They reduced the draft years ago and with set rosters this clearly about potential.
I hope he has a great career, but it is sort of frustrating because it always seemed as if the one and done guys (at Kentucky, Louisville, Duke etc.) would come in and be really solid for that one year and help you compete for a championship.
I don't see how he goes in the 1st round but I have to assume that he has spoken to someone with more NBA development knowledge than me and who told him that he is going to get drafted high enough. Good luck.
Maybe he just got tired of school? We really don’t know his decision making process or thoughts. Or the thoughts of those around him. Interesting to see where and when he gets drafted…
I seriously hope this does not become the new normal. I wish Moussa and Caleb the best of luck but outside of Moussa showing up every other game, neither of them did anything special for the team last year. Wasted time for all involved.
Bro its the new normal
Stop recruiting hoppy stringy athletes with "potential" aside from 1 a year.
Recruit guys who DO NOT have hops and are slow footed like Garza and Hunter and have no position in the NBA but have personality. Get 5 of these guys on a team keep them for 4-5 years and win every other year B10 Championship. Evolve.
Unfortunately its the sad state of affairs of NCAA basketball these days...more than likely we will never hear about these 2 again but its allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll about the money and always will be...a full scholarahip to a University means NOTHING and is worthless to athletes who just want the dough
Should we go ahead and get off your lawn?
Bad call. Inconsistent. Def not ready
Best of luck, but hope you don't mind flying commercial.
Best of luck to him.
This feels like a terrible decision all around, I don't get it. Been watching basketball 40 years, he's not an NBA guy.
Meh, for all the hype, I expected so much more from Diabate and Houstan. For the hype around 5 stars, I expected an instant impact and at least by tourney time, they should have both been impact guys. Yet, they both were terrible in the tourney. Diabate forgot how to catch a pass and Houstan was a passenger. For one and dones, these guys both were not up to it and they will get drafted but G-league is in their future and if they don’t both improve drastically, Europe will be their landing spot. Best of luck to them, but can we get a one and done that actually has an instant impact????
John Calapri screen name = located.
So, I mean, let's be real...he's the worst Michigan player to ever declare early for the draft right? I know it's all on potential, but he really didn't show anything. I wonder if he may be one of the worst players of all-time to ever leave early, especially after only one year. Even Iggy and Darius Morris were much better players.
I really feel bad for Juwan. This was his first big recruiting class and two of the guys stiffed him at the last minute for the G League and an inferior program. Then the guys who did arrive were pretty underwhelming. Season ends up with a decent result but a kid with a guaranteed starting spot for next year transfers (to that inferior program). And then the two hyped freshmen who got the most time - and didn't really perform- skip town for the pros. This type of stuff is what chased John Beilein away. Cruel world out there now.
Bro its the new normal
Stop recruiting hoppy stringy athletes with "potential" aside from 1 a year.
Recruit guys who DO NOT have hops and are slow footed like Garza and Hunter and have no position in the NBA but have personality. Get 5 of these guys on a team keep them for 4-5 years and win every other year B10 Championship. Evolve.
By far. First early declaration I really don't have any love for. No hate for him either but this is the most "rental" player feeling ever.
Thanks Caleb, for coming to Michigan. Assuming Coach Howard fully prepared you for your decision to leave now, I’m sure it’s the right one for you. Wishing you the best in the Draft and your NBA career. Please come back, like Juwan, and get your Michigan degree as getting it will insure future success after basketball.
I can't blame him. If a team has pretty much guaranteed they'll draft him, that's hard to turn down. If he can have a Duncan Robinson type of development, then great. But, Robinson wasn't drafted and that allowed teams to take time to develop him. Most teams won't give that kind of time for a player they spent a draft pick on. Hopefully, whichever team he goes to, does give him that time.
Thanks Seth!!
Lol, wow. Gotta be the most disappointing one and done I can ever remember.
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