As the basketball roster turns. Columbia grad transfer PG Mike Smith committed earlier today; Ace covered the departures and Jace Howard taking a walk-on year yesterday. Meanwhile a previous edition of UV mentioned that Isaiah Todd had removed various mentions of Michigan from his social media accounts. These items are in conflict: Michigan's created scholarship room they suddenly don't seem to need.

Howard can always pick up a scholarship later, of course, but at some point the thought inside the program was that they had more bodies than spots. Brendan Quinn confirms that neither transfer out was planned:

DeJulius and Castleton are somewhat curious departures. Both were in line to compete for larger roles as juniors. Juwan Howard and his coaching staff were not planning for either departure and were somewhat surprised by the decisions, according to those close to the situation. Both contacted coaches and teammates before their transfer decisions were made public. It wasn’t known internally that Castleton was leaving until late Tuesday night.

DDJ averaged over 20 MPG last year and was going to have a shot at being the starting point guard, but there had to be some talk about a potential departure there for Michigan to go after two Ivy grad transfers. Those processes started weeks ago, particularly since Ivy grad transfers know for a fact they're leaving after the season.

Meanwhile, as the Never Give Up On A Big guy I'm obviously hurt by Castleton's departure. I half expect Castleton to take a redshirt year wherever he goes and then becomes Future Ibi Watson. Watson, who did little other than jump really high at Michigan, was the sixth man on the #4 team in college basketball this year, shooting 62/39 on solid usage. The grim Michigan fan sitting on my right shoulder projects him to have a top ten block rate on a mid-major darling in 2022.

Losing those two guys quickly turns Michigan's 2020-21 roster from a clown car into a reasonably full sedan. Further departures (or failures to arrive) leave open spots. So it's nice that Andrew Kahn tracked down Isaiah Todd's coach for some reassurance on that front:

Byron Williams wouldn't predict exactly when Todd would send his national letter of intent to Ann Arbor, but has no doubt that he will.

"Absolutely," Williams told MLive on Thursday when asked if Todd will end up a Wolverine. "He loves Juwan (Howard)."

Todd's foreign options have always loomed but it seems like those would be off the table now since foreign leagues are just as shut down as the US is. Hard to imagine they'd be able to negotiate deals with one-and-dones right now.

[After THE JUMP: Smith comparables.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2J7RF8DD88&feature=youtu.be

What to expect from Smith. A recent history of guard up-transfers:

• Jahaad Proctor, Purdue/High Point. Proctor dropped ten points of usage and 5 points of ORTG but did start for Purdue, shooting 45/32 with a low TO rate. Proctor was listed at 6'3", FWIW.
• Luwane Pipkins, Providence/UMass. Dropped 10 points of usage; actually added 6 points of ORTG. UMass is in the A10 and so might not qualify as an up-transfer depending on how persnickety you're being about the term. Pipkins's final year was a down one for the A10, which finished a a hair in front of the Ivy in Kenpom's rankings, so we'll let it stand. Pipkins shot 41/28 at UMass but had put up 42% on 251 threes as a sophomores so a bounceback was on the cards.
• Lamarr Kimble, Louisville/St Joe's. Another A10 departure, one who left after Phil Martelli got axed. Dropped seven points of usage and eight points of ORTG; TOs shot up and shooting stayed about the same. Kimble is a bleah shooter, so he was a worse bet to translate.
• Jaevin Cumberland, Cincinnati/Oakland. A familiar name for Michigan fans. Usage stayed steady; dropped 10 points of ORTG as he reverted to being Just A Shooter. Just 48 two attempts on the year vs 182 threes; three point shooting dropped from 40% to 35%.
• Max Hazzard, Arizona/UC Irvine. Dropped 7 points of usage and went from Not Just A Shooter to Just A Shooter; hit 38% from deep to maintain ORTG. Also challenged Goldberg for the WWE Championship. (Goldberg sat on him after three seconds of heavy breathing.)

All of these guys had real roles on their new teams; all went from usage in the high-to-giant range to average-or-role-player ranges. All saw their two point production significantly curtailed. Shooters like Cumberland and Hazzard just stopped taking them. Kimble and Proctor kept putting them up at much worse success rates—Kimble also turned it over a lot more. Pipkins is tough to judge because his three point shooting fluctuated so wildly before his transfer.

It looks like shooting is shooting. A guy like Smith should be at least a useful spacing piece—as Ace mentioned he was a 95th percentile player on catch and shoot opportunities and has the FT shooting numbers to go with it.

Whether there's more is the question. Smith had superb assist(30) and TO(14) rates given his usage and team context. Columbia shot under 30% from three on the season; Smith's 34% led the team. His highlights show a guy with a ton of craftiness, but will it be enough to overcome size and athleticism limitations that pop out on Ivy League highlight reels? Hopefully the answer to this question is "unanswered because Josh Christopher."

Howard connections part XVII. Smith's interest in Michigan was piqued by Jimmy Butler:

Although he had his options, there was always something he heard from his good friend Butler that resonated. Butler always spoke of the “Miami Heat way” in their conversations and how the team and organization is run, along with the consistent success of the franchise.

“He always would go on and on about the Heat culture,” says Smith. “So when Michigan and Juwan Howard started talking with me, I couldn’t help but think of how he was part of that organization for so many years.”

Livers takes. Kahn hits up a couple of NBA scouts to get their opinions on Isaiah Livers:

"I'm just not sure who he defends (at the NBA level)," a Pacific Division scout said. "I don't see him getting on the perimeter and guarding a '3' or a '2.' And he's certainly not big enough or strong enough to play some of the more powerful forwards." …

"The way the game is played, if that shot keeps coming like people saw in stretches, he's got a legitimate shot (in the NBA)," said the Midwest scout. "If you have one skill to try to make the NBA, being able to shoot the ball might be the most important skill to have."

They do not project him in the guaranteed contract range; Livers has said that he will return to school unless a guaranteed contract is on the table.

He'll be back. Luka Garza put his name in the draft but expect the peacock to fly in Carver-Hawkeye next season:

Luka Garza has said twice that it would take a "real opportunity" to remain in the NBA Draft. Wants assurance from the team and wants it to be the right fit. Will not stay in draft without 100% confidence he'd make a roster.

— David Eickholt (@DavidEickholt) April 10, 2020

Final CSB rankings. The NHL's central scouting bureau has issued their end of season rankings. Michigan commits:

• #20 Brendan Brisson
• #29 Thomas Bordeleau
• #68 Jacob Truscott
• #77 Ethan Edwards

Bordeleau dropped a few spots; the other guys all moved up around ten spots. Brisson and Bordeleau are both in fringe first round territory; the two D should go in the middle rounds. Edwards is currently scheduled to come in for 2021, FWIW.

Etc.: Hockey forward Jack Olmstead announces a transfer to Miami (Not That Miami). He appeared in two games last year. NHL.com piece on Cam York. Tom Brady's last decision on where to be was a long time ago.