When Michigan basketball fired five-year head coach Juwan Howard, despite the 8-24 record (the worst in program history), it was sure there would be some negative repercussions.
Howard, despite the struggles of the past two seasons, was a popular figure in the locker room and on the recruiting trail, thus some defections with his departure were sure. Since his firing, Michigan has lost multiple players from the current roster to the transfer portal, including point guard Dug McDaniel and center Tarris Reed Jr. Longtime signee Christian Anderson decommitted this past week, and Khani Rooths, the IMG Academy forward who had committed but not yet signed, had backed off his pledge, though he plans to still consider Michigan.
Whether new coach Dusty May might be working to get Rooths back into the fold or not remains to be seen, but the four-star — who already had a prediction he’d end up at Georgia before committing to Michigan — has just gotten another 247Sports Crystal Ball prediction that he’ll end up in Athens once all is said and done.
May, obviously, has a lot of work to do to find players who will fit his vision and his system. There are multiple transfers he’s targeting at the moment, and given that Michigan only has, at best, three scholarship players currently on the roster, there are a lot of bodies needed to fill out May’s first team.
Could Rooths end up back in the class? It’s possible. But the chances could be getting slimmer as other teams compete for his services.