Tag: Kobe Bufkin

Michigan sophomore Kobe Bufkin to forgo eligibility, declare for draft

Bufkin was voted to the All-Big Ten third team after averaging 14 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 steals.

Michigan sophomore Kobe Bufkin has elected to forgo his remaining collegiate eligibility and declare for the 2023 NBA draft, the program announced.

Bufkin, who was voted to the All-Big Ten third team, averaged 14 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 steals on 48.2% shooting from the field. He finished eighth in the conference in field-goal percentage and ninth in steals (43).

The 6-foot-4 guard wasn’t on the national radar to begin the season but climbed draft boards with his ability to run the offense and score at a high level. The lefty has a nice shooting stroke and converted 35.5% of his 3.7 attempts per game.

Bufkin is now most commonly projected to be a mid-to-late first-rounder this year. He will have the opportunity to improve his stock even further during private workouts with teams and the draft combine next month in Chicago, Illinois.

Underclassmen have until April 23 to declare for the draft.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=650262453]

Kobe Bufkin makes NBA draft decision

Man, Michigan is losing a ton.

It may have been a telling sign when Hunter Dickinson shockingly entered the transfer portal on Friday, but the Wolverines lost another star on Sunday afternoon.

Sophomore Kobe Bufkin announced he would forgo his remaining eligibility at Michigan and declare for the NBA draft.

Bufkin had a solid year for Michigan, averaging 14 points per game and becoming a solid go-to scorer for the maize and blue down the stretch.

The maize and blue already lost freshman Jett Howard, who entered the draft. With the loss of both Dickinson and Bufkin, Michigan will be without a significant chunk of its offense for next session.

Michigan has added Alabama transfer Nimari Burnett, who started his career at Texas Tech. Even after adding the former top-40 prospect, Juwan Howard has a great deal of work ahead of him to field a competitive team next season.

The Wolverines are also actively looking in the transfer portal and hoping to get Jaelin Llewelyn and Joey Baker back next season.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbzardvge799bm2 player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]

Michigan basketball vs. Wisconsin takeaways

Dickinson’s improbable 3 = a #Michigan win! #GoBlue

Michigan basketball’s regular season is winding down. The Wolverines had three games left, including Sunday’s rematch against the Wisconsin Badgers.

The maize and blue fell to Wisconsin three games ago by five points. But Michigan was on a two game win streak entering its homestand against the Badgers. In order for Michigan to get its third win in a row, the Wolverines would have to do it without Jett Howard for the second game in a row.

Wisconsin got out to a 17-9 start in the first eight minutes of the game. But behind a strong final 10 minutes of play, Michigan finished off the first half up 35-27. Hunter Dickinson had a strong first half scoring 12 points and Kobe Bufkin was right behind him scoring 10 of his own.

The Wolverines fumbled the second half away. Michigan turned the ball over seven times in the final 20 minutes which led to Wisconsin getting right back into the game. The final five minutes of regulation was back and forth and it appeared Wisconsin was going to take the W until Hunter Dickinson hit an improbable 3 as the clock drained to zero — the game headed to overtime.

But overtime proved to belong to Michigan. The Wolverines — behind a strong overtime performance by Dug McDaniel — outscored Wisconsin 19-11 to take home an 87-79 victory.

Here are our three takeaways.

Michigan basketball vs. Rutgers takeaways

Another win!

Michigan basketball is coming off a gigantic win against rival Michigan State after beating the Spartans by 12 points on Saturday. After dropping back-to-back games prior to the win against MSU, the Wolverines are in need of every win they can get the rest of the way out.

On Thursday, Michigan traveled to Piscataway to take on Rutgers. The two schools met for the first time this season on Thursday evening — also the last time in the regular season. And if Michigan would get a win against the Scarlet Knights, it would have to do it without star Jett Howard who got hurt against Michigan State.

Michigan got off to a really slow start in the first half scoring only three points during the first seven minutes of the game. But the maize and blue rallied to take a 22-21 lead with 2:37 left in the half. Behind Kobe Bufkin’s 10 points, Michigan was able to enter the half up 26-23 over Rutgers.

The Wolverines’ offense was much improved in the second half while the Michigan defense was fantastic. The maize and blue outscored Rutgers in the second half, 32-22. Dug McDaniel came up big for Michigan in the final 20 minutes and Michigan walked out with a 58-45 win.

Here are our three takeaways.

Predicting the 2022-2023 Michigan basketball starting lineup

Michigan has the pieces to win the Big Ten next season.

Barring any late surprises, the Michigan basketball roster is set going into the 2022-2023 season now that the Wolverines landed Youssef Khayat, the Lebanese basketball sensation, on Sunday.

While the Wolverines lost some contributors from last year’s team: Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate to the NBA, Frankie Collins to Arizona State, and Brandon Johns to VCU, Michigan added a couple of key pieces this summer with the additions of Jaelin Llewellyn (Princeton) and Joey Baker (Duke) along with Khayat.

The Wolverines have a solid recruiting class coming in the fall with Juwan Howard’s son, Jett Howard, headlining the class. Since Moussa Diabate declared for the draft, incoming center Tarris Reed should see significant playing time, and point guard Dug McDaniel should see some backup play as well. The bigger question mark from the incoming freshmen will be how does new forward Gregg Glenn fit into this year’s rotation, or does he see a redshirt year?

With all that being said, we are going to do our best to predict what next year’s lineup is going to look like when Michigan takes the court for the first time.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01eqbzardvge799bm2 player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://wolverineswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[listicle id=60788]

2022 NBA draft: Breaking down the best freshmen in college basketball

It’s no secret that in the NBA draft, the first few players selected are almost always one-and-done freshmen. So who will it be next season?

It’s no secret that in the NBA draft, the first few players selected are almost always one-and-done freshmen. So who will it be next season?

Of course, it’s hard to say definitively before the college basketball season begins. But with the Champions Classic tipping off at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 9, another year of collegiate hoops is about to begin. That means another year of prospects are going to make their NCAA debuts and show scouts what they can potentially do as pros.

Below are ten of the best freshmen who are making the transition to the college ranks — as well as another watch-list of some other notable and interesting freshmen to pay attention to as well.

(Note that Memphis’ Emoni Bates was not included because he is not eligible to be drafted until the 2023 NBA draft.)

Three 2021 Michigan signees make McDonald’s All-America team

It’s been nearly 20 years, but Michigan basketball now has, not one, but three McDonald’s all-americans.

[jwplayer 7Yx6yIKY-XNcErKyb]

It’s been a long time coming for Michigan basketball in regards to bringing in a player deemed the elite of the elite. Not only has that drought ended on Tuesday, but it did so triple-fold.

The last time Michigan basketball brought in a McDonald’s all-american, it was 2002, when Daniel Horton was set to be a Wolverine. In 2020, it seemed as if the drought was ending, with five-star Isaiah Todd, then a commit, making the cut. However, Todd backed off his commitment in the spring and ultimately signed on to play in the NBA G-League.

But it was announced on Tuesday that Michigan leads all schools with three signees making the team: Montverde (FL) Academy five-star Caleb Houstan, Bradenton (FL) IMG Academy five-star Moussa Diabate and Grand Rapids (MI) Christian four-star Kobe Bufkin.

[lawrence-related id=33380]

The three comprise half of Michigan basketball’s six-man class, rated by 247Sports as the best in the nation. All six of the players committed to Michigan have signed their national letter of intent and will be on campus officially later this summer.

[listicle id=33330]

Michigan basketball pulls in highest 2021 recruit to date

The Grand Rapids (MI) Christian star chose the Wolverines over MSU, Ohio State and others.

[jwplayer 1HaBFdQY-XNcErKyb]

Somewhere, Juwan Howard is smiling.

First he managed the commitment of four-star small forward/shooting guard Isaiah Barnes out of Illinois. Then, he got a big man in three-star power forward Will Tschetter.

On Friday, Howard added to the duo, making it a veritable trio.

2021 Grand Rapids (MI) Christian four-star shooting guard Kobe Bufkin is rated by Rivals.com as the No. 61 player in the nation. According to 247Sports, he’s the No. 3 player in the state of Michigan. And days after turning out a top five which included Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, LSU and DePaul, the in-state prospect chose the maize and blue, committing to Howard and Michigan.

With three pledges in the 2021 class, Michigan moves up to No. 3 nationally in the 247Sports team rankings behind USC and Louisville, while also claiming the top spot in the Big Ten Conference.

Bufkin was primarily recruited by Detroit native Howard Eisley. He’s listed as being 6-foot-4, 175-pounds as of current.

Michigan State Basketball makes top-5 for 4-star 2021 SG Kobe Bufkin

4-star 2021 SG Kobe Bufkin has put Michigan State Basketball in his Final 5 choices for recruiting. Read more about Bufkin as a prospect.

[jwplayer rDH0bFZm]

Michigan State Basketball is on a recruiting tear over the past two weeks, landing the best NBA prospect in Emoni Bates and the No. 1 SG in the 2021 recruiting class in Max Christie. Now, the Spartans have made it into the Final 5 schools for 4-star 2021 SG Kobe Bufkin.

Bufkin stands at 6-foot-4 and weighs 175-pounds. He currently plays for Grand Rapids Christian High School in Grand Rapids, MI. According to 247Sports Composite Rankings, Bufkin is the No. 15 SG in the 2021 recruiting class and the No. 3 prospect in MI in the 2021 class

In Michigan, the only players ranking ahead of Bufkin are MSU commit Pierre Brooks and MSU target Jaden Akins.

Keep in mind, 247Sports Crystal Predictions predict Bufkin attends Michigan. After all, the Spartans now have their 2021 backcourt set in Pierre Brooks and Max Christie.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1363]

2021 4-star Michigan target posts ‘Final 5,’ decision date

The Wolverines target is trending maize and blue and has announced the intended date of his commitment.

[jwplayer MYZhOpPw-XNcErKyb]

In the words of Samuel L. Jackson’s character in Jurassic Park: “Hold onto your butts.”

The Michigan basketball program currently has two commitments in the 2021 class — four-star SG/SF Isaiah Barnes and three-star PF Will Tschetter. Could it have a third by week’s end?

The Wolverines have made a sizable 247Sports Crystal Ball run for Grand Rapids (MI) Christian four-star shooting guard Kobe Bufkin, rated per the 247Sports Composite as the nation’s No. 78 player in the country and third-best player in the state of Michigan. Recruited by assistant Howard Eisley, Bufkin has eight predictions, all anticipating he’ll choose the maize and blue once he makes his decision.

And now we know when that may happen.

On Tuesday, Bufkin announced his top five, his final schools, which includes Michigan, MSU, Ohio State, LSU and DePaul, as well as his decision that he’ll make his pledge on June 10.

Bufkin is 6-foot-4, 175-pounds and would certainly help bolster the Wolverines class as the top-rated 2021 commit to date, should he choose Michigan.

Watch some of his single-game highlights below: