Tag: michigan-basketball

Michigan basketball a finalist for 2024 top-100 forward

Exciting to see #Michigan in on great players!

Michigan basketball made a splash move on Wednesday by landing former Tennessee Volunteer, Olivier Nkamhoua via the transfer portal. Although the Wolverines still have two scholarships remaining for the 2023-2024 season, the maize and blue added a key piece to the puzzle.

Juwan Howard and Michigan are still trying to find one or two more players to come play in Ann Arbor for the upcoming season, but the focus is starting to shift to the 2024 recruiting class.

After landing one player in the 2023 cycle — guard George Washington — it’s important for Howard to get a few playmakers in the ’24 class. Michigan is in on several top recruits in 2024, and on Thursday, the maize and blue made another final group.

On3’s Joe Tipton announced Michigan is a finalist for 2024 forward Caleb Williams. Villanova, Indiana, Syracuse, Georgetown, Virginia, and Miami round out his final schools.

According to the 247Sports Composite ranking, Williams is the 100th-ranked recruit in the 2024 cycle and the 19th-best power forward. The 6-foot-7 forward plays high school ball at Washington (DC) Sidwell Friends School.

Williams is currently averaging 6.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game for Team Takeover on the EYBL Circuit.

Michigan currently has two commitments in the 2024 class.

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Michigan basketball lands Tennessee transfer in stunning fashion

Let’s go!!!

The transfer portal is a funny thing: You never quite know what’s going to happen.

At one point, it looked a sure thing that Michigan basketball would land Tennessee transfer Olivier Nkamhoua. But Nkamhoua wanted to test the professional waters, and when he didn’t receive an NBA combine invite, he took some visits.

Nkamhoua visited Michigan, Kansas State, Baylor and West Virginia. Reports a few days ago indicated the graduate transfer had eliminated the Wolverines from contention.

Oh, how that changed.

On Tuesday night, there were rumblings Michigan was back in on Nkamhoua, and it became official on Wednesday afternoon. On3’s Joe Tipton reported on Twitter that Nkamhoua committed to Juwan Howard and Michigan.

With the addition of the 6-foot-9 forward, the Wolverines have three incoming transfers for the upcoming season. Nkamhoua is joined by Nimari Burnett and Tray Jackson.

Nkamhoua was a solid option for the Volunteers and was one of their best players. Last season at Tennessee, Nkamhoua averaged 10.8 points, five rebounds, shot 51.3% from the field, and knocked down 33.3% of his 3s.

Michigan has two open scholarships remaining for the 2023-’24 season.

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REPORT: Michigan basketball misses out on another top transfer target

Wow, this is a big bummer.

Things continue to get worse for the Michigan basketball program.

Ever since Caleb Love, the former North Carolina star, was forced out and de-committed from the Wolverines due to credits not transferring, Michigan has been stuck with three open scholarship spots for 2023-’24 and it appears it’s still the case.

According to multiple reports on Monday, Twitter user Trilly Donovan was the first to report, Tennessee transfer Olivier Nkamhoua has officially eliminated Michigan from contention. The Finland native is down to Baylor and West Virginia.

On3’s Joe Tipton and Michigan insider Josh Henschke with Maize & Blue Review both confirmed the report.

This is a major blow for Michigan. Nkamhoua was long considered to be a Wolverines lean, especially before he opted to look towards professional basketball. But once the former Volunteer didn’t get an NBA Combine invite, Nkamhoua looked at all of his options, and apparently the Wolverines aren’t one any longer.

Nkamhoua is coming off of an official visit this past weekend in Ann Arbor and reports looked promising between the two after his visit. The Wolverines are now back to square one looking to add pieces from the transfer portal.

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Michigan basketball report: Decision coming in the next few days for top transfer target

#Michigan could really use him!

Even after losing the top three scorers from last season, it appeared Michigan might still be in decent shape by adding four transfers to the 2023 class including former North Carolina guard Caleb Love. But due to credits not transferring, Love was forced to look elsewhere and eventually landed at Arizona.

The Wolverines have three open scholarships for the 2023-’24 season and Michgian needs to add another guard and a big man to round out the team.

It appears Michigan has a chance to add a player early next week, according to 247Sports’ David Moseley.

Tennessee transfer Olivier Nkamhoua, Michigan’s top transfer target, is expected to make a decision Monday or Tuesday. Nkamhoua visited Ann Arbor on Friday, but Baylor is still on the schedule for one last visit.

Nkamhoua is considering West Virginia, Michigan, Baylor, Kansas State and Memphis.

The 6-foot-9 power forward originally opted to test the NBA draft, but he did not receive an NBA combine invite.

Nkamhoua was a solid option for the Volunteers. Last season at Tennessee, Nkamhoua averaged 10.8 points, five rebounds, shot 51.3% from the field, and knocked down 33.3% of his 3s. There has been a connection between Nkamhoua, Juwan Howard and Michigan since he entered the transfer portal.

Stay tuned for breaking news regarding Nkamhoua.

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Michigan basketball is a finalist for 2024 five-star forward

#Michigan needs to lock him down! #GoBlue

Michigan basketball has one player coming into the program from the 2023 recruiting class. George Washington out of Dayton (Ohio) Chaminade Julienne is the lone recruit to sign with the Wolverines after Papa Kante requested to be released from his letter of intent and signed with Pittsburgh.

Juwan Howard is still searching for transfers to bring into Ann Arbor for the 2023 class to go along with the three incoming transfers already committed to Michigan.

But recruiting is shifting to the 2024 class, and Michigan received news on Saturday that the Wolverines are a finalist for 2024 five-star forward Liam McNeely.

The Wolverines made his final six schools along with Oklahoma, Indiana, Kansas, Alabama and Texas.

The Montvere (Florida) native is listed as a 6-foot-7 power forward on 247Sports. According to the composite, he is the No. 7 recruit in the 2024 cycle and the top-rated power forward.

McNeely spoke with On3’s Joe Tipton about the final six schools and here is what he had to say about Michigan.

“Coach (Juwan) Howard, talks to me every week. We talk on the phone, we text. He’s obviously a great basketball mind, playing in the NBA and playing in Michigan and now coaching at Michigan. He is coaching his son right now, Jett, and he’s doing really good, so it’s good to see. I’m excited to grow that relationship.”

247Sports’ recruiting analyst Brandon Jenkins compares McNeely to former Duke star, Kyle Singler. Here is Jenkins’ scouting report on McNeely.

McNeeley is as versatile as they come in the 2024 class. He has the handle and feel to run an offense and with his textbook shooting stroke, he has the capability to be a knockdown three-point shooter. The best area of his game is his passing as his vision is above average and he is willing to find the open man. He is unselfish to a fault, but he plays the game the right way. A high IQ prospect who can bring something to the table at eithet forward position, McNeeley should excel as a reliable complimentary option at the collegiate level.

The Wolverines have two commitments for the 2024 class. Point guards Christian Anderson and Durral Brooks are both four-star recruits.

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Michigan basketball in hot pursuit for a couple of transfer portal targets

#Michigan appears to be in good shape for these two.

The Michigan basketball program still has three open scholarship spots for the 2023-24 season. The Wolverines are still searching in the portal to find the right guys to come to Ann Arbor and fit in with a team that lost their top three scorers from a year ago.

One player that has been linked to Michigan is Tennessee transfer Olivier Nkamhoua. Nkamhoua was looking into leaving the college scene and go pro, but after not receiving an NBA combine invite, the forward is headed back to college. He has already taken official visits to West Virginia and Kansas State. The 6-foot-9 Finland native is scheduled to take an official visit to Michigan on June 2.

Last season for the Volunteers, Nkamhoua averaged 10.8 points, five rebounds, shot 51.3% from the field, and knocked down 33.3% of his 3s. There has been a connection between Nkamhoua, Juwan Howard, and Michigan since he entered the transfer portal. If things go well on Friday, Michigan may be down to just two open scholarships.

Other rumblings:

Another player Michigan is interested in is UC Riverside transfer Zyon Pullin. On Wednesday, Pullin announced he had a final five of Florida, Gonzaga, LSU, Michigan, and Xavier.

Pullin, who will be a graduate transfer, was a standout for UC Riverside a year ago. He averaged 18.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game as a senior, shooting 48.6% from the floor and 39.4% from 3.

Michigan is in desperate need of a guard after Caleb Love wasn’t admitted due to credits and ended up at Arizona. The 6-foot-4 guard could be the exact thing Juwan Howard needs. Pullin has the ability to create his own shot and would be a good fit next to Dug McDaniel.

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Where Jett Howard and Kobe Bufkin go in latest NBA mock draft

Both of these landing spots make sense.

On Wednesday, ESPN put out an updated 2023 NBA mock draft ($). Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo waited for the combine to finish and pro days to be done to see how they would impact the NBA draft.

If you were curious to see where Kobe Bufkin and Jett Howard may go on June 22, according to ESPN, both are on the outside looking in at being lottery picks.

The first Michigan player off the board in this specific mock was Kobe Bufkin at No. 16 to the Utah Jazz.

Bufkin looks to be well-established in this range of the draft, having set himself apart somewhat as a two-way contributor who can fulfill a range of needs in the backcourt. He measured well for a combo guard at north of 6-foot-4 barefoot, which helps him comparatively in this range, where his well-roundedness becomes a strong sell. Bufkin is in play for teams beginning in the late lottery and at this point would seem firmly entrenched in the top 20.

This appears to be a popular spot for Bufkin according to draft experts. I’ve seen him land with the Jazz in multiple mock drafts, even weeks ago. Bufkin was one of the most improved players in all of college last season. He became the go-to guy in the Wolverines’ offense. During his sophomore campaign, he averaged 14 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and shot 35.5% from behind the arc.

Jett Howard isn’t too far behind Bufkin. They have him going No. 18 — to his father’s former team — the Miami Heat.

Howard is a bit of a polarizing prospect in this class, as he seems to have some real fans in NBA front offices, but also some teams weren’t impressed at all with what they saw from him in Big Ten play as he was playing hurt. The way Howard shot the ball at the CAA pro day served as a good reminder for teams of the coveted role he can play, as there’s clearly more to his game than just his jumper. He’ll have to continue to perform well on the private workout circuit to solidify his standing.

This pick would make sense with the Heat having a ton of familiarity with the Howard family. Juwan Howard coached Miami as an assistant coach for multiple seasons and the Heat brass know exactly what they would be getting out of the youngest Howard. In his lone season in Ann Arbor, Howard averaged 14.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, two assists, and shot 36.8% from 3.

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Another former Michigan basketball player headed to the NBA Finals

Love seeing former #Michigan starts excel in the NBA!

The Miami Heat went into the NBA playoffs with next to zero chance as the No. 8 seed. But the Heat not only took down the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, but Miami defeated the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Next up, the Heat had to down the Boston Celtics, and Miami took a swift 3-0 start to the series before losing the next three.

On Monday night, the Heat and former Michigan basketball 3-point specialist, Duncan Robinson, got the job done winning Game 7 against the Celtics, 103-84.

This is now the second year in a row a former Michigan basketball star has made it to the NBA Finals. Last season, the Golden State Warriors and Jordon Poole won the entire thing after defeating the Boston Celtics in the finals.

This season, the Heat and Robinson will have to take on the Denver Nuggets in the Finals. The Nuggets previously swept the Los Angeles Lakers 4-0 in the Western Conference Finals. The NBA Finals will begin on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

More on Duncan Robinson:

The marksman’s playing time took a big hit this season. In the previous three years, he played more than 70 games during the regular season and played more than 25 minutes per game. But this season he played just 42 games and averaged 16.5 minutes per game. Robinson scored 6.4 points and shot 32.8% from 3 — the worst 3-point percentage since his rookie season.

However, during this postseason run, Robinson has played in all 18 games averaging over nine points per game and shooting over 44% from 3. Robinson made at least two 3s in five out of the seven games against Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Robinson is in the second year of his five-year $90-million contract he signed with the Heat.

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Michigan basketball’s Gavitt Games opponent is revealed

Love this matchup!

What the Michigan basketball roster will look like in 2023-24 is still a blur and who the Wolverines will face is still unkown other than the home and away Big Ten slate.

But we do know who the Wolverines will face in the annual Gavitt Games. The Big Ten and Big East pair up for the Gavitt Games which began back in 2015. Since this little two-conference tournament only features half the teams each season, the Wolverines did not participate in 2022.

According to Jon Rothstein, Michigan will take on the St. John’s Red Storm in 2023. The Wolverines will travel to take on the Red Storm and the game adds some intrigue since Rick Pitino took over as the head coach for St. John’s starting this upcoming season.

Michigan is 1-4 all-time against St. John’s. The last time the two teams squared off was back in 2000 when the Red Storm took down the Wolverines, 97-83.

Neither Michigan or St. John’s made the NCAA Tournament last year.

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Michigan basketball to get a top transfer target on campus for visit

It’s significant to get this guy on campus!

Michigan basketball has three open scholarships for the 2023-24 season.

The Wolverines are working hard to land the former Toledo Rocket guard Rayj Dennis, and, hopefully, Michigan will know something on that front in the upcoming days.

Michigan is hoping to know something about another big target as well in the next few weeks. Tennessee transfer Olivier Nkamhoua announced he would take an official visit to Ann Arbor on June 2. Twitter user Trilly Donovan had the first scoop.

Nkamhoua was exploring the professional route but did not receive a combine invite. Now he is looking to go back to college for at least one more season. He also plans to visit West Virginia the weekend before going to Michigan.

Nkamhoua is a 6-foot-9 power forward but can also play the ‘3’ if needed. He is the 57th-ranked transfer in the portal according to 247Sports. Last season for the Volunteers, Nkamhoua averaged 10.8 points, five rebounds, shot 51.3% from the field and knocked down 33.3% of his 3s.

The Finland native has played four seasons with Tennessee and has seen a steady increase in the last two seasons. He has aspirations to play pro ball and with Michigan needing some scoring help, he could have a large role if he decides to play for Juwan Howard and the Wolverines.

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