Tag: michigan-basketball

Mailbag:Wolverines Wire answers your Michigan football and basketball questions

Hope to answer your Michigan-related questions more and more!

We are going to do something a little different by doing a Michigan mailbag. I went to Twitter and asked for any Wolverines’ football, basketball, or any Michigan-related questions.

I’m hoping to do this more and more throughout the summer months and into the season. If you would like to participate and get your questions answered, follow me on Twitter and get the questions in when I call for them. My DM’s are always open as well if you would rather do it that way.

There are definitely plenty of talking points right now for Michigan. The Wolverines are killing it on the recruiting trail, the football team is looking to make a run at the whole thing this year, and the basketball team is, well, a work in progress.

Where Kobe Bufkin and Jett Howard are going in latest NBA mock drafts

Excited to see where they end up! #GoBlue

The NBA draft combine kicked off a few days ago and both Kobe Bufkin and Jett Howard are participating to show the scouts what they are capable of in a game setting.

Jett Howard left Michigan basketball after one season in which he averaged 14.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, two assists, and shot 36.8% from 3. The other guard, Kobe Bufkin, left Ann Arbor after his sophomore campaign which was a breakout one. Bufkin was one of the top bucket-getters for the Wolverines. Bufkin averaged 14 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and shot 35.5% from behind the arc.

The draft positioning for both varies in different mock drafts you may look at. We are going to show you multiple mock drafts and where the draft experts project both Michigan guards in the 2023 NBA draft.

COLUMN: 10 players Michigan basketball should target in the transfer portal

Any of these guys would help the Wolverines out next season. #GoBlue

It’s scrambling mode for Michigan basketball.

After Caleb Love de-committed from Michigan on Wednesday night — or forced out — after an admissions issue, the Wolverines are left with three open scholarships for the 2023-’24 season.

Juwan Howard has two incoming transfers who are supposed to play next season in Nimari Burnett and Tray Jackson, but neither has officially signed with Michigan quite yet. The maize and blue have one commitment in the 2023 recruiting class in George Washington — who has signed.

The transfer portal is starting to get bare with top-end talent, but there are still some good targets left on the board. We are going to show you 10 players who the Wolverines should target with their three scholarships remaining for next season.

Twitter reacts to Caleb Love decommitting to Michigan basketball

The second year in a row we have to deal with this.

Even after Michigan basketball lost Hunter Dickinson, Kobe Bufkin, and Jett Howard to the transfer portal and the NBA draft, the Wolverines would still be ok next season by adding three players themselves from the portal. The star being former Tar Heels guard Caleb Love.

But for the second year in a row, the Wolverines lost out on a transfer due to admissions. Last year, Texas Tech transfer Terrance Shannon appeared to be on track to transfer to Ann Arbor, but due to credits not coming over, he ended up playing for Illinois.

Fast forward an offseason, Caleb Love committed to play for Juwan Howard and Michigan, but reports are saying some of his credits wouldn’t transfer to Michigan, which resulted in Love decommitting from the Wolverines on Wednesday night.

Twitter went nuts after it was announced on Wednesday. Here is what some of the top names in the basketball world are saying about Caleb Love not being able to attend Michigan.

Prized Michigan basketball transfer decommits

Not good.

Well, so much for that.

It appeared that Michigan basketball was truly reloading this offseason with a bevy of incoming transfers. The Wolverines were bringing in a trio of talented transfers with former five-star point guard Caleb Love, former four-star combo guard Nimari Burnett, and former Seton Hall standout Tray Jackson.

But now the maize and blue are down one.

Per On3’s Joe Tipton, Love, the prized transfer commit this cycle, won’t actually be suiting up for the Wolverines after all. As rumored — and subsequently squashed by Love weeks ago — he is decommitting from the maize and blue after all.

Michigan basketball does still have Dug McDaniel, who started much of last year, as well as former transfer Jaelin Llewelyn — who was injured — coming back at the point guard position, so it’s not a total loss.

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Michigan basketball lands commitment from top in-state player for 2024

The top players in the state of #Michigan play for the Wolverines! #GoBlue

Michigan basketball, at the moment, has just one commitment for the 2023 class which is four-star guard George Washington. The Wolverines also have three transfers headed to Ann Arbor via the portal for the 2023 class, and the maize and blue are hoping to add more soon.

The Wolverines are trending for a few recruits for the 2024 cycle. Five-star center Jon Bol put Michigan in his top 10 and the Wolverines hosted five-star guard Boogie Fland on campus.

On Sunday, the 2024 recruiting momentum really picked up when guard Durral Brooks announced his commitment to Michigan. On3’s Joe Tipton broke the news on Twitter.

The 6-foot-2 point guard is the top-ranked recruit in the state of Michigan and he is headed to Ann Arbor. He hails from Grand Rapids (Michigan) Catholic Central. According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Brooks is a four-star recruit and the 101st-ranked recruit in the 2024 cycle.

The top in-state player told On3 he felt like this was the best fit for his game and to get to the next level.

“I felt like this was the best opportunity for me to become a better player and reach my goals not just for basketball but in the business world also,” Brooks said. “It also just feels like I’m around my family when I’m with the staff so I knew this was the best fit for me.”

Brooks had offers from Michigan State, Butler, and Dayton.

With the commitment from Brooks, the Wolverines now have two recruits for the 2024 class. Four-star point guard Christian Anderson is the other.

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Michigan basketball makes top eight for 5-star 2024 center

This is a dude Michigan needs!

Michigan basketball lost quite a bit from its 2022-2023 basketball team. The Wolverines lost Kobe Bufkin and Jett Howard to the NBA draft, lost Hunter Dickinson to Kansas, and Gregg Glenn and Isaiah Barnes were lost to the transfer portal.

The maize and blue have brought in three players so far via the portal for the 2023-2024 season, and George Washington is the lone commit for the ’23 class.

Michigan is going to need to get some players during the 2024 cycle and on Friday, the Wolverines received good news. They made the final eight schools for 7-foot-2, five-star center John Bol.

Bol named Michigan a finalist along with Wake Forest, Florida, Missouri, Texas, UConn, USC and Overtime Elite.

According to 247Sports composite, Bol is the 22nd-ranked prospect in the country and the fourth-ranked center. Bol is playing his high school ball at Wichita (Kansas) Sunrise Christian.

After Bol took an official visit to Michigan, he spoke with On3 about the connection he had with Juwan Howard and the school.

“When I went to Michigan, I would say the whole coaching staff stood out to me. They took the time to get to know me and my whole family. I talk to them all on like a weekly basis.

“The team, too. The culture of the team, how they practice, and everything they do as a team stood out. They are all there as a family if one person is down, everyone is there to pick him up. That’s something that is rare for a team. Michigan itself is a big school with a lot of kids and a lot to do. And it is a good school too. It was all good in Michigan.”

Michigan has one prospect committed for the 2024 class: four-star point guard Christian Anderson.

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Michigan basketball is in on an Arizona State transfer

#Michigan needs another big man! #GoBlue

Michigan basketball has a couple of scholarships open for next season, and the Wolverines have a few holes in their roster.

One of the major holes is at the center position. Michigan has one center on the roster, sophomore Tarris Reed Jr. The maize and blue were hoping to get Hunter Dickinson back, but the big man decided to transfer to Kansas and leave Michigan after three years.

Michigan has three transfers coming. One is Tray Jackson from Seton Hall who can play center, but is primarily a 4.

Since the 5 is a position of need for Michigan, the Wolverines have reached out to former Arizona State big man Warren Washington, according to Jon Rothstein. Washington is considering Michigan along with Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Memphis, TCU and Texas Tech.

The 7-foot, 225-pound center would be a bridge player for Michigan since he is a graduate transfer with one year of eligibilty remaining. Washington originally committed in 2018 to Oregon State where he played one season. He transferred to Nevada for two seasons and played last year with ASU.

Last season, Washington averaged 9.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 26.9 minutes per game. When he played with Nevada for two seasons, he averaged over 10 points per game.

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Caleb Love addresses de-commitment rumors from Michigan on Twitter

Glad that got cleared up! #GoBlue

What a day for Michigan basketball.

The Wolverines were holding out hope Hunter Dickinson would return to them, but he decided to take his talents to Kansas. The maize and blue have officially lost their top three scorers from last season — not great.

But at least Juwan Howard went out and obtained some solid transfers for the upcoming season — especially former North Carolina guard Caleb Love. Love was one of the top transfers, and he committed to Michigan in early April.

Would Love stay at Michigan though?

Once Dickinson took to Twitter to announce his commitment to Bill Self and Kansas, rumors started to swirl surrounding Love’s status with Michigan. A Twitter user, Trilly Donovan, quote tweeted asking if Caleb Love would even play for Michigan at all next season.

But Love took to Twitter himself to clear the air and told everyone he would be playing for the Wolverines next season. That’s a relief to Michigan fans. What a horrible Thursday it would’ve been to not only officially lose Dickinson, but lose the top-ranked transfer as well.

Love will be counted on heavily next season to score. He averaged over 16 points per game last season with the Tar Heels and he should share a backcourt with Dug McDaniel.

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Michigan basketball has five-star 2024 prospect on campus

Nice to get him on campus! #GoBlue

Michigan basketball lost Hunter Dickinson, officially, on Thursday after he announced he would attend Kansas for the upcoming basketball season. There was doubt the 7-footer would return to the Wolverines after entering the transfer portal, but Michigan fans were holding out hope Dickinson would change his mind after Juwan Howard brought in a solid transfer class to Ann Arbor.

While there was somber news on the Michigan front on Thursday, there was also positive news in terms of the 2024 recruiting class.

According to 247Sports’ Dushawn London, five-star combo guard Boogie Fland was on campus to take a visit with the Michigan basketball squad.

The 6-foot-3 guard hails from White Plains (New York) Archbishop Stepinac and is the sixth-ranked prospect in the class of 2024 according to the 247Sports Composite. He is the No. 2 combo guard and the second-ranked prospect in the state.

Michigan currently has one prospect committed to it for the 2024 class: four-star guard Christian Anderson.

With the losses of Kobe Bufkin, Jett Howard, and Hunter Dickinson, the Wolverines need to replenish the cupboard for future success. Landing a prospect of Fland’s caliber would go a long way.

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