Michigan Basketball: What would cause Iggy or Jordan Poole to return?

After some comments from Jordan Poole and Ignas Brazdeikis that left a door open for a return to Michigan basketball, what would it take for them to return?

Michigan basketball fans have learned that the months of April and May can be stressful when you have key players trying to decide if they are staying in the NBA draft or coming back to school.

In 2017 and 2018, Michigan basketball got good news. In 2017, D.J. Wilson decided to leave early, however, Moritz Wagner stayed and led the Wolverines to the Final Four in 2018.

Then, Wagner decided to go but Charles Matthews stayed. Many hoped the same scenario would play out with Matthews, Ignas Brazdeikis and Jordan Poole, who each declared for the NBA draft after this season, Matthews doing so Wednesday and leaving zero doubt that he’s gone.

With Poole and Brazdeikis though, there were always hope that one of them would choose to stay. If that happened, it would be huge for UM and would make the Wolverines one of the better teams in the country.

Yet, after each declared last week, the feeling of most analysts and fans was that both players were gone and weren’t coming back. But in an interview with the Detroit Free Press, Iggy suggested that his mind is far from made up.

"“I’m definitely not deciding yet,” Brazdeikis said shortly before Michigan’s end-of-season banquet Wednesday night. “I’m talking to more of my coaches right now, talking to my agent, my family. There’s definitely a process behind this. There’s still a lot of time. We’ve got the (draft) combine still to go and there’s a lot of different variables that will play into it. I have not made a decision yet.”"

Even though Iggy has hired an agent, he can still return because of a new NCAA rule. Poole is still working on finding one and Michigan basketball coach John Beilein has been out recruiting trying to prepare for the worst. Justin Pierce, a wing and Lester Quinones, a shooting guard, are both visiting this month. UM is also still after Franz Wagner and could pursue other graduate transfers.

That sort of made things appear bleak but the truth is we don’t know what’s going to happen. The question I found myself asking is what would it take for Iggy or Poole to actually return to Michigan basketball for next season?

It seems a poor review from the draft board is about the only possibility. If Iggy and Poole hear there is a good chance they won’t be drafted or if they are just on the fringe, maybe that will push them back to the Wolverines.

After all, there is no guaranteed money after the first round. If you don’t get drafted, the G-League is still a solid option, especially with two-way contracts like the ones signed by both Duncan Robinson and Derrick Walton Jr. that past two seasons with the Miami Heat.

If Poole, for instance, wasn’t picked, he certainly would at least get a two-way deal if he could show something in summer league. He’s just too talented. It’s hard to see Iggy not being picked in this draft but you never know.

His 39-percent mark from 3-point range will help him. He also scored nearly 15 points a game and looks mature enough physically to play right away in the NBA. He needs to develop a mid-range game and improve his offensive awareness, but I don’t see how he doesn’t get picked in the top 50 based on upside.

But if he’s projected to be a fringe second-round pick, is that really worth the risk, when another really good season at Michigan could probably get him into the late first as it did Wagner?

It’s hard to say what will happen. My guess is that there is still a strong chance both stay in the draft. however, it sounds like nothing is 100 percent either way yet.