Michigan Basketball: How Seventh Woods could fit with Wolverines

Michigan basketball was named as a finalist for North Carolina transfer Seventh Woods. Here is a look at how he would fit with the Wolverines.

Since Juwan Howard was named as the head coach for Michigan basketball last week, there has been little talk of player movement.

The only real news to report is that four-star commit, Cole Bajema, decided to firm up his commitment to the Wolverines after Jalen Wilson de-committed. Wilson has said positive things about Michigan basketball, so he could be reeled back in, but it feels like a long shot.

While there hasn’t been much said about other recruits or transfers that could potentially join Michigan, there was a report Tuesday that North Carolina transfer Seventh Woods was considering the Wolverines along with Gonzaga and South Carolina.

This came from Mike Gillespie of the ABC station in Columbia.

According to Maize and Brew, Woods is considering Michigan because of a previous relationship with Howard and also because the new head coach reached out to him. Here’s what he told Maize and Brew: 

"“Michigan, they just called, when Juwan (Howard) got the coaching (job). And we never built a relationship but it’s a funny story, I believe it was 2011 when I went to the John Lucas camp. My coach at the time, my AAU coach Kevin Gray kind of had a relationship with his nephew at the time and we was able to stay at his house when I went to the camp there so he’s kinda knew about me for a long time and just him reaching out was big for me.”"

On the surface, the idea of adding Woods sounds exciting. But the 6-foot-2 combo guard hasn’t played much with the Tar Heels the past three seasons and has never been anything more than a bench player.

Yet, when he was being recruited, Woods was a top-50 prospect and with Zavier Simpson set to graduate after this season, he could help fill a need. This past season, Woods averaged 10.8 minutes per game, as well as 2.5 points and shot 40 percent from 3-point range.

With potentially three scholarships available for 2019, Woods might be a solid addition — if he was a graduate transfer. Unfortunately, he is not and he would have to sit out for a year before having one last season of eligibility for the 2020-21 season.

The fact that Woods wouldn’t be immediately eligible hurts his cause as does the fact that he will play just one season. However, there is a case to be made for adding him.

If Michigan doesn’t add any other players to the 2019 recruiting class, Howard would have three open scholarships available and with Simpson and Jon Teske set to exhaust eligibility, that would push it to five.

There is certainly a case to be made for having five scholarships available like the Wolverines did back in 1991 when Howard, Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Ray Jackson and Jimmy King all signed as part of the Fab Five.

Of course, that is being optimistic but just last year, in 2018, John Beilein signed a five-player class that included Ignas Brazdeikis, David DeJulius, Adrien Nunez, Colin Castleton and Brandon Johns.

With Simpson graduating, Michigan could potentially use a veteran guard, although Nunez, DeJulius and Brooks would all be around, but Woods could learn the system and be ready to contribute immediately at the start of the 2020-21 season.

That is of course unless there is some sort of appeal that would allow him to play next season. If that were the case, adding Woods would be a no-brainer. Michigan basketball needs shooting and even though he is undersized like Simpson, Brooks and DeJulius, he was a top-50 prospect for a reason.

And the last time a former highly-ranked recruit transferred from a blue blood program to the Wolverines (Charles Matthews) it worked out well. Under the right circumstances, this could too.