Michigan Basketball: Don’t expect Wolverines to get Jalen Wilson

Despite Juwan Howard’s attempt to recruit Jalen Wilson, it feels like Michigan basketball is basically out of the running at this point.

When Juwan Howard was first hired as the head coach of Michigan basketball, one of the first thoughts of many fans was for him to reach out of Jalen Wilson who de-committed after John Beilein went to Cleveland.

Actually, Howard did just that. He reached out to Jalen’s mom, who named her son for former Michigan basketball star and Howard’s former Fab Five teammate, Jalen Rose. It sounded like there was a good chance an in-home visit would happen.

Since Wilson was once committed to Michigan, the Wolverines are the only school left that could take an in-home visit. However, since he asked out of his scholarship, Wilson has paid visits to Kansas and North Carolina and it feels like the Jayhawks are going to end up getting him. Part of the reason is that he is deciding Wednesday, yet never met with UM.

One argument for Michigan was that the Wolverines would likely have a starting spot available for Wilson either at the three or possibly even the two. Then, former five-star guard Quentin Grimes announced his intention to transfer, opening up more potential playing time at KU.

For whatever reason, it just didn’t seem like Howard and the Wolverines gained much traction with Wilson the four-star prospect from Denton, Texas showed some excitement about Howard getting hired on Twitter.

With his family being from Texas, the fact that Kansas is closer and plays in the same league as teams like Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor and TCU might also be a factor. The family does have ties to Michigan but Ann Arbor is a long way from Texas. To put the cherry on top, Sam Webb of the Michigan Insider ($)  flipped his projection to Kansas Saturday morning.

At any rate, with Wilson likely going to Kansas Wednesday when he makes his announcement, that leaves Michigan basketball with few options for adding players to the 2019-20 roster.

One is Franz Wagner, who will finish his professional season in Germany sometime this month and then will choose between signing another pro deal or coming to the United States to play college basketball as his brother, Moritz Wagner did.

While Howard may not travel to Germany, Webb reports ($) that contact has been made between the two sides. Another name to watch is D.J. Williams, who just entered into the transfer portal.

The former 6-foot-7 Illinois guard who is from Chicago played last season for George Washington and averaged 14.5 PPG and 4.7 rebounds. He is a graduate transfer and would be able to play right away next season.

New assistant, Phil Martelli, who coached in the A-10 last season, should be familiar with him and with Howard’s ties to Chicago, as well as Williams previously playing in the Big Ten, it seems like a perfect match, although his 3-point shooting isn’t spectacular.

But since there is no visit planned with Wilson before he makes his call, Michigan basketball fans shouldn’t expect any good news Wednesday. Now the attention turns back to Wagner and potentially to a graduate transfer like Williams.

Either way, Howard and the Wolverines are running out of time to add players for next season.