Michigan Basketball: 3 things we’ve learned about Juwan Howard as HC
Michigan looks more open to one-and-done players
Ignas Brazdeikis was the first one-and-done guy of the Beilein era but under Howard, it seems like Michigan will be pursuing those players with more regularity.
While Howard has offered Jabri Abdur-Rahim and told DJ Steward he would be recruited hard and both are top-50 guys but not necessarily five-star recruits. His first offer also went to top-10 recruit Joshua Christopher, an offer Beilein would have never made.
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For one, Beilein didn’t like guys like Christopher, who isn’t a stellar 3-point shooter or someone who was likely to leave early. Beilein also wanted to have guys visit campus before extending an offer, so right there under Howard, things are quite a bit different.
The one thing we haven’t learned is whether Howard can land some of these big-name recruits. He wasn’t able to get back Jalen Wilson, although that wasn’t really a fair fight. He did lock down Cole Bajema and Zeb Jackson feels pretty firm.
Those can be counted as minor successes. Yet, landing a legit difference maker like Wagner or a grad transfer that has a proven ability to score would be much more important.
Yet, what’s probably even more important than that is the 2020 class, which is what Howard was focused on this past weekend at the NBAPA Top 100. He created some buzz on the recruiting trail and by swinging for more home runs, it feels like he might reel in a few big fish.
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We have learned, as most expected, that he would be gunning for them. A local high school coach even told MLive he wanted pro-caliber players. The one thing we don’t know is whether he can actually get them to commit, although we should start getting an answer to that very soon.