Michigan Basketball: Breaking down Juwan Howard’s latest offers

Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard offered three five-star recruits Tuesday, including Patrick Baldwin Jr., the No. 1 player in 2021.

The past week has been a busy one for the Michigan basketball program as head coach Juwan Howard and his staff delved into their work on the recruiting trail.

There were a couple of key events/days over the last week that makes this a busy time period for recruiting. For one, Howard and the rest of his coaches were at the NBAPA Top 100 camp last week, scouting top prospects from throughout the country.

Then, last Saturday, coaches were able to contact 2021 recruits for the first time, which led to a slew of offers. The first offer Saturday went to AJ Griffin Jr., the eighth-ranked player in the class. Yet, it was just the beginning of this Howards’s five-star offers.

On Tuesday, Howard continued his aggressive approach by extending an offer to Patrick Baldwin Jr., another five-star prospect who also happens to be the No. 1 player in the 2021 class.

Baldwin was one of the players that stood out at the NBAPA Top 100 and since he is from the midwest, Wisconsin in particular, targeting seems like a logical fit. However, there are some obstacles.

The obvious one is that he’s the top player in the country and so far he’s a Duke lean, with both of his crystal ball projections going to Duke. Additionally, his father is the head coach of UM-Milwaukee, so if he spurns a program like Duke, you wonder if he would do so to play for his dad.

Another 2021 recruit that got an offer Tuesday was Max Christie, a five-star from Illinois that seems like a more realistic target. The 6-foot-6 guard has been averaging more than 17 points per game on the Under Armour circuit according to UMhoops ($), which also said he is shooting 44 percent from 3-point range as well in the competition.

Christie is also projected to Duke with his only crystal ball residing with the Blue Devils. However, Duke hasn’t offered. Michigan State, Ohio State, Villanova, Illinois and Northwestern have but with Howard’s ties to Chicago, UM seems to have a good shot at making inroads.

The other player offered by Michigan basketball Tuesday was five-star power forward Michael Foster of Milwaukee. The 6-foot-9 standout is the top-ranked power forward in the 247 sports composite rankings, as well as the No. 4 prospect overall.

While Howard and the current staff is recruiting much differently than the previous staff, even John Beilein was targeting higher-ranked players with the team’s success in recent years. The biggest difference is offering players without having them visiting the campus first.

Bretner Mutombo also visited recently and is expected to get an offer, so Howard isn’t just targeting the five-star guys. The bottom line is that Michigan has a lot to offer. The program has tons of resources and in terms of getting guys to the NBA, Howard can help make that a reality.

The presence of Howard Eisley, another NBA guy also should help to sell that, along with Howard’s NBA background and ties to guys like LeBron and Dwayne Wade. Saddi Washington has also played a key role in targeting these big-name guys.

It remains to be seen how many of these guys Howard can land and I wouldn’t expect anything like what Penny Hardaway has done at Memphis. But the Wolverines have plenty to offer these elite prospects and eventually, even with just one big commit, it will pay off.