Michigan Basketball: Juwan Howard targets top big men in 2020

Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard stopped in to watch Walker Kessler play Thursday during the live evaluation period, showing the 5-star is a priority.

July is an interesting time in college basketball recruiting and for new Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard, this live evaluation period was always going to be an important one.

That’s because its the first time that Howard and the Michigan basketball staff, as well as other coaches throughout the country really have to show where they are putting their resources.

Dylan Burkhardt of UMHoops ($) made this point and also noted that because Howard’s first live period for watching recruits was during the NBAPA Top 100 Camp, this week will be much more revealing.

It makes sense. All the top prospects were at the Top 100 camp, so coaches didn’t have to make decisions about where to go. But this week, they are spread out as prospects are with their AAU teams at a number of different events sponsored by Nike, Adidas and Under Armour.

Essentially, it means all the best players aren’t in one building and watching who the Wolverines evaluate in person and where the coaching staff goes first could give us some great clues about who the top targets are for the 2020 class.

While some talked about four-star center Hunter Dickinson, who Howard watched Wednesday.  The reason Howard was even able to scout Dickinson that early is that his sons Jett and Jace were also playing at the same event, giving him the chance most head coaches didn’t get.

He still wasn’t able to communicate with recruits but observed Dickinson, who said Michigan basketball has been among his strongest recruiters so far.

Yet, on Thursday, Howard wanted to get his eyes on another big man and when five-star center Walker Kessler walked onto the floor, the Wolverines head man was sitting in the front row.

Endless Motor Sports supplied the tweet and it’s significant because it shows that Kessler is one of Michigan’s top priorities along with a number of others who were observed Thursday by assistants. Some of these players were DJ Steward, Dickinson, Lance Ware and Joshua Christopher.

Outside of maybe Ware, a four-star forward from New Jersey who Phil Martelli recruited while at St. Joes and is after again, most of the guys Michigan scouted are household names. It wasn’t a shock to see Steward, Dickinson, Christopher and Kessler get a bunch of attention on day one.

And there is still another day of evaluation, so that will give a better overall picture about exactly which players are being targeted. But it’s clear from Howard’s visit that Kessler is one of them. In fact, big guys, in general, will be key as Howard seems focused on Kessler and Dickinson.

Kessler, a 6-foot-10 center from Fairburn, Georgia, is also being pursued by Duke, which is going to make for a tough battle to win, but with Howard’s NBA background, he has a puncher’s chance.

“The guy played 19-years in the NBA at my position during that big man stretch so you have to listen to him and he’s such a smart guy and I feel like he’s going to do great at Michigan,” Kessler said to the Michigan Insider.

Howard’s career playing and coaching in the NBA was also mentioned by Dickinson, specifically when it came to the development of big men such as Hassan Whiteside who blossomed into an All-Star under Howard’s tutelage.

Whether it’s Kessler or Dickinson, Michigan will have its work cut out for it. But, with Howard making each big man a priority and likely hosting each on a visit because of that, the Wolverines are very much in the running.

And when you are talking about two elite, top-30 prospects, that’s saying something.