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Michigan Basketball: Isaiah Todd’s commitment shows Wolverines are elite

By Matthew Helmkamp

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port are offering to license in this Photograph are one-time, non-exclusive editorial rights. No advertising or commercial uses of any kind may be made of Allsport photos. User acknowledges that it is aware that Allsport is an editorial sports agency and that NO RELEASES OF ANY TYPE ARE OBTAINED from the subjects contained in the photographs. Mandatory Credit: Andy Lyons /Allsport /
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Michigan basketball received an early Christmas gift with the commitment of Isaiah Todd, a top 15 player for the 2020 class, and has now reached elite status.

On his birthday, Isaiah Todd was handing out one gift: the gift of his services as one of the best basketball players in the country. Michigan basketball is the lucky recipient, beating out Bill Self’s Kansas squad.

Sam Webb of the Michigan Insider reported the news and was among multiple sources to confirm the choice.

Isaiah – who stands at 6-foot-10-inches – holds a near-perfect 9965 composite rating and is ranked 12th in the 2020 class, the second-best power forward, and the No. 1 basketball player from the state of North Carolina.

This moment marks a changing in the tide for the Wolverines as predicted by head coach Juwan Howard.

“Now, I feel once one recruit commits,” Howard said at Big Ten Media Days, “it’s going to be rapid fire, everyone else will fall in.”

If what Howard said is true, this will only be the start of many more top hoop stars continuing their athletic careers at UM.

History has a way of repeating itself

If this story sounds familiar, it’s because you’ve heard it before.

Back in the early 1990s, then Wolverine head coach Steve Fisher – who had no professional head coaching experience – found himself in a similar predicament to Juwan; he could recruit, but he couldn’t get anyone to bite.

Finally, Fisher obtained the pledge from a 6-foot-10ish superstar power forward named Juwan Howard. Howard’s commitment and subsequent recruiting of the rest of the Fab Five marked a turnaround of a program that posted an abysmal 14-15 record the year before Juwan arrived in Ann Arbor.

Is this really that big of a deal?

Unequivocally, yes, this is the biggest deal, and a game-changer for the post-Beilein era as Todd is the highest-ranked recruit to ever commit to UM since the rankings began in 2000. The now second-highest ranked Wolverine is Glenn Robinson III, who received a 9934 composite rating and ranked 17th in his class.

While Todd is most likely the best recruit Howard will snag for the 2020 class, other top 50 basketball players are predicted to be joining him at Crisler Center, including center Hunter Dickinson (34th nationally).

If you build it, they will come

Just as Kevin Costner’s character sacrificed in the movie Field of Dreams, Juwan Howard left behind millions of dollars in the NBA and a future as a professional head coach all for the school he loves so dearly. While an argument could be made that Beilein was the one who brought light to an otherwise dark period for Wolverine hoops, the construction began years before with substantial assistance from Juwan during his playing days.

Next. 3 Keys to Michigan football beating Penn State. dark

With this commitment, it is built, and they have arrived.

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