Michigan Basketball: 5 Predictions for Wolverines in 2019-2020

They will win over 25 games

The old saying goes, there is nothing in life you can count on except death and taxes. Under John Beilein, you could count on at least 20 wins per season, excluding two of his first three seasons and whatever happened in 2014. John created a new culture for Wolverine hoops, one that included clean winning. Something that few other programs have ever come close to matching.

No one expects Juwan to recreate the same success Beilein mastered, mostly because they’re looking at it the wrong way. Howard isn’t going to develop guys over the years and turn three and four-star athletes into lottery picks. Beilein focused his efforts on coachable players, the kids that are willing to throw everything aside and bend to the will of Beilein.

With the commitment of Isaiah Todd, a top 15 basketball player, and the heavy recruiting on those solely ranked within the top 50, Howard is changing the culture again in Ann Arbor: Win with the heavyweights.

Juwan was unable to retain the services of Jalen Wilson – a Beilein commit that decommitted and is now at Kansas – and he entered the game too late to snag any other stars eligible for 2019, other than Franz Wagner.

What will he do with the roster on hand? Juwan is going to win at least 25 games.

How is he going to do that? Here’s how.

By all accounts, Franz is better than his brother, and while he will remain on the injured list for a time, he will be returning soon. The injury announcement came on October 21st, which means he could have hurt it a week or so before that. Regardless, at that time, they said he would be out four to six weeks, which (math) he should be back in action by the beginning of December at the latest.

The conference schedule doesn’t start until December 6th, and the games before then are winnable without the German sensation.