Michigan Basketball: Reviewing 3 High-priority 2021 Wolverine targets

Illinois superstar

Max Christie is a record-setter.

Earlier today, his high school Twitter account reported that Christie scored 24 points in their matchup with Barrington which bumped Max’s career points to over 1,700 for his career which is, obviously, no simple feat.

Christie, who plays for Rolling Meadows High School and the AAU team Illinois Wolves, is ranked No.1 in Illinois, the No.1 SG, and 13th overall. He holds a 9947 composite rating and 17 scholarship offers, per 247 sports.

The 6-foot-6 sniper didn’t fare so well from deep in his AAU league, however, playing for USA basketball U16, Max shot 37% from three. He’s got what it takes to join the big boys and scouts will tell you he has future NBA talent based on his accuracy alone.

Here is his evaluation from 247 sports’ Brian Snow:

"He has good size and length, and while he needs to get stronger, that will come in time. Right now is at his best as a shooter, where his height and long arms allow him to shoot over nearly every defender. But if a bigger player is on him, he is also athletic enough and good enough with the dribble to go past them. A highly skilled prospect who can play anywhere on the perimeter. Hard worker who shows tremendous IQ on the court. Has the making of being an impact wing at the college level and a first-round NBA draft choice."

Respect

When Michigan offered Christie back in June, his high school coach, Kevin Katovich, was interviewed and said that former UM assistant Luke Yahlick was the first to reach out and now Howard himself is the one making contact and Kevin has been impressed by the recent Wolverine hire.

“He’s very well known,” Katovich said of Howard. “Obviously, Max respects Coach Howard and all that he’s accomplished. You look at his resume, and you see what kinds of things he’s been able to do in his career. You can see just in his press conference as well how happy and how proud he was to be back at Michigan.”

Matt’s Musings

Two years from now, if all goes as planned, UM will have lost a majority of their starting five and in need of a reload consisting of the next round of one-and-dones; which Christie is projected to be and according to his coach, Michigan is the perfect fit for what Max looks for in a program.

“First of all, it starts with academics,” Katovich said. “He wants to go to a university that challenges him academically. That’s the No. 1 priority. No. 2 is a strong basketball program. That’s going to be something he’s looking for. And I think the third thing is where he fits in. He’s a very family-oriented kid. He’s big into relationship building. So I think a place where he’s going to be able to experience that is going to be important to him as well.”

It’s still too early and there’s not enough information available to predict which school Christie will choose, although, Rivals FanFutureCast has him attending Purdue and his crystal balls have him leaning in Duke’s direction.