Michigan Basketball ‘heavily involved’ with grad transfer Bryce Aiken

Michigan basketball is still “heavily involved” in the pursuit of graduate transfer Bryce Aiken according to one source. Here’s what to takeaway.

There were a few pieces of news Thursday worth paying attention when it comes to the Michigan basketball program and one is that the Wolverines are still pushing for Harvard graduate transfer Bryce Aiken, a point guard who would be immediately eligible next season.

Aiken is more of a scoring guard, but he’s a dynamic scorer. As a junior with the Crimson, he scored 22 points per game and last year, in just seven contests, he scored 16.7 ppg. Aiken also has a career percentage of 34.7 shooting from 3-point range, which also makes him an attractive option for teams looking for perimeter scoring.

While Michigan basketball has been interested in Aiken, and multiple graduate transfers, including Mike Smith of Columbia, another point guard that the Wolverines are pursuing.

On Friday, Jake Weingarten of Stockrisers.com, reported on Twitter that Michigan was still one of the teams in the hunt for Aiken, along with Gonzaga, Michigan State, Maryland and Seton Hall.

He used the words “heavily involved” in what was essentially a top five, as long as you trust Weingarten, which I do.

Obviously, Aiken would be a perfect fit for the Wolverines, particularly with Zavier Simpson moving on. Yet, that could ruffle the feathers of David DeJulius or Eli Brooks, who could each factor into the starting point guard conversation next season.

Michigan is also waiting to hear on the commitment of Joshua Christopher, a five-star shooting guard that being projected by 247 sports to land with the Wolverines, as they hold all of the crystal ball predictions. However, those don’t mean much at the end of the day.

Yet, as some have speculated, there’s a reason Michigan is looking at the transfer market and it could be the potential loss of Isaiah Livers and Franz Wagner to the NBA.

In a teleconference with reporters Thursday, head coach Juwan Howard talked about how both Wagner and Livers could explore the next level. Howard said he actually hadn’t discussed it much with Wagner, but he coach said Livers was already thinking about the NBA. Here’s what he said:

"“Right now Isaiah is evaluating his future. He’s having time to sit down with his parents as well as evaluating the opportunity to hire an agent to see if what the best decision moving forward for next year. Either exploring the NBA level or playing for the University of Michigan.”"

Neither Wagner or Livers are being talked about as first-round picks or anything, but they have been the two underclassmen mentioned with next-level potential, who could possibly leave.

Only time will tell, but as the Wolverines pursue Aiken, it will be interesting to see if both Wagner and Livers make their decisions known. I’d expect both to declare and get evaluated and from there, depending on the process, it’s anyone’s guess what will happen.