Michigan Basketball: What to make of Joshua Christopher’s new Top 5

Michigan basketball fans have been on edge about five-star Joshua Christopher and when he might commit. Releasing a new top five list won’t help, which he did Tuesday night.

It’s probably hard to find a recruit that Michigan basketball fans are more obsessed with than five-star guard from 2020 Joshua Christopher.

And rightfully so. Christopher isn’t the kind of prospect that Michigan basketball has been able to get in a long time. He’s a five-star shooting guard that ranks 10th overall in the 2020 recruiting class and third at his position.

He would easily be the best recruit coming in since Jamal Crawford played at Michigan basketball and before that, possibly dating back to the Fab Five days of Chris Webber, Juwan Howard and Jalen Rose.

The kid is going to special and it’s likely that he will be a one-and-done and a lottery pick a year from now. But, those are the kinds of players you need to be an elite program and for weeks, even months now, Christopher has been trending to the Wolverines and right now, all 11 of his crystal ball projections have him heading to Ann Arbor.

Yet, Christopher may have throw a late curveball into the mix Tuesday night. After saying for weeks he was closing in on a decision, the five-star guard released a new top five that included USC instead of Kentucky.

This is obviously important for a couple reasons. One, USC is right in his backyard as he resides in Lakewood, California and second, the Trojans have a ton of momentum right now on the recruiting trail.

USC has the No. 1 player in 2020 already signed in center Evan Mobley, and the Trojans just picked up a slew of graduate transfers this past week too, so it’s possible that Christopher views that situation as different than before.

There has to be a reason why he included the Trojans among a top five that was sort of surprising to see. But, as Michigan basketball fans know, getting included in a top-5 list doesn’t mean squat.

During Juwan Howard’s first month as head coach, Michigan made it for a bunch of kids, only to finish second or third each time. Hopefully, that is what’s happening here with USC.

However, for Michigan basketball fans already anxious about Christopher’s decision, this probably won’t help. But signing is day is apporaching and we should know more about Christopher and Isaiah Todd and whether they will sign very soon.