Michigan Basketball: 3 Wolverines who need to step after 5-star misses

Michigan basketball missed out on two five-star recruits Monday night and Tuesday morning and here are three guys who will be counted on to step up.

For months, Michigan basketball fans have been counting on the commitment of Josh Christopher. All the crystal ball were pointing in that direction and most of the predictions favored the Wolverines.

But, as we know, predictions don’t often mean much in recruiting, especially not when it comes to a kid like Josh Christopher, who wanted to make a splash. He wanted his announcement to be a spectacle and he turned it into one.

We could speculate for hours why he decided to choose the Sun Devils over the Wolverines. But it won’t help anyone. He’s not walking through the door so to speak and neither is Isaiah Todd, which is something we learned Tuesday.

Todd told SI that he was going to pursue professional opportunities in Europe. It was another blow, no doubt for the Wolverines, but missing out on Christopher is much worse in the grand scheme of things than Todd.

Todd’s a great player no doubt. But he’s the kind of player who doesn’t often reach his potential in college, especially in just one year. It’s a bummer to miss out on that talent, particularly in the hands of Juwan Howard, but it is what it is.

At any rate, it’s time to move on and instead of focusing on recruits or transfers, here are three guys who need to step up next year and some who have a new opportunity.