Michigan Basketball: Isaiah Livers ‘Should Absolutely Return’ To Wolverines

Should Isaiah Livers stay or should he go? Stadium’s Jeff Goodman says the Michigan basketball star “Should Absolutely Return” to school to finish out what he started.

The cards are stacked against him. Michigan basketball‘s three-point artist, Isaiah Livers, has more options than some of his predecessors, but the entire draft process is stacked against him as it favors NBA executives.

If he doesn’t pull his name from the list by June 15th, and he doesn’t get drafted, Livers is put in a precarious situation.

Where does he go? Overseas? The G League? Warehouse worker for Amazon?

When Isaiah announced he was going to test the waters, he did so in the best way possible, by allowing the potential for a return for a final season with the Wolverines.

“If things don’t work out and they say I need another year of school,” Livers said. “I don’t have a problem with it. It’s successful either way because I can get my education and diploma and declare for the draft next year. Or if they like what they see right now, I can keep my name in the draft right now.”

But what happens if an NBA representative says he should stay in the draft, or an agent convinces him to stick it out?

“I would always love to come back for another year at Michigan,” Isaiah stated. “If (NBA teams) like what they see and teams are literally saying they’re going to draft me, I’m pretty sure I’ll stay in the draft.”

So far, many people have shared encouraging words for Isaiah, advising him to stay at UM in lieu of attempting a run at the NBA. Michigan’s two top prospects are not Ann Arbor bound for the 2020-21 season and without Isaiah’s hot hand from beyond the arc, the Wolverines can be a difficult team to watch as they tend to struggle mightily on offense.

He’s needed, to say the least.

On top of that, it doesn’t seem the NBA is interested in what Livers has to offer, at least some of the organizations. Jeff Goodman spoke to a “handful” of unnamed “NBA executives” regarding the 163 college basketball players from across the country that have dropped their names in the draft hat.

There were some surprises from Jeff’s interactions, namely Iowa’s Luka Garza, who was the runner up for National Player of the Year. Garza was placed in the category Go back to school! with the following quote:

“I know what he did last season in college, but he could use one more year to work on his body, his perimeter shot and his defense. Then maybe he gets drafted.” – NBA executive

Below that category lies another larger group of the remaining athletes which is where Livers landed. Unlikely to Be Drafted (aka Should Absolutely Return) is where you’ll find Isaiah.

Should he stay or should he go?

There’s a chance NBA teams fail to take a leap of faith on him in the second round or as an undrafted free agent. There’s a chance he returns to school and it’s revealed Livers hit his ceiling last season, plummeting his draft stock.

Risk vs reward. Which is the greater risk, and which one could pay off the most.

Based on the interviews by Jeff Goodman, it might be best to earn a free degree from the University of Michigan to prepare him for the potential of a life outside of dribbling basketballs for sport.

Livers will have a fantastic cast of characters that have the potential of a deep run in the NCAA tournament. If he develops further, that national exposure could be exactly what he needs to move up to the No-Brainer — Going, Going, Gone! potion of Goodman’s stay or go advice.

Follow @MattHelmkamp on twitter