Michigan Basketball: The impact of the Harrison Ingram announcement

Michigan basketball is always in contention for the top high school hoopers, but they haven’t been able to close as of late. Maybe Juwan Howard can pull off the impossible with Harrison Ingram.

The Wolverines remain a contender for five-star Harrison Ingram from Dallas, Texas. Michigan basketball is locked in a heated recruiting battle with Stanford, Purdue, Howard, UNC, and Harvard for the 13th best player in the 2021 class.

Until recently, HBCU’s (Historically black colleges and universities) were never really considered finalists for the top kids in their class. They receive very little media attention, if any, and the competition isn’t exactly top-notch.

That is changing quickly, however. Makur Maker, the younger brother of Detroit Piston Thon Maker, recently committed to play at Howard, an HBCU. The younger Maker is a five-star and is a five-star and ranked 18th nationally.

U-M is also up against a couple of academic juggernauts in Stanford and Harvard, who have the attention of the tremendous student-athlete. Ingram reportedly has a 4.0 GPA, and his father is insistent on getting a quality education at the next level rather than becoming a one-and-done star like the rest of the top 20 athletes in Harrison’s class.

“One of the things I want to make sure of is that when Harrison does go to school that the coach and the coaching staff won’t impede his progress in terms of getting a degree,” Tyrous Ingram said in an interview.

“This is what I struggle with, Am I really doing right by him by not encouraging him to go to an Ivy League school or a Division III school?

“If yes, then it’s OK to pursue the Kansases and Dukes and Texases and Virginias,” the elder Ingram stated.

The decision to keep the Tar Heels in the top list is perplexing when you consider recent history. The headline to a CNN article tells you all you need to know: UNC report finds 18 years of academic fraud to keep athletes playing.

Despite that public report, the Wolverines must keep Roy Williams from swooping in and stealing top talent from Ann Arbor. Thankfully for Juwan, UNC isn’t the leader, according to Brian Snow from 247 Sports. Harrison is headed to sunny California to attend Stanford, at least that’s what Snow is predicting.

That prediction, however, only carries a confidence level of six, and Harrison’s response to a question about Michigan in an interview – which was released in conjunction with the top six post – should give Michigan fans confidence in Howard’s ability to recruit.

“The NBA and also college experience of the coaching staff is unbeatable. I’ve always loved Michigan as a school and love their vision for me,” Harrison told TheTB5Reports. “Coach Juwan was the ONLY coach to have an active plan to how they plan on helping their student athletes profit from their name, image and likeness. This shows he genuinely care for his players. Also, Michigan does not duck from competition. They don’t play “easy” games for wins. They want to play the best because to be the best you have to beat the best.”

The impact

It comes as no surprise that the Wolverines made it into the top six for Harrison, and they have been touted as the No. 2 candidate for Ingram behind the Cardinals. Although, the tweet and interview are proof that the Wolverines haven’t fallen off the map after a coaching change and that Juwan Howard is putting in the extra hours to become the Big Ten’s best.