Michigan Basketball: Can Juwan Howard land his first 5-star recruit?

Five-star target Harrison Ingram will decide today and Michigan basketball is among the finalists. Will Juwan Howard get his guy?

There has been a lot of buzz about Harrison Ingram lately and we found out yesterday, that one of Michigan basketball‘s top remaining targets will make his announcement Friday afternoon.

Ingram is a 6-foot-6 forward who is ranked 11th overall in the 2021 class according to the 247 sports composite rankings. He’s also the top player out of the state of Texas.

His 247 sports profile lists him as a power forward, but if he were to choose Michigan basketball, he would be more of a point forward.

The Wolverines have sold Ingram on being able to play with the ball a lot and if you look at the 2021 recruiting class, the one thing U-M needs is  ball-dominant scorer.

Frankie Collins is a really good point guard and you have to love what Kobe Bufkin can do. He’s an ideal combo guard in my opinion and other dude who can light up the scoreboard.

Isaiah Barnes and Will Tschetter are two other commits who have tons of potential. But none of them is as polished as Ingram who would be expected to make an immediate impact.

His recruitment has been an interesting process but according to Jake Weingarten of Stockrisers, even as of last night, Ingram hadn’t made a decision between Michigan, Stanford, Purdue and North Carolina.

That jives with all the other information out there. There were multiple reports earlier this week that Ingram was “stressed” as he tried to make his decision.

He does have two crystal ball projections to Stanford, including a new one that came in Thursday from Chris Fisher of the Kentucky 247 site. The other is from Brian Snow but it’s from January.

Stanford has been viewed as the favorite, but Michigan basketball has changed that recently. Howard and the Wolverines have been relentless in their pursuit and it’s paid off.

One thing about Juwan, is that just about all the kids he recruits have a connection to him. The Wolverines have lost out on plenty of top kids, yet they always seem to be in the mix.

Our hoops expert, also known as Wolverine Corner, went on record with a prediction of Ingram to Michigan earlier this week. And if he does wind up in Ann Arbor, here’s a look from Dylan Burkhardt of UMHoops ($) at how he’d fit:

"“Ingram is a unique prospect and I love how he’d fit with the pieces that Juwan Howard has already landed in 2021. He’s an elite playmaker and passer who can operate out of ball screens or post-up against smaller players. He’s not an elite athlete, but his feel for the game is impressive. Michigan’s pitch hinges on featuring him in the offense in that featured role.”"

In terms of developing for the NBA, playing on a team with a chance to contend and getting to play a point forward role in a system of positionless basketball, Michigan makes tons of sense.

However, recruiting isn’t always about logic. It’s clear from all the reporting that Ingram is conflicted, so this afternoon, everyone will finally find out where he’s going once and for all.