Michigan Basketball: What’s next after missing on Harrison Ingram?

Michigan basketball missed out on one of their top targets in the 2021 class today when five-star Harrison Ingram announced his commitment to Stanford.

I want to start this article off by talking some Michigan fans off the ledge. Yes, Juwan Howard and Michigan basketball just missed out on another top five-star. Yes, it would have been nice to get him and it is a slight blow to the recruiting momentum.

But I also want to make it clear that Michigan basketball is fine. Recruiting is fine. Michigan still has two top-100 recruits in Kobe Bufkin and Frankie Collins. They still have two great three to four year players ranked just outside the top-100 in Will Tschetter and Isaiah Barnes. And most importantly, they still have a top-10 recruiting class in the country right now.

I’ve seen a lot of fans get frustrated and suggest that Michigan just stop recruiting five-stars all together. That’s ludicrous. Juwan Howard’s job is to bring the best talent to Ann Arbor.

There is nothing wrong with aiming high, then settling if you have to. It worked out well when they aimed high for five-star Jalen Warley. He committed elsewhere and Juwan quickly moved on to to secure a great backup plan in Frankie Collins.

This is the world of college basketball recruiting. Michigan basketball fans are just a bit uncomfortable with it because we didn’t see this strategy under John Beilein. Michigan will continue to miss on top targets. So will Duke, Kentucky, Kansas and others. As long as Juwan Howard continues to have backup plans, there’s no reason not to go after top talent.

As mentioned, Michigan’s 2021 class currently ranks 5th best in the nation according to the 247Sports composite team rankings. Here are the members of the class:

Frankie Collins: 4-star, 60th overall

Kobe Bufkin: 4-star, 65th overall

Isaiah Barnes: 4-star, 120th overall

Will Tschetter: 3-star, 153rd overall 

So what’s next for Michigan hoops recruiting?

After recently missing out on Harrison Ingram and Trevor Keels, Michigan basketball has a lot of options. The first priority is to get a center. Efton Reid, a five-star center is the most likely guy to fill that spot. It appears it could be turning into a two team race for Reid.

247Sports insider Brian Snow recently provided an update($) on Reid:

"“Virginia appears to have significantly fallen off with Reid. The two schools you hear most often here are Michigan and Ohio State. Both the Wolverines and the Buckeyes have been involved with Reid for a while, and each has the need to add an established big in this class.”"

I have predicted that Michigan will land Efton Reid for a long time and have no reason to change that prediction. I think his relationship with Michigan freshmen Hunter Dickinson and Terrance Williams will eventually seal the deal for the Wolverines.

After getting a center, Michigan has options on what they can do with the 2021 class. They could keep it a five man class and fill any remaining scholarships with transfers. Or they could continue to recruit and fill a sixth spot in the class.

Even though Michigan’s 2021 recruiting board may look a bit thin right now, we know that can change. Just last fall, Terrance Williams wasn’t even on Michigan fan’s radar until he decomitted from Georgetown in December. Less than a month later he was a Michigan Wolverine.

Michigan is also still in the running for several top players in the 2021 class like Chet Holmgren, Bryce Hopkins, J.D. Davison, and Hunter Sallis. I wrote about Michigan’s chances with all of them here. 

When fans are complaining about a top-five recruiting class in the country, you know recruiting is in a good place. Juwan Howard will continue to try to land a big fish, and he will miss again. But when that big fish finally gets landed, it’s going to feel really good.