Michigan Basketball Mailbag: Chaundee Brown, most surprising player and more

Welcome to this week’s Michigan basketball mailbag where I answer all of your Twitter questions relating to all things Michigan basketball and recruiting.

There are so many unanswered questions right now as we inch closer to the Michigan basketball season. When will the season start? Who will Michigan play in the non-conference schedule? Will Chaundee Brown get his waiver to play this season? Who will be in the starting five?

I may not be able to answer all of those questions yet. But I am here to answer any other questions you have involving Michigan hoops. Every week I ask my Twitter followers to submit questions for this mailbag.

Let’s dive into them.

There’s a few good candidates for most surprising player. I want to say Terrance Williams. I think he’s very college ready for a freshman. The problem is, there’s not a clear path for playing time for him. Michigan is loaded at the power forward spot with Livers and Johns, and are great at the small forward spot with Wagner.

Since I think Williams’ minutes are going to be limited because of the makeup of the roster, I will go with someone else. I will go with another freshman, Zeb Jackson.

Jackson is an extremely unique prospect. He’s a 6’5 combo guard that can and will play both guard spots. Last season he played for a stacked Montverde team that included Caleb Houstan, Moses Moody, Cade Cunningham, and several other five-stars and D-1 quality prospects.

He didn’t play as much as many people thought. But playing against competition like that prepared him to potentially have a role at Michigan as a true freshman. Jackson can shoot it, drive it, and is extremely athletic. His versatility should allow him to see the floor plenty as a true freshman.

Assistant coach Phil Martelli had this to say recently about Jackson ($): 

"“Zeb right now is playing between two guard spots. Obviously, I saw him last year going into his senior year at Montverde a number of times, and the team was so stacked I thought Zeb got lost. When you’re playing in games where you are winning by 35 and 40, things like that, it’s hard to get a good look. But coaching him in practice has been extraordinary. Zeb has been far more athletic than I thought. He’s got quick jump off the ground. He’s got a little too much motion in his jumper, but when he’s on, he can really shoot. He’s very good with the ball, too. Very competitive.”"

If Jackson can prove he can defend, he will be a valuable backup guard for Michigan basketball this season.

Chaundee Brown will receive his waiver to play this fall. There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind. It’s a matter of when, not if. Michigan has an elite compliance department and as sad as this is, that’s usually the most important thing when it comes to if waivers are granted or not.

In a time when the NCAA is seemingly giving waivers to everyone, expect Brown to suit up for Michigan this season.

Juwan Howard was asked about this today and said this:

This is a big unknown for Michigan basketball heading into the season. Let me start off by saying I just don’t know how many minutes will be available for Nunez this season. If he proves he can shoot the ball efficiently from deep, he will earn time. But if he doesn’t, who can you play him over?

Nunez can play the two or the three spot and he’s not playing over Chaundee Brown, Eli Brooks or Franz Wagner. I think the best role Nunez can have on this team is being a 5-10 minutes per game sharpshooter off the bench. But even in that role, you’d like him to be a 3-and-D player but he hasn’t shown he can defend at all.

He also hasn’t shot consistent enough in his first two seasons for me to be confident he can play that role. So as we sit right now, I don’t see him being a big contributor on this basketball team this season.

I’m not counting Adrien Nunez out. We have seen players make huge strides from season to season. But one thing is for sure, if Nunez has a big role on the team this season, it means he improved his defense and is knocking down his threes.

Wow. This question needs an entire article for itself. I won’t dive too deep into this one, I’ll just list them out. 1st being the best, 10th being the worst.

1. 2012-13 (Obviously)
2. 2013-14
3. 2017-18 
4. 2018-19
5. 2011-12
6. 2020-21 (This year’s team)
7. 2016-17
8. 2015-16
9. 2019-20
10. 2014-15 (What a painful year)

I see this year’s team being a middle of the pack team when compared to the last nine teams. With that said, they should be good enough to make a run in March if the team is connected and peaks at the right time.