Predicting Michigan basketball’s 2022 recruiting class

Dereck Lively (C)

Whoever does end up being the center of Michigan’s 2022 class will be a very fortunate recruit.  It’s widely assumed that Hunter Dickinson won’t be in Ann Arbor after next season, and Michigan didn’t sign a true big man in the class of 2021, so whoever signs at center in the class of 2022 will likely start immediately as a freshman.

Dereck Lively is a 7-foot-1 210 pound center out of Pennsylvania, who just released a top seven which included Michigan along with North Carolina, USC, Florida State, Penn State, Duke, and Kentucky.

There isn’t a leader as of yet, and the recruitment is far from over, but with the center position all but empty following the 2021-2022 season, Michigan has to be a very tempting option for Lively.

Lively will likely wait this out, taking all of his visits and hearing what each program has to offer, but the vacant center position will appeal to others as well.

Jalen Duren is another name to look out for. Duren is a monster prospect out of high school powerhouse Montverde Academy in Florida. The 6-foot-10 center is a heavy G-league lean, and is not expected to attend college, but should he choose to go to school, Michigan basketball would be in the mix to land the nation’s second-best prospect.

I do expect Michigan to only sign four players in this cycle, mostly in part to the large six-man class that was signed in 2021.  Unless a surprisingly large number of players transfer out of the program, I would expect Coach Howard to stick with only four players for the 2022 class.

Players to keep an eye on: Jarace Walker (SF), AJ Casey (PF), Donovan Clingan (C), Gregg Glenn (PF)