Michigan Basketball: Evaluating chances of landing 5-star Ernest Udeh

Michigan basketball made the top 10 for five-star big man Ernest Udeh and here’s a look at the Wolverines chances in this recruitment. 

At least one recruiting service has 6-foot-10 Ernest Udeh Jr. listed as a five-star recruit and one of the fastest-rising prospects in the 2022 recruiting class included Michigan basketball in his top 10, which was released on Monday.

Michigan basketball offered Udeh back on July 11th and although the Wolverines made the top 10, it’s hard to know how interested the Wolverines are at this point.

Dylan Burkhardt of UMHoops.com didn’t include Udeh Jr. in his recent look at the top remaining targets for the 2022 class.

Things obviously change but Udeh was offered before Tarris Reed committed to the Wolverines and the same question that applied to Yohan Traore and that’s how will he fit with Reed?

Michigan basketball is likely to have four scholarships for the 2022 class, although that number could be higher or lower depending on how many players leave for the NBA draft and if anyone leaves via the transfer portal.

Dug McDaniel and Reed have the first two spots and it’s very likely (all the expert predictions say so at least) that Jett Howard is going to join his father’s recruiting class. He’s expected to visit Ann Arbor this fall, along with Gregg Glenn and Traore.

Udeh is a traditional big guy. He’s got tremendous athleticism and can finish above the rim. He scores quite a bit on lobs and is a really good rim protector. He does some things that Reed doesn’t and the Wolverines could be short on bigs by the 2022-23 season.

So maybe Juwan Howard would be willing to take two bigs in this recruiting cycle along with Jett and McDaniel. Udeh looks athletic enough to defend the four and is the 56th-prospect overall in 2022. He’s ranked 20th (5-star) in the 247 rankings and here’s what he told Eric Bossi of 247 sports about Michigan basketball:

"“Juwan Howard has been contacting me since day one. He watched me I think for the first time was with my high school team in Atlanta. He started recruiting me then and has been hard on me ever since. Always checking on me, seeing how I’m doing. Him being a big and his experience of playing at the highest level I’m trying to get to, you can’t ignore that.”"

Visits will be key

Michigan looks to be planning for two more scholarship spots in 2022. One of those spots is for Jett Howard. Glenn and Traore are in the mix for the others along with Udeh, if Michigan decides to make a push. We’ll see if Udeh visits. That will be a key indicator. If he comes for a visit, there is likely some legitimate interest from both sides in this recruitment.

However, there could be lots of other visitors, including a different five-star recruit in Derrick Lively. So a lot can still happen, but as far as Udeh, it seems like much of the Wolverines’ chances will depend on how hard they push.