3 thoughts on Michigan Basketball’s 2023 recruiting class

Targets to know

You can always learn some things by paying attention to who coaches follow and last weekend, Juwan Howard was tuned in for Aden Holloway.

https://twitter.com/dmurrayhoops/status/1512809361894260738?s=21&t=tjpWCKCydzc2pGvzo97puw

Michigan recently offered the 6-foot point guard, who is a score-first guard. He’s also an elite shooter as some numbers from UMHoops will attest to:

"Over 25 logged games with La Lumiere this season, Holloway shot 53.6% on 69 catch and shooter jumpers (80.4 eFG%) and 59.2% on 49 off the dribble jumpers (75.5 eFG%). Those numbers both grade out in the 97th percentile or better in Synergy’s high school database and are among the very best in the country — especially when adjusted for volume."

After watching Michigan struggle with point guards who weren’t the best shooters, it’s fun to think of Holloway running Howard’s ball-screen heavy offense. He’s probably not big enough to play off the ball, but his shooting ability would make it easy to find room for him.

Michigan has generally taken one point guard per class under Howard and with all the movement in this new era of the transfer portal, it seems like a smart strategy, especially when that point guard is an elite scorer like Holloway.

Auburn might have the early edge, but Michigan is in hot pursuit and the next step will be securing an on-campus visit.

Another recent offer Michigan basketball extended over the weekend was to Zayden High, who in my opinion would be a great option for Michigan at the four. High is 6-foot-9 and is one of the fastest risers right now in the 2023 class and should see his ranking (111th overall) improve.

High received a bunch of offers after standing out at the Nike EYBL. Michigan was one of those and it’s because High is exactly what U-M needs. He’s physical around the basket but can also stretch the floor, even though he shot just 29 percent from deep last season.

The competition is going to be stiff, but High is someone to watch from a Michigan basketball perspective in the coming weeks and months.

Finally, the Wolverines are tracking a couple of 6-foot-10 centers who each offer the rim protection we have been talking about. One is Xavier Booker who is very athletic. He’s from Indianapolis and was another player U-M watched closely.

Booker is taking a visit to Michigan State this weekend and the Spartans are an early threat, but we’ll see how things go after Michigan’s recent offer. The Wolverines are also one of the favorites for Papa Kante, another 6-foot-10 center with serious defensive skills.

Kante is ranked just inside the top 100, as is Booker and according to Zags Blog, “Michigan appears to be jockeying for front runner position in the center’s recruitment.”

That is the closest Michigan is to the lead in any of these recruitments, however, with some new priorities being identified, that could change in a hurry.