Michigan Basketball: Latest transfer portal rumblings for Wolverines

Michigan basketball has been hosting transfer Jaelin Llewellyn and here’s the latest on the Wolverines’ pursuit of him and Terrence Shannon. 

There is always that saying in recruiting that the longer it goes, the more worried you get. Michigan basketball had plenty of reason to be optimistic following Terrence Shannon’s visit.

The Texas Tech transfer’s former AAU coach even posted that he was committed on Twitter before deleting the tweet.

Yet, the vibe was still good and despite the fact that Shannon was going to need to take some extra classes, a commitment seemed like it was coming, especially when Hunter Dickinson announced his return for the 2022-23 season.

However, the announcement of a commitment never came from Shannon and at this point, it probably never will, at least for Michigan basketball.

Ant Wright, a former Michigan basketball player who has been plugged into this recruitment, said on his Spotify Live last night that Shannon looked like he was headed to Illinois.

Sam Webb of The Michigan Insider also reported (subscription required) that it’s not looking good for U-M. Yet, Webb also reported some good news too as the Wolverines have been hosting Princeton transfer Jaelin Llewellyn and there is a reason for optimism there according to what Webb posted.

Jaelin Llewellyn would be a great fit

While it would be great to add Shannon and we have talked about that at length, Llewellyn would add another really important piece.

With Dickinson returning, this Michigan basketball team should have a shot at contending for the Big Ten championship. It should also have a shot at making another deep run in the NCAA tournament.

But doing that usually means getting really good guard play and right now, the Wolverines would be relying on Frankie Collins and Kobe Bufkin, as well as Dug McDaniel (backup point guard).

Those guys are all talented. I also think Bufkin and Frankie are going to take big leaps forward next season. Caleb Houstan too if he returns. But you need to have some veteran experience in the backcourt and Llewellyn would add that.

He’s not a spectacular wing defender like Shannon. He’s 6-foot-2. But he shot 38 percent from 3-point range last season and is a true combo guard, which Michigan needs and it had last season in Eli Brooks who played point guard in a few key stretches last season.

Llewellyn was also a former top-100 recruit so the guy can play and that makes you worry less about his projection to the Big Ten. He’s not going to average 15 points a game like he did last season but he could add a vital scoring element to the guard spot and put another talented shooter around Dickinson.

The deadline for players to enter their names in the transfer portal and still play is May 1. So we’ll see if there is any movement from Michigan players. There have been rumors of a departure but we shall see. A commitment from Llewellyn before that could speed that process along.

Either way, the Wolverines could probably move Jace Howard to a walk-on spot if needed but I have a feeling Moussa Diabate won’t be back, or that the Wolverines will lose one guy in the portal so if Llewellyn wants to commit, the Wolverines should happily take his pledge.