Michigan basketball has waited on Juke Harris to make a decision for more than a week, but according to reports, a decision should be coming soon.
It's been an interesting recruitment. Harris is 6-foot-7 and averaged 21.4 points per game on his way to earning the ACC's Most Improved Player award along with second-team all-conference.
Harris is regarded as one of the elite players in the portal. He also declared for the NBA draft. North Carolina is out of it. It's down to Michigan and Tennessee. Here's why Harris should choose to play for Dusty May and the Wolverines.
Harris could be part of a national championship team
Harris has said that he wants to play for a winning program. Michigan just won the national championship, and if Harris joined the Wolverines, they would be formidable, especially if Aday Mara or Morez Johnson came back.
If Michigan returns one of its starting bigs, and lands Harris, it would be hard to see another team ranked No. 1 heading into next season.
A perfect fit
The back-and-forth and high cost have me a little worried about Harris as a culture fit, but his production would fit like a glove. Harris is a high-volume 3-point shooter. Michigan basketball lost two of its best shooters in Yaxel Lendeborg and Nimari Burnett.
The loss of Roddy Gayle also leaves a shortage of wing-type players. Beyond that, Harris was fourth in the ACC in defensive rebounds, and seventh in rebounds total.
Harris would need to accept fewer shots, but with all of the additions Tennessee has made from the portal, that will be the case either way. In Ann Arbor, Harris would battle Trey McKenney to be the No. 1 scoring option.
Pro upside
Tennessee has turned out plenty of pros. Rick Barnes has, too. Nate Ament will likely a first-round pick this season, but few coaches have a better recent NBA draft resume, in terms of development, than Dusty May.
May improved the stock of Danny Wolf tremendously. He became a first-round pick in one season at Michigan. Nobody had Aday Mara or Morez Johnson going in the first round before the season. Now, Mara is being talked about as a lottery pick. Johnson would likely be a first-round pick, too, if he goes.
NIL money is important, but improving his NBA draft stock could have a bigger impact on his future financially than the difference between Michigan and Tennessee's respective NIL offers.
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