2018 - Wing - Justin Ahrens (OSU Commit)

New offer.

Iā€™m almost starting to get nervous here with all of these offers out there. Not used to this from JB

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What is the the consensus on him? Definitely have heard the name but donā€™t know much about the kid

Ahrens brother, Kyle, is on MSUā€¦
Decent all round O-game as a shooter/driver of the ballā€¦streakyā€¦
bouncyā€¦
needs strengthā€¦
plays at same level of school, I think, (same area of Ohio) as former Duke player Luke Kennardā€¦
Was committed to Ohio State, called off w/Mattaā€™s firingā€¦
His dad is his coach at versailles hsā€¦
Good attitudeā€¦
Dedicatedā€¦

Best as I recall : )

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Was this done in retaliation for taking Dakich?

If Ahrens takes a scholly before Iggy decides I will not enjoy that outcome

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Heā€™s not taking Iggyā€™s scholarship. The number of offers we have out make it clear to me that weā€™ll take 5 in the fall if we get the right kids. Heā€™d be taking Tysonā€™s spot, or maybe Lockeā€™s, but not Iggyā€™s.

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Haha, my hope is we get a couple of other kids on campus to get offers. To me still a big gap with not having an offer out to a wing whose strength is taking the ball to the rim and creating. No offers out there right now to that type of player.

Why would you not think Brazdeikis is exactly that type of player? Because heā€™s not hyper-athletic? Brazdeikis takes most of his shots inside the arc (about 75% in eybl), finishes well and with both hands (better than 55% from 2), and gets to the line (more than 6 times per game). He also averaged over 2 assists per game.

I think many confuse run/jump athleticism with an ability to take the ball to the rim and create. Sure you can get into the lane by blowing by your opponentā€“you can also do so by using strength and backing your opponent down, by using ball screens, etc. From what Iā€™ve seen, Brazdeikis is very capable of being ā€œthat type of player>ā€

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I agree that Iggy is more of a slasher/attacking guy. A creative scorer, etc. Not really sure who he guards on the other end, but he can create offense and get to the rim/FT line.

I absolutely agree that Iggyā€™s defense is potentially an issue, especially if he has to defend a 3. It will be interesting to see (assuming he comes to Michigan) how he would blend together with guys like Livers and Johns on the one hand or other wings (Matthews, Watson, maybe Poole in a 3 guard set, new recruits) in terms of where heā€™d fit defensively. We also agree that offensively, heā€™d be a shot creator at any position he plays.

Edited together some film of Ahrens in todayā€™s roundup.

I would certainly put him in the Hunter Tyson/Noah Locke bucket as a shooter in the class, rather than the bucket that Iggy would fall under.

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Great points and maybe it is his physical dimensions for me not to think of him as that type of player. At the current time and I havenā€™t seen him live, just struggle to see him with the ball in his hands with the game on the line. With the game now a days see a guard/wing who is an athlete with the ball in his hands (Caris or Nik) rather than run/jump. Anyways hope we get Iggy and can see how it plays out.

Dylan, where do Nembhard and Barrett fall in this whole process, know they are longshots but staff has invested a fair amount of time in both. Are all 5 spots filled by November?

I see an Ahrens commitment in the near futureā€¦

Sets his official visit, along with two other visits to Xavier (unofficial) and Ohio State (official)

It seems clear to me that Beilein and staff like Ahrens a lot. Beileinā€™s m.o. with respect to fall official visits has traditionally been to schedule more desirable targets early, if possible, and hold off so-called Plan Bs until later to give the early guys some time to commit. Ahrens is visiting for the first home football game. Further, at this time, Ahrens has only one visit scheduled after oursā€“to OSU on September 23rd. Maybe heā€™ll schedule additional visits, but if he doesnā€™t, we could be looking at an accelerated decision timeline. And clearly weā€™re OK with that.

I found that interesting as wellā€¦especially considering Lockeā€™s is the following week (who we have been recruiting for much longer).

Some of the scheduled official visits have to do with the kidā€™s schedule as well. Itā€™ll be interesting to see when the other officials are.

After the scholarship offer is extended itā€™s a first come, first serve in terms of committing. Beilein wonā€™t tell a kid that he canā€™t commit when he has extended an offer.

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