Dream 2020 Class? --- Fab Five 2.0 to kick things off?

Recruiting
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Looking at the 2020 roster…

C: C. Castleton(Jr.) —
PF: B. Johns(Jr.) —
SF: I. Livers(Sr.)-??? — C. Bajema(So.)-???
SG: A. Nunez(Jr.) —
PG: D. DeJulius(Jr.) — E. Brooks(Sr.)-???

-Livers could go pro?
-Brooks could grad-transfer?
-Bajema could de-commit?

There could be as few as 4/13 scholarships accounted for.

CG Zeb Jackson (4*/#59ovr). Seems to be 100% on board still, so long as we still are. Seems like an outstanding prospect.

F Scottie Barnes (5*/#4ovr). Just 2 CB’s on his 247 profile, 1 to Oregon and 1 to Syracuse (which is no longer in his top 8). Reports interest in Oregon, Duke, UK, KU, FSU, Miami, OSU and Cal. Seems pretty open. Haven’t talked seriously about someone like this since Jaylen Brown. But, HS teammate of Juwan’s sons’. Seems pretty damn realistic to me.

SF Cade Cunningham (5*/#7ovr). Not a teammate of Juwan’s sons’, but a Florida prospect, and one who previously had high interest in Michigan. Seems to be favoring UK at this point, but perhaps Juwan could make a big impact?

PF Isaiah Jackson (5*/#14ovr). Ohio native seems to be favoring MSU at the moment. Had UofM in his top-4 (along w MSU, Zona and Louisville)… before we hired arguably the best big man coach in basketball. Show him some tape of all of Jarren Jackson Jr.'s 10min of playing time in his last game as a Spartan! Not to mention that Izzo is almost surely retiring after this yr. Seems quite realistic to me.

C Walker Kessler (5*/#16ovr). GA native seems to be favoring UGA at the moment. Also had UofM in his top-4 (along w UGA, Duke and UVA)… before we hired arguably the best big man coach in basketball. Might be a tough fight, but I DEFINITELY wouldn’t call it a pipe dream or anything.

CG Nimari Burnett (5*/#23ovr). Chicago native. Has already publicly expressed Howard interest. No publicly stated favorites at this time.

PG Adam Miller (4*/#24ovr). Another Chicago native. An AAU teammate of Howard’s son. Has a rather weak top-4 of Kansas/Louisville/Illinois/ASU.

Should be room for the less heralded Zaire Wade and Jace Howard as well.

Gonna be fun!

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This would be amazing, but don’t forget about Jabri Abdur Rahim. I think that kids legit and should be a top priority. Maybe that’s my default reaction as I wasn’t around in the fab five era so I’m never used to us even been considered for one and done type talents like Barnes.

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I’d like to see a mix of very highly touted one-and-done players with guys who will stay 3-4 years. To that effect Jabri Abdul-Rahim and Scoobie would both be great additions to the class. Maybe Jace Howard as a PWO or a guy who could give up his scholarship if needed.

I’d also like to see a International/Euro scout added to the staff. Somebody who scouts “without borders” and Euro camps for guys who want to play college ball.

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I really agree with this. Guys like Mark Few have made a living off of foreign prospects. If we can add a foreign guy every other cycle that would be nice, as they’ve panned out pretty well in recent years for schools.

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Agreed about the need for some for four-year guys in the mix.

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While we’re dreaming, we gotta put Cade Cunningham on the list, right?

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Zeb, Barnes, Burnett, Cunningham, Kessler, Zaire Wade and Jace Howard. Count me in

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I was limiting the OP to guys w clear Howard connections and/or previously stated UofM interest. But if you’d like to get a little broader with your dreams… just talking about top-25 guys here:

Midwest prospects:
-Milwaukee SF Jalen Johnson (5*/#3ovr). Favoring Duke.
-Minneapolis CG Jalen Suggs (5*/#9ovr). Favoring OSU.

Florida prospects:
-SF Cade Cunningham (5*/#7ovr). Favoring UK.
-SG Jaden Springer (5*/#11ovr). Favoring UNC.

‘19 prospects:
-Jaden McDaniels hasn’t signed a NLOI yet.
-Jaylen Wilson, of course.
-Jaylen’s best friend, RJ Hampton (never know?)

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I think it’s reasonable to include guys with a known Michigan interest, and while Cunningham’s POV certainly could have changed with Beilein leaving, we at least know something about playing here resonated with him.

Prob fair to include ALL the Jalens too :rofl:

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Agree wholeheartedly on the ‘mixing 1-and-dones with 3+ yr guys’ sentiment though.

The All-Freshman format has basically worked once, with that Anthony Davis Calipari squad.

Since then, Louisville, UConn, Duke, Nova (twice), UNC, UVA.

All those ^ teams had a nice mix.

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Didn’t realize Cade had previously been more interested in Michigan (we’re no longer listed in his 247 favorites). Have to imagine Juwan’d have a very positive impact on that.

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If Juwan can control Detroit/Michigan recruiting, Chicago recruiting, and South Florida (Orlando to Miami) recruiting… plus grab some other Midwest guys (namely out of Ohio)… its gonna be scary. Those ^ are some major hotbeds.

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We will see. I doubt he locks down Michigan, but if he can grab a guy or two every other year from here if they are good enough it’d be great. Don’t take players from the state just for the sake of it though. Beilein I thought did a pretty good job at that.

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Zack loveday as well.

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Brooks will not be a grad transfer because he didn’t redshirt. Let’s not specualte about people leaving. I think all players are on board and want to see what juwan can do.

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Said “might”. I’d be surprised if Brooks, DeJulius and Zeb are all on the same roster together. The vet that isn’t starting… probably… finds somewhere to start.

most fball and bball players graduate in 3 yrs, taking spring and summer semester classes.

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I agree, bad to blindly throw out names of transfer candidates. There’s not enough info available as to Coach Howard’s systems and player preferences. A tweak to a system + a summer in the weight room and someone could go from off the radar to starter :man_shrugging: or someone else could go from presumed starter to role player :man_shrugging:

But I think it is fair to presume, on a big picture, that of the 11 in the program when Beilein left (9 returning players + 2 signed LOIs), that it is likely at least 1 will leave the program this spring/summer based on the change in coaches and at least 1 will leave the program in September/October after seeing how his role is progressing in early workouts/practices. It’s also likely the incoming staff nets at least 1 new player who wasn’t a part of that 11 man group when Beilein stepped down, often a name that wasn’t on the radar under the former staff.

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Zeb Jackson has transferred to Monteverde high in Florida… home of Cade Cunningham, the #7 ranked player in the 2020 class, who previously had interest in Michigan.

Bet a dollar that Cade’s friends with Scottie Barnes, the #4 player in the 2020 class, who plays HS ball with both of Juwan’s sons.

Bet a dollar that Juwan and Zavier’s dad orchestrated this transfer.

:blush::blush::blush:

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Zeb has been planning to transfer for awhile. I’ve known he was leaving Maumee since the winter. The initial rumors were to Huntington Prep which I found interesting and a good fit. Huntington has Zach Loveday and JT Thor, both were reported targets of Michigan. They also have AJ Hoggard who recently got a MSU offer and is where Miles Bridges played. They have a opening at one of the guard spots and i personally think Zeb>Hoggard as well. The other options were Montverde and Prolific Prep. Prolific seemed like a odd fit because Nimari Burnett, Jalen Green and Zach Harvey are already there. All 3 are top 50. Burnett and Green 5 stars. Montverde lost everyone but Cade in the starting lineup. Return 3 5 star freshman and top 50 wing Moses Moody but that was it. So it was down to Huntington and Montverde logically. I heard about a week ago he was likely going to MV. He visited there a couple weeks ago.

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Makes a lot of sense for Zeb. Tough to get better playing ball in such a poor league.

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