TheWolverine.com was in Georgia this weekend for the Elite 32 Tournament, which featured top recruits from across the country, including 2022 Fairfax (Va.) Paul VI four-star U-M point guard commit Dug McDaniel and ‘22 Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy four-star shooting guard target Jett Howard. Michigan coaching staff members were also in attendance and made stops across the country. Here are some notes from the weekend ...
*** The Wolverines’ staff hit the road this weekend, the first of the July live period, which is set to be a crazy one following the 15-month dead period and a brief live period in June.
Michigan head coach Juwan Howard and assistant coach Howard Eisley were in Atlanta Friday. Howard sat front row for his son’s game, then headed out and was in Omaha, Neb., and Birmingham, Ala., Friday night and Saturday. On those stops, Howard was able to get a close-up look at 2023 Montverde (Fla.) Academy five-star power forward Omaha Billiew, who holds a Michigan offer, 2022 Branson (Mo.) Link Year four-star center Tarris Reed Jr., who was in for his U-M official visit last week (latest intel from our Chris Balas here), 2022 Napa (Calif.) Prolific Prep four-star power forward Yohan Traore — who was unstoppable and the talk of the college hoops world this weekend — and others.
Eisley was evaluating prospects in Atlanta and also caught most of Howard’s game, while fellow assistant coach Saddi Washington, who was in Birmingham earlier in the weekend — where he saw 2022 Grand Blanc (Mich.) High four-star small forward Ty Rodgers and 2022 Chicago Whitney Young four-star power forward AJ Casey — made it into town for McDaniel’s first contest of the weekend Saturday evening (more on that below). Associate head coach Phil Martelli was at UAA Session 1 in Georgia earlier in the weekend, checking out 2022 Grand Island (Neb.) High four-star power forward Isaac Traudt, 2022 Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy five-star power forward Jarace Walker and others, before heading to Pennsylvania to catch 2022 Westtown (Pa.) School five-star center Dereck Lively, who the Wolverines are making a strong push for.
*** Now, let’s get to the two top recruits we saw in live action...
We gave an in-depth breakdown of Jett Howard’s game in our last write-up, which you can find here, so we won’t focus too much on him as his team won another blowout. But here are some more thoughts.
Howard played better defensively Saturday, but didn’t see many of his shots fall. At the same time, he’s a proven shooter and has shown he can heat up at any moment, so it’s not really a concern. His AAU coach and high school coach — we spoke to both after the game — want him to focus on defense, leadership and ball-handling, saying the scoring ability is already there. It’s clear he’s trying to implement all of that during games. Also keep in mind top EYBL teams like Nightrydas, Howard’s squad, are using this weekend as a ‘tune up’ ahead of Peach Jam later in the month and won both games we saw by nearly 50, so this wasn’t ‘do-or-die’ time by any means.
Offensively, Howard was still super active despite not stroking it from deep, and that was good to see. As noted after Friday’s game, he likes to get the rebound and bring it up himself, and he’s great at finding teammates in transition or semi-transition. He could get to the hole at will within the flow of the offense, but there honestly wasn’t a ton of flow since things came so easily for Nightrydas.
Howard can be elite guarding opposing wings if he buckles down on every possession, something else his coaches are stressing. His length and instincts are incredible, and his basketball IQ is his biggest strength. He’s a leader but can be more vocal — his coaches say that will come in time but they’re trying to accelerate that timeline as much as possible.
*** Now, to McDaniel. Full disclosure, we had to head out at halftime of his first game (the schedule came out only about two days before the event while we had our trip planned for over a week) to catch a flight, so we only got to see 20 game minutes of McDaniel in action. Still, there were a lot of takeaways.
McDaniel runs the show for Team Takeover, and he’s working to become an even better leader. A floor general, McDaniel talks well on defense, shoves guys in the right direction and is trusted to steady the pace when things get frantic. That doesn’t mean he’s afraid to play fast, though — quite the opposite. McDaniel is a plus athlete and likes to push in transition. He’s an extremely crafty passer — he had a few dishes that wowed us — and finisher. Sometimes, you’re not really sure where he’s going to go with the ball but makes the right play regardless.
The 5-10, 155-pounder (he looked about 5-9 and a half) is working on his jump shot. We didn’t see a deep ball go down, but he only attempted one in the half. His stroke is pretty quick and simple, with no hitch, and he is good from the free throw line. His shot has potential, and he knows it has to get better by next year when he arrives in Ann Arbor.
McDaniel said he’s relieved to have the recruiting process over with, and feels like there’s a weight lifted off his shoulders. This is a big month for his teammates, and he said his motivation is to win for his team and get his peers more exposure — sounds like a point guard, right?
*** Stay tuned for more Michigan basketball recruiting coverage from our trip at TheWolverine.com, including interviews, video and more.
*** The Wolverines’ staff hit the road this weekend, the first of the July live period, which is set to be a crazy one following the 15-month dead period and a brief live period in June.
Michigan head coach Juwan Howard and assistant coach Howard Eisley were in Atlanta Friday. Howard sat front row for his son’s game, then headed out and was in Omaha, Neb., and Birmingham, Ala., Friday night and Saturday. On those stops, Howard was able to get a close-up look at 2023 Montverde (Fla.) Academy five-star power forward Omaha Billiew, who holds a Michigan offer, 2022 Branson (Mo.) Link Year four-star center Tarris Reed Jr., who was in for his U-M official visit last week (latest intel from our Chris Balas here), 2022 Napa (Calif.) Prolific Prep four-star power forward Yohan Traore — who was unstoppable and the talk of the college hoops world this weekend — and others.
Eisley was evaluating prospects in Atlanta and also caught most of Howard’s game, while fellow assistant coach Saddi Washington, who was in Birmingham earlier in the weekend — where he saw 2022 Grand Blanc (Mich.) High four-star small forward Ty Rodgers and 2022 Chicago Whitney Young four-star power forward AJ Casey — made it into town for McDaniel’s first contest of the weekend Saturday evening (more on that below). Associate head coach Phil Martelli was at UAA Session 1 in Georgia earlier in the weekend, checking out 2022 Grand Island (Neb.) High four-star power forward Isaac Traudt, 2022 Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy five-star power forward Jarace Walker and others, before heading to Pennsylvania to catch 2022 Westtown (Pa.) School five-star center Dereck Lively, who the Wolverines are making a strong push for.
*** Now, let’s get to the two top recruits we saw in live action...
We gave an in-depth breakdown of Jett Howard’s game in our last write-up, which you can find here, so we won’t focus too much on him as his team won another blowout. But here are some more thoughts.
Howard played better defensively Saturday, but didn’t see many of his shots fall. At the same time, he’s a proven shooter and has shown he can heat up at any moment, so it’s not really a concern. His AAU coach and high school coach — we spoke to both after the game — want him to focus on defense, leadership and ball-handling, saying the scoring ability is already there. It’s clear he’s trying to implement all of that during games. Also keep in mind top EYBL teams like Nightrydas, Howard’s squad, are using this weekend as a ‘tune up’ ahead of Peach Jam later in the month and won both games we saw by nearly 50, so this wasn’t ‘do-or-die’ time by any means.
Offensively, Howard was still super active despite not stroking it from deep, and that was good to see. As noted after Friday’s game, he likes to get the rebound and bring it up himself, and he’s great at finding teammates in transition or semi-transition. He could get to the hole at will within the flow of the offense, but there honestly wasn’t a ton of flow since things came so easily for Nightrydas.
Howard can be elite guarding opposing wings if he buckles down on every possession, something else his coaches are stressing. His length and instincts are incredible, and his basketball IQ is his biggest strength. He’s a leader but can be more vocal — his coaches say that will come in time but they’re trying to accelerate that timeline as much as possible.
*** Now, to McDaniel. Full disclosure, we had to head out at halftime of his first game (the schedule came out only about two days before the event while we had our trip planned for over a week) to catch a flight, so we only got to see 20 game minutes of McDaniel in action. Still, there were a lot of takeaways.
McDaniel runs the show for Team Takeover, and he’s working to become an even better leader. A floor general, McDaniel talks well on defense, shoves guys in the right direction and is trusted to steady the pace when things get frantic. That doesn’t mean he’s afraid to play fast, though — quite the opposite. McDaniel is a plus athlete and likes to push in transition. He’s an extremely crafty passer — he had a few dishes that wowed us — and finisher. Sometimes, you’re not really sure where he’s going to go with the ball but makes the right play regardless.
The 5-10, 155-pounder (he looked about 5-9 and a half) is working on his jump shot. We didn’t see a deep ball go down, but he only attempted one in the half. His stroke is pretty quick and simple, with no hitch, and he is good from the free throw line. His shot has potential, and he knows it has to get better by next year when he arrives in Ann Arbor.
McDaniel said he’s relieved to have the recruiting process over with, and feels like there’s a weight lifted off his shoulders. This is a big month for his teammates, and he said his motivation is to win for his team and get his peers more exposure — sounds like a point guard, right?
*** Stay tuned for more Michigan basketball recruiting coverage from our trip at TheWolverine.com, including interviews, video and more.
