Michigan is hosting a pair of prospects this weekend, and at least one — maybe two — is expected to be offered and possibly commit.
Canadian R.J. Barrett (6-6, 180), Rivals.com’s No. 1 player nationally, will not visit U-M as originally schedule, and that’s no surprise. He is down to Oregon, Kentucky and Duke, having also eliminated Arizona from contention. The Wildcats, of course, are directly in the FBI’s sites.
Daytona Beach (Fla.) four-star big man Colin Castleton (6-11, No. 120) will be in, and he’s down to Michigan and Illinois. He’ll receive an offer, and it wouldn't surprise if he jumped on it.
Castleton told us last week Beilein was one of his favorite coaches, and he likes the way he’d be used in the offense.
"Michigan is just so established. Coach [John] Beilein is one of the best college coaches ever," Castleton. "He’s done everything right at that university, and they have produced pretty good big men like D.J. Wilson last year. I like the way he played, so that really stands out to me.
"It’s such a great basketball school, and they have great academics too.”
Michigan already has three forwards in the class in Brandon Johns (6-8, No. 65) out of East Lansing, Mich., Ignas Brazdeikis (6-7, four-star) out of Mono (Ont., Canada) Orangeville Prep, who’d be a top 40 if he played in the U.S., and three-star Taylor Currie (6-9) of Clarkston (Mich.) High.
There have been rumblings that Currie would be asked to move back to the 2019 class if Castleton pledged … remember, he decided to reclassify after pledging this summer, and Beilein seemed amenable. There have also been rumors that he’s planning to open up his recruitment.
“There are no changes to my 2018 vs. 2019 Michigan classification at this time,” he said, adding he would be available to chat this afternoon. We’ll catch up with him then.
This isn’t a case of Currie being ‘recruited over’ as much as it is taking bird in hand and being set with a nice start to the 2019 class. Castleton is a unique talent, and they obviously like Currie, having offered on the first day they extend to juniors.
We’ll see how it plays out.
Four-star shooting guard Noah Locke (6-2, No. 63) of Owings Mills (Md.) McDonogh is visiting Florida this weekend, and he told us no pledge is imminent.
“I don’t have an exact date yet,” Locke said, noting he’s not sure if he’ll hold a press conference or how he’ll announce.
U-M, Providence and Florida are his three right now, and he’s said he wants to go somewhere he can play early. He’s an elite shooter (nearly 50 percent this summer on the EYBL circuit), but Michigan has some great young talent.
As we said last week, he’s had every opportunity to commit to a school that seems to fit him perfectly. Some close to him said they expected him to visit Florida and then pledge to Michigan, a ‘bigger stage’ school.
“[Early playing time] has been the biggest hold up with him, honestly,” Rivals.com’s Corey Evans said today. “I don’t know if he will have the chance to commit after this weekend if he wants to.”
That’s because the Wolverines are also bringing in Brooklyn (N.Y.) shooting guard Adrien Nunez of St. Thomas More School. Nunez is an elite shooter, one of the top five in the 2018 class according to Evans, and Beilein has been in to see him a few times.
Nunez (6-5, 195) is extremely excited about the trip and hopes to receive an offer. He’ll take it on the spot, we expect. We’ll see if U-M tells him they are waiting on Locke of if they take the bird in hand here.
We’ll have updates on all of this throughout the weekend.
Canadian R.J. Barrett (6-6, 180), Rivals.com’s No. 1 player nationally, will not visit U-M as originally schedule, and that’s no surprise. He is down to Oregon, Kentucky and Duke, having also eliminated Arizona from contention. The Wildcats, of course, are directly in the FBI’s sites.
Daytona Beach (Fla.) four-star big man Colin Castleton (6-11, No. 120) will be in, and he’s down to Michigan and Illinois. He’ll receive an offer, and it wouldn't surprise if he jumped on it.
Castleton told us last week Beilein was one of his favorite coaches, and he likes the way he’d be used in the offense.
"Michigan is just so established. Coach [John] Beilein is one of the best college coaches ever," Castleton. "He’s done everything right at that university, and they have produced pretty good big men like D.J. Wilson last year. I like the way he played, so that really stands out to me.
"It’s such a great basketball school, and they have great academics too.”
Michigan already has three forwards in the class in Brandon Johns (6-8, No. 65) out of East Lansing, Mich., Ignas Brazdeikis (6-7, four-star) out of Mono (Ont., Canada) Orangeville Prep, who’d be a top 40 if he played in the U.S., and three-star Taylor Currie (6-9) of Clarkston (Mich.) High.
There have been rumblings that Currie would be asked to move back to the 2019 class if Castleton pledged … remember, he decided to reclassify after pledging this summer, and Beilein seemed amenable. There have also been rumors that he’s planning to open up his recruitment.
“There are no changes to my 2018 vs. 2019 Michigan classification at this time,” he said, adding he would be available to chat this afternoon. We’ll catch up with him then.
This isn’t a case of Currie being ‘recruited over’ as much as it is taking bird in hand and being set with a nice start to the 2019 class. Castleton is a unique talent, and they obviously like Currie, having offered on the first day they extend to juniors.
We’ll see how it plays out.
Four-star shooting guard Noah Locke (6-2, No. 63) of Owings Mills (Md.) McDonogh is visiting Florida this weekend, and he told us no pledge is imminent.
“I don’t have an exact date yet,” Locke said, noting he’s not sure if he’ll hold a press conference or how he’ll announce.
U-M, Providence and Florida are his three right now, and he’s said he wants to go somewhere he can play early. He’s an elite shooter (nearly 50 percent this summer on the EYBL circuit), but Michigan has some great young talent.
As we said last week, he’s had every opportunity to commit to a school that seems to fit him perfectly. Some close to him said they expected him to visit Florida and then pledge to Michigan, a ‘bigger stage’ school.
“[Early playing time] has been the biggest hold up with him, honestly,” Rivals.com’s Corey Evans said today. “I don’t know if he will have the chance to commit after this weekend if he wants to.”
That’s because the Wolverines are also bringing in Brooklyn (N.Y.) shooting guard Adrien Nunez of St. Thomas More School. Nunez is an elite shooter, one of the top five in the 2018 class according to Evans, and Beilein has been in to see him a few times.
Nunez (6-5, 195) is extremely excited about the trip and hopes to receive an offer. He’ll take it on the spot, we expect. We’ll see if U-M tells him they are waiting on Locke of if they take the bird in hand here.
We’ll have updates on all of this throughout the weekend.
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