Any basketball recruitnik knows that July means evaluation period and starting July 6th, coaches are finally allowed to hit the road. The two July evaluation periods run from July 6-15 and July 22-31. Say what you want about AAU ball but this is the month that matters most for high school basketball prospects. Put together a string of great performances and you’ll land some offers.
Michigan already has one commitment (scoring dynamo Carlton Brundidge) for the class of 2011 and they could add two more players to the class. Using both remaining scholarships would mean that the Wolverines have two to use in 2012. You can view the full scholarship breakdown here.
Hot Boards:
Including Carlton Brundidge, this is roughly what the roster would look like when the 2011 class sets foot on campus (sorted by age):
- Guards: Douglass, Vogrich, Morris, Brundidge
- Wings: Novak, Smotrycz (hybrid), Hardaway, Christian
- Bigs: Smotrycz (hybrid), Morgan, McLimans, Horford
As you can see, the roster composition is pretty even which means Michigan could use their two remaining scholarships in a number of different ways. For a long time I was convinced that Michigan would push for a wing and a big to round out the class. However, at this point I think they would be best suited to take the two best available prospects that they can find without pigeon holing themselves into a certain position.
The 2012 class will naturally depend on how the 2011 class is wrapped up. With two scholarships (barring attrition) to give, Michigan will still have to be relatively stingy with the scholarship offers. They have offered guards (Ferrell, Harris), wings (Hawkins), and bigs (Costello) so it doesn’t appear that they have any specific positions in mind.
Think of the hot boards (2011, 2012) as a snapshot. They are our best estimation of the Michigan recruiting landscape as it stands today today. They are by no means complete and they are subject to change at any moment.
Global Game
The evaluation period is already synonymous with long days of travel for college coaches but this year there is an interesting twist: the FIBA U17 Championships in Hamburg, Germany.
The U17 Championships run from July 2-11 which means a large chunk of the action falls within the NCAA evaluation period. The word on the street is that Michigan will be represented in Germany as they make the trek to see Canadian point guard Kevin Pangos. Canada is 2-1 thus far and Pangos was recently interviewed by the FIBA website.
Michigan’s other European prospect is wing forward Jonathan Gilling. The Denmark native is expected to play with Denmark’s U20 national team in the FIBA European Championship B Division from July 14-24.
UMHoops Summer Coverage
As you have hopefully realized by now, we’ve done our best to improve the recruiting coverage on this site over the last few months. We’ve already covered a number of AAU events and we are planning to continue our coverage in July. Joe will be at the adidas Invitational (July 6-8) and Kentucky Hoopfest (July 9-11) and provide nightly updates, video interviews, and whatever else he can come up with. I’ll be stopping into the King City Classic and ESPN Super Sophomore Camp this week as well.
We can’t be everywhere but we will do our best to provide some great coverage.
