Recruiting

Recruiting Roundup: Peach Jam Wrap Up

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The second evaluation period of July was headlined by the Nike Peach Jam, where Michigan head coach John Beilein spent the majority of his recruiting time throughout the long weekend. 2016 Wolverine offeree Tyus Battle was among the standouts of the event, averaging 14 points per game and carrying his team to the event’s semifinals, but a number of other Wolverine targets impressed as well.

Here’s a rundown of statistical performances from Michigan targets in attendance.

Nike Peach Jam Stats [Michigan Targets]

Name Team PPG FGM FGA FG% eFG% FTM FTA FT% 3PM 3PA 3P%
Jalen Brunson FIRE 20.8 27 73 37.0% 43.2% 41 54 75.9% 9 23 39.1%
Dillon Brooks BOUNCE 16.8 32 61 52.5% 53.3% 19 38 50.0% 1 7 14.3%
Esa Ahmad OHIO 15.4 25 51 49.0% 51.0% 25 35 71.4% 2 12 16.7%
Caleb Swanigan SPIECE 15.2 30 51 58.8% 61.8% 13 31 41.9% 3 3 100.0%
Jamal Murray BOUNCE 14 24 64 37.5% 44.5% 13 15 86.7% 9 32 28.1%
Prince Ali STMPED 13.7 13 29 44.8% 50.0% 12 18 66.7% 3 9 33.3%
Tyus Battle SCAN 13.6 24 53 45.3% 54.7% 10 15 66.7% 10 25 40.0%
Jalen Coleman OHIO 13.2 22 55 40.0% 50.0% 11 15 73.3% 11 30 36.7%
Shake Milton MOKAN 12.6 20 54 37.0% 37.0% 23 27 85.2% 0 10 0.0%
Kenny Williams BOO 10 15 45 33.3% 45.6% 9 13 69.2% 11 27 40.7%

Find more after the jump including notes on Tyus Battle, Seth Towns, Cassius Winston and others.

Battle adds Duke offer

Battle was a main attraction of Peach Jam, adding a Duke offer in the process, and now holds offers from Michigan, Duke, Syracuse, Kentucky and many others. Eleven 247Sports Crystal Ball projections were made for Battle to Duke after the offer as the Blue Devils are thought to have gained traction in his recruitment.

ESPN was impressed with his critical play after a lackluster EYBL spring:

It’s no secret Battle wasn’t at his best to start the EYBL regular season, but his level of play has risen in a distinctly linear pattern over the last couple of months. And on Saturday night, he turned in a huge performance when the stakes were at their highest to push the Cardinals past Houston Hoops and into the semifinals. More impressive than his team-high 21 points was the timing of his buckets down the stretch of the second half as he rose to the occasion to hit big shots in big moments while also picking his spots to show his length and athleticism in the open floor.

Towns stands out at All-In

It was just a matter of time before Seth Towns had a breakout performance this July. Towns is too big, skilled and talented not to have a top performance at a high profile event. His breakout session finally came this weekend at the Adidas All-In Tournament in Cincinnati.

Towns was one of the most impressive prospects at the event, regardless of class, as the 6’7 forward from the VCC Ohio Warriors was able to consistently score twenty-plus points. Towns shot the ball well from the perimeter, but also showed the ability to put it on the deck and create a tough shot, where is skilled at making shots over smaller opponents. As he gets more confidence and continues to add strength, Towns is one of the more intriguing prospects in Ohio’s loaded 2016 class, as his skill-set makes him the ideal stretch forward at the high-major level. After one of his games, Towns told TDP that Iowa, UCLA and Michigan are the three schools recruiting him the hardest right now. Of those three schools, all but UCLA have already offered Towns a scholarship.

Land Grant Holy Land was also impressed with his play:

Despite what some considered an upset loss to Nova Village on Sunday morning, Towns had his best performance of the weekend, and possibly the year. Scoring a game-high 25 points, Towns was an impossible matchup for the defense, finding success from the three-point line and everywhere in between. Playing in front of Illinois head coach John Groce, Xavier head coach Chris Mack and scores of mid and high-major assistants, Towns left a lasting impression despite VCC’s earlier-than-expected departure. In addition to his high-level scoring, Towns would add six rebounds, three blocks and three steals, showing activity in all facets of the game.

Family 16s an attraction

John Beilein was also in to check on Cassius Winston and The Family’s 16U team at the Peach Jam. Winston stood out at the event and drew praise from Future 150.

Winston is everything that you want in a point guard at the next level, and he has shown that on a consistent basis. He is quick, smooth, handles the ball extremely well, sets up his teammates, and he can score on all three levels. Winston had Michigan State coaches Dane Fife and Izzo watching, in addition to coaches from Duke, Iowa State, Kansas, Michigan and others.

Winston wasn’t the only attraction on The Family’s 16U team as 2017 forward Brian Bowne continued to emerge as a star nationally.

Bowen is the next big thing coming out of Michigan in the 2017 class. At 6’6”, he has good length and athleticism on the wing. Bowen is a pure scorer with a smooth stroke. He also finishes around the rim really well. Bowen had the eyes of a ton of high-major programs on Wednesday night, and for good reason.

Matt McQuaid back on the market

Matt McQuaid opted to decommit from Larry Brown and SMU and is back on the recruiting market. McQuaid is considered to be one of, if not the best, shooters in the country and has been very good throughout Nike EYBL and Nike Skills Academy play. McQuaid had previously discussed a Michigan visit before committing to SMU as his father has ties to the Michigan area.

McQuaid, whose father grew up in Midland, is patiently weighing his options, which include a strong, growing interest from the University of Michigan. Head coach John Beilein is supposed to make a recruiting visit in the next few weeks. U-M assistant coach Bacari Alexander has been in regular contact with McQuaid over the past several months.

“It’s a lot of fun. This is something you only do once, so I’m going to enjoy (the recruiting process) while it lasts,” Matthew McQuaid said in a phone interview a few days ago. And, yes, Wolverine fans, McQuaid is open to playing at Michigan, which has an offensive system that fits his style of play.

“John Beilein is a great coach,” Rob said. “Not every program has the right system that fits a player, but Michigan has one of those systems that does fit (Matthew).”

It remains to be seen how much mutual interest there will be between the Wolverines and McQuaid the second time around, but it’s clear that Michigan is still very interested in adding wing shooters to its roster.

Other notes

  • John Beilein made a stop in Kentucky before heading to Peach Jam to check in on Jon Teske, who added an offer from Miami (FL) over the weekend.
  • Michigan continued to track big man Henry Ellenson as John Beilein spent some time watching him over the weekend. The Wolverines will continue to work to earn a visit from the talented big man.
  • CIA Bounce duo Jamal Murray and Dillon Brooks continued to draw Michigan’s attention in Augusta. Murray was a standout according to ESPN: “Murray is a big-time scorer. He is a bit of a streaky shooter but he can light up a scoreboard quickly. He has range on his jumper beyond 22 feet and he is not shy about showing off that range. He shot it well in a loss to Washington, D.C.’s Team Takeover. Murray scored 18 and showed why he is one of the top talents in the 2016 class.”
  • Esa Ahmad and Jalen Coleman continued their solid play throughout Peach Jam. “Ahmad is one of the more versatile performers in the country, showing the ability to play either forward position,” ESPN wrote. “He is a great passer and is good enough at creating offense to play point forward at times. He had a great game in a victory over Spiece Indy Heat with 22 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. He is a very tough matchup as he takes larger post players off the dribble and posts up smaller perimeter players. “… “[Coleman] has improved his ability to play point guard throughout the summer and is now a legitimate combo guard. He had his scoring tool working versus BABC (Boston Amateur Basketball Club) to the tune of 17 points as he led his teammates to a hard-fought victory”
  • 2015 big man Seth Dugan continues to shoot up recruiting charts with his steady play. “The seven-footer has a great build and showed some nice post skills and footwork in a win over Chi-City Elite. Dugan scored a game-high 18 points and blocked a few shots. He’s also able to step out and shoot the basketball from three-point range if given space” Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, and Vanderbilt are some of the major college showing interest.
  • Danjel Purifoy continues to list Michigan, but says Ole Miss and Auburn are recruiting him the hardest.
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