Isaiah Collier’s recruitment hasn’t followed the conventional arc for a five-star prospect. Larry Thompson — who doubles as Collier’s uncle and coach at Wheeler High School in Marietta, Georgia – is quick to admit that much.
High-major suitors still abound, vying with each other to land Collier, the ninth-ranked recruit and second-ranked point guard in the Class of 2023, per 247Sports’ composite rankings. What is different, though, is the manner in which the Colliers have approached the whole recruiting process. From the very start, they have prioritized relationships and embraced meticulous stages of research, proceeding methodically.
“His recruitment is one of the quieter ones for someone of his stature, just because that’s not how we do business,” Thompson explained to UM Hoops Monday.
The journey is now nearing a crucible. Collier has narrowed his list to a select few suitors — USC, UCLA, Cincinnati and Michigan. He will take an official visit to Ann Arbor this week, beginning Thursday, with a final decision looming perhaps not long after that.
Michigan officially extended Collier a scholarship offer back in March. The news, Thompson says, was initially met with a dose of skepticism.
“We don’t take it for granted, but it was kinda like, OK, this is a place that pounds it into the post a lot, we’re not sure if they’re a guard-centric place,” Thompson recalls.
So, Collier dove head-first into their research, learning more about how Michigan deploys its guards under Howard. Michigan’s coaching staff helped assuage any concern, presenting Collier with footage and statistics of recent Michigan point guards, astutely noting their high usage rates and play-making capabilities.
Collier and his confidants changed their stance.
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