Hello: Jon Teske

Michigan's multisport commit fest continues with the commitment of 2016 OH C Jon Teske. The 6'11" Teske is Michigan's first 2016 commit, picking Michigan over Ohio State and Dayton. He is currently unranked on the 247 composite but IIRC he was mentioned as a guy who should land comfortably in top 100 lists when they are revamped to take summer play into account. I'll go google those, then.

INFORMATIVE UPDATE

GURU RATINGS

We are early in the process for a 2016 commit and Teske isn't a top-top recruit, so he's not ranked many places. By site:

• ESPN only ranks their top 60 right now; he's not in there.
• Scout has him a three-star and the #15 C in the class. If he was to maintain that position ranking through the cycle that would easily seem him net a fourth star—21 2015 Cs have four stars on Scout currently, and 19 received them last year. They also list Teske at 6'9", so… yeah.
• 247 has only ranked 13 Cs for the class; Teske is not amongst them.
• Teske's not ranked in the Rivals 100 currently.

I couldn't find that assertion that Teske would be moving up after the summer. Must have been on a message board. Scout's Brian Snow did just tweet that Teske is a "very good" start on Michigan's 2016 class and that he's a "skilled 6-foot-10 kid who really runs."

UPDATE: Yeah, it was Snow who must have asserted that on the Scout boards.

SCOUTING

Teske is still developing as a prime option for his high school and AAU teams, as just about every seven-foot 16 year-old is. He comes with a reputation as an excellent shot blocker already…

The 6-11, 215-pound Teske has built a reputation as a strong shot blocker. … Teske can change a game with his defensive ability in the paint.

…and he is still growing, telling Indiana's Rivals last week site that he's a full seven-foot-even and 220 pounds now. His post defense was dominating at times on the AAU circuit:

Jon Teske was spotted putting his best foot – as well as his long, shot blocking arms – forward at the adidas Invitational in Indianapolis.

The 6-11, 210-pound Teske had eight points, 12 rebounds and at least six blocked shots as his Team Work 16U squad took a 65-61 win over Detroit Showtime Select Thursday afternoon. …

Time and again, the Detroit team would try and test Teske in the paint. And time and again, he sent them packing.

“His biggest thing is he alters so much on the defensive end,” Logan said. “He allows our guys to be able to go out and play aggressively on the ball. He has great timing in blocking shots and not fouling, which is very hard to teach. That is an instinct."

He displayed that in spades at Michigan's camp. Kyle Bogenschutz:

Running the floor as well as anyone at the camp, Teske really impressed getting up and down the floor to be active on both ends. Collecting an estimated 30 blocked shots over the course of the day, Teske’s timing is the difference, able to understand and detect when the ball is going up to not just get a piece of it but send it straight back at the shooter with some authority

Despite some reports that Teske is a Prototypical Beilein Big, by which people mean "just a 6'9" shooter," it seems like at the moment he's trying to develop a consistent midrange jumper…

"It's a newer part of my game and I'm hoping to get more jump shots in," said Teske. "They weren't falling today but hopefully they'll fall during the (upcoming) season."

…instead of already in possession of one. He's not a bricklayer, but it's not yet a strength—hard for it to be one when you're a different height every day. His AAU coach quoted above says he "can hit the 15-foot shot" and hopes to extend to the three point line:

"He's definitely athletic enough, can run the floor well enough, he's got a pretty good shot, especially within about 15 feet," Logan told Eleven Warriors. "I'm sure, as he gets a little bit older and stronger, he'll be able to expand that out to the three-point line. He's got a terrific release on the ball."

Things he can improve:

“He can continue to improve his inside game. He relies on his baby hook. I would like him to take the ball more and dunk the ball with authority and get people to back off. … His physical strength will be his number one priority because he is so good fundamentally now.”

As we all know, Beilein loves these guys who have not quite grown into their body, because he can take them and Sanderson them until they are Stauskas or LeVert or GRIII.

STATS

Sophomore high school stats:

Teske averaged 12 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots per game as a sophomore this past year as Medina went 19-7 and reached a Division I district championship game.

OFFERS

Along with OSU and Dayton, Teske reported offers from Miami, West Virginia, and Xavier; Teske was almost immediately down to the two Big Ten schools. Worth noting that OSU was still willing to take him despite already having a commitment from a top-50 post in the 2016 class.

VIDEO

That is all there is, further indication that Teske's a bit off the radar and a Beilein bump may be in the offing.

Also, BEEEEEES

PREDICTION BASED ON FLIMSY EVIDENCE

I've been pining for Michigan to recruit some guy from Cameroon whose only skill is being a 7'2" flyswatter, so I'll take a guy who might end up that tall by the time he hits campus and has offensive upside. Michigan's pursuit of Teske was as fervent as anyone they've recruited in the 2016 class, with coaches showing up en masse to game after game, which bodes well.

By the time Teske arrives, Ricky Doyle and Mark Donnal will be juniors and it's somewhat possible that DJ Wilson is big enough to play some minutes at the 5. A redshirt would be possible, and probably desirable since a kid like Teske is going to keep getting better over the course of his career.

UPSHOT FOR THE REST OF THE CLASS

Teske shouldn't affect anyone else Michigan is currently recruiting. He was Michigan's only C offer in the 2016 class to date. Meanwhile Sam Webb was just mentioning that Michigan will continue to pursue Caleb Swanigan when the writing on the wall about Teske was pretty obvious.

Hopefully the guy is the first bit of what could  be a landmark class.