No More Visits For Livers
Four-star Kalamazoo Central forward Isaiah Livers, who grew up in an MSU household, caught many people off-guard when he committed to Michigan over the weekend. Following his commitment, however, Livers told 247's Zach Shaw won't take visits to any other schools, and he also went into detail about how he'll be utilized by John Beilein:
“When I visited there in June, they pulled up highlights of like Zak Irvin and Caris LeVert, they want me to play a position like that,” the 6-foot-8 Livers said. “Kind of like a combo forward and when we get on a run still be able to drop down to the ‘4,’ guard the ‘4,’ hit the corner 3 and bang with the big dudes.
“They like when I’m super aggressive. They like when I’m active, cutting, trying to get the ball, taking it to the rack, drawing fouls, and just shooting it.”
Livers's commitment apparently caught even his AAU teammates off-guard, including one of particular interest to Michigan fans:
Insiders weren’t the only ones surprised at the news. 5-star prospect Brian Bowen, who played with Livers all summer and has been a long-time friend of Livers, thought he was heading to State, but was thrilled that he chose Michigan instead.
“At first he was just like ‘what?’ He didn’t think I was going to go there, he thought I was going to State too, he was shocked too,” Livers said.
MSU is the presumed favorite for Bowen. Hopefully his friendship with Livers will play a role in his recruitment. Shaw—a Daily alum and welcome addition to Wolverine247's coverage, I should note—also posted a pretty comprehensive (and free) overview of where Michigan stands with their main 2017 targets following Livers's pledge.
[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the roundup.]
College Practice Camp: Carmody, Ryan Add Offers
While overshadowed by the football team's BBQ, the basketball program hosted their annual College Practice Camp on Saturday, and UMHoops was there to scout the participants, including 2017 commit Jordan Poole:
Poole has deep range and can make some incredible highlight passes. He showed off an array of one-on-one moves in that portion of the afternoon and continued his strong play in the 5-on-5 games. He can make the game look effortless at times, but he needs to continue to tighten up parts of his game. He still takes a few shots that are way too deep and will fire off a few one-handed passes that maybe should be kept in the bag.
His body also needs to continue to develop as he has great length, but still has plenty of room to add muscle to his upper and lower body.
With the 2017 class down to one open spot, the focus was primarily on the class of 2018. Two 2018s picked up offers in the aftermath. Four-star MA SG Cormac Ryan, a 6'5" sharpshooter with good handles, gave his reaction to The Wolverine's Chris Balas:
Ryan averaged 24.5 points per game on the AAU circuit, but it's his all-around game that most impressed the Michigan coaches. Ryan said he was just as impressed with the U-M program, especially after getting the tour of campus and the facilities.
"I really enjoyed my time on campus," he said. "The staff and players did a great job showing me around and showing me what it means to be part of the Michigan team."
Dylan noted that Ryan "more than held his own" going head-to-head with Poole in a 5-on-5 matchup on Saturday. Michigan's other offer went out to another four-star shooting guard, Pennsylvania prospect Robby Carmody, whose dad gave a quick reaction to Balas:
"The offer means a lot," Rob Carmody, Robby's dad and coach, said. "We have been so impressed with everything Michigan has to offer. Coach [John] Beilein has been terrific throughout the recruiting process."
Carmody, Ryan, and four-star East Lansing forward Brandon Johns hold the only offers Michigan has sent out in the 2018 class so far.
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As you can see above, three-star 2017 in-state forward Jamal Cain has cut his list to a final four of Michigan, Florida State, Georgia, and Marquette. We'll see how hard Michigan pursues him going forward; he's a similar player to Livers in both size and style.
Michigan also made the top six for three-star NH F Anthony Gaines despite not putting forth an offer to him. After Livers's commitment, I'm not sure one is coming.
Five-star IN wing Kris Wilkes will announce his top five this weekend. He's undoubtedly a take as long as Michigan stays in the mix.
Happy trails to three-star in-state forward Thomas Kithier, who committed to MSU prior to the weekend. This may have helped nudge Livers in Michigan's direction, so no complaints here even though Kithier was initially slated to participate in last weekend's camp.
While you may not agree with them, MLive's Brendan Quinn has a great, deep dive into Beilein's recruiting methods, including quotes from several current targets on their reaction to Michigan's conservative, drawn-out offer process.