The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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70 THE WOLVERINE NOVEMBER 2016 BY CHRIS BALAS M ichigan continues to host high- profile basketball visitors dur- ing football weekends, and one — Mars (Pa.) High four-star guard Robby Carmody (6-4, Rivals.com's No. 90 junior nationally) — was back on campus for the second time in a few months when he came for the Penn State football weekend at the end of September. Carmody has been on the move and continues to see different schools. He's visited Purdue, Notre Dame and Michigan a number of times each, his latest Ann Arbor trip following a visit to South Bend. "It was awesome. I love Michigan," he said in late September. "Getting to hang out with the guys a little bit was the best part. We played pick up and hung out at the tailgate." Redshirt junior wing Duncan Rob- inson hosted Carmody, and the two hit it off well. "I hung out with Duncan the most, probably. He's great," Carmody said. "He knows a lot about the program and definitely gave me a lot of insight on what it's like to be a player there. "Those guys, I feel like they are pretty similar to who I am as a per- son. I feel pretty comfortable with them. It gave me a different view- point on Michigan as a whole and definitely made me more interested." There's stiff competition, however. Carmody was at Pitt in September for its football game against Penn State, a 42-39 Panthers win, and he loved his trip to Notre Dame. Purdue is also up there, and he admitted it would be tough to decide when the time came. U-M and the Irish offer many of the same things, he added. "There are a lot of similarities, but definitely a lot of differences, too," he said. "Their style of play is a little bit different, but overall I feel I fit in pretty well with both of them. "They bring two different styles to the table, and they fit me good in different ways. Michigan likes me as a ball-handling two guard, a lot of coming off screens whether it be with the ball or coming off a screen to catch the ball … They've been com- paring it to the way they used Nik Stauskas and Duncan Robinson." Carmody said the football atmo- sphere was the best he'd seen, noting it's "hard to top 110,000 people." His parents made the trip with him and were just as impressed as he was. "My parents love it. They love Coach [John] Beilein," Carmody said. "He's one of the special col- lege coaches there is. I have a good relationship with him. He definitely helps me a lot on my game. "He told me to start trying to lead better because I'm not typically someone who likes to talk a lot. He's trying to get me to be more vocal and lead the team more." Michigan, Notre Dame, Purdue, Syracuse, Penn State, Pitt and Ari- zona are among the teams on his list, and Carmody is still trying to get to Purdue and Syracuse this fall. The Orange offered in late August. He hopes to decide before his se- nior year. CLASS OF 2018 NOTES • Michigan continues to watch a number of 2018 targets and has of- fered three others in addition to Car- mody. East Lansing (Mich.) High forward Brandon Johns — a four-star recruit and the No. 36 overall player nationally according to Rivals.com — visited for the Colorado football game and was non-committal after the trip, though he reiterated he does like U-M. In September, Beilein stopped in to see Carmody and Johns as well as of- feree Jerome Hunter of Pickerington (Ohio) North, a three-star forward and Rivals.com's No. 108 overall prospect in the country. Hunter holds offers from Ohio State, Michigan, Xavier, West Virginia and Dayton, and recently added one from Pitt. The coach also dropped in on Mil- ton (Mass.) Academy's Cormac Ryan (6-5, 190), a shooting guard now ranked No. 62 overall nationally by Rivals.com. Ryan recently picked up a Notre Dame offer to go with U-M, Florida, Indiana and others. "I would say my visit to Notre Dame was positive, and I enjoyed my time down in South Bend," Ryan said. "I thought the visit provided a good, intimate feel for the school not only from the basketball standpoint but also on the academic and student side of things." He visited Michigan this summer and will return for the Illinois foot- ball game Oct. 22. • Greenfield (Wis.) High shooting guard Tyler Herro committed to Wis- consin before the Wolverines could get him on campus. He is Rivals. com's No. 66 junior nationally. • Beilein also visited guard An- drew Nembhard of Monteverde (Fla.) Academy, a five-star who could be either 2018 or 2019 prospect. The 6-2, 180-pounder has been on cam- pus and is high on the Wolverines — big news considering he's currently Rivals.com's No. 17 player in the 2019 class and a five-star player. • Michigan has hosted two other 2018 guard recruits during foot- ball weekends, as well. Point guard Duane Washington Jr. of Grand Rap- ids (Mich.) Christian already holds offers from Northwestern and To- ledo, among others, and is picking up more and more interest. The 6-3 standout, currently unrated, has been to Michigan State more than 20 times. BASKETBALL RECRUITING Class Of 2018 Guard Robby Carmody Enjoys Another Visit Carmody, a four-star shooting guard out of Mars (Pa.) High, has a list that features Michigan, Notre Dame, Purdue, Syracuse, Penn State, Pittsburgh and Arizona. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM