The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/740130
NOVEMBER 2016 THE WOLVERINE 71 BASKETBALL RECRUITING Shooting guard Eric Hunter of In‑ dianapolis Tindley is Rivals.com's No. 86 junior nationally. The 6‑3, 170‑pounder averaged 24.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 2.5 assists per game as a sophomore last season, helping his squad to a 22‑6 overall record, and he's shot 40 percent or better from long range the last two years. Indiana, Purdue, Nebraska and Xavier are among the others watching him closely. CLASS OF 2017 PLEDGE ISAIAH LIVERS SOLID AS EVER Kalamazoo (Mich.) Central four‑ star power forward Isaiah Livers (6‑8, Rivals.com's No. 120 senior na‑ tionally) earned his scholarship from Michigan after an outstanding sum‑ mer, eventually pledging to the Wol‑ verines over offers from Michigan State, California, Butler and others. His commitment has only become stronger in the months since. Livers has been back on U‑M's campus a number of times this fall, including the football game with Hawai'i Sept. 3. He got a head nod from former basketball great Michael Jordan, on hand as the team's honor‑ ary captain for the first showing of the Jordan Brand uniforms, and hung out with fellow pledges Eli Brooks (6‑1 PG, unrated) of Spring Grove (Pa.) High and Jordan Poole (6‑4 SG, No. 95 player nationally) of La Porte (Ind.) La Lumiere School. All three were on their official vis‑ its, families included. "We all like each other a lot," Livers reported. "We had a bunch of meet‑ ings with the athletic director, the professors at the School of Business, things like that, all with each other. "Jordan's really outgoing. Eli was the quiet one at first, but he got there. It was definitely really cool." Redshirt sophomore forward D.J. Wilson hosted Livers on the Friday‑ Saturday visit, filling him in on this year 's squad ("They're going to be good," Livers said. "Very versatile."). Livers also got plenty of time with head coach John Beilein and has been able to keep in contact with him on a daily basis since. "He's just a really good dude," he said. The highlight, though, was the Ross School of Business tour. "They talk about the past players who went into business, what they're doing now, like Zack Novak," Livers said. "They're all doing really well." Livers was back on campus for the Wolverines' football win over Wis‑ consin. Though he's just gotten into Michigan football recently, he's al‑ ready all in. "I love it," he said. "I can't wait to get there." CLASS OF 2017 NOTES • Beilein stopped in to see all three of the 2017 pledges while on the road in September, and he was able to watch Poole when La Lumiere hosted a multi‑team scrimmage. "Poole hit some shots from deep, handled the ball well and displayed his somewhat overlooked ability to function as a high‑level passer," Ri‑ vals.com's Eric Bossi wrote from the event. "There are more athletic wings in the country, but Poole rates high because of his skill level." • Beilein was at Spring Grove, Pa., a week earlier to see Brooks, Game‑ TimePa.com reported. The team went through a one‑hour, 15‑minute practice. "It means a lot that he does that," Brooks said. "I already knew Coach B. was very personable. That's one of the reasons why Michigan was a fit for me." Beilein also spoke and took pic‑ tures with several staff members that approached him during his time in the school, GameTimePa.com added. "He's a very nice guy," Spring Grove athletic director Greg Wagner said. "There were obviously a ton of people excited that the head coach from Michigan was here. He was very gracious with his time." LIST OF 2017 POSSIBILITIES GROWS SMALLER Michigan would still consider taking one more player in the class of 2017 if it's the right fit, but the list is dwin‑ dling. Beilein has reclassified fourth‑ year player Mark Donnal as a senior, so the big man's fifth year might depend in part on whether or not the Wolver‑ ines sign another senior in the spring. Only a few targets currently remain on the board. U‑M moved on from many prospects after getting a pledge Livers, and some have committed else‑ where –‑ Pontiac (Mich.) Cornerstone wing Jamal Cain (6‑7, Rivals.com's No. 77 senior nationally) to Marquette, New Hampton (N.H.) forward An‑ thony Gaines (6‑4, unranked) to North‑ western and Memphis (Tenn.) Chris‑ tian Brothers guard William Douglas (6‑5, three‑star) to SMU after talking to Michigan and expressing interest. La Lumiere's Brian Bowen (6‑7, No. 22 player in the country) also dropped Michigan from his list after cutting it to six schools. That leaves one primary target at present — Westtown (Pa.) School's Mohamed Bamba (6‑10, No. 4 pros‑ pect in the senior class), a native of The Bronx, N.Y. ZagsBlog.com reports the five‑star Bamba's top seven includes Duke, Kentucky, UConn, Michigan, Syracuse, Texas and Harvard. Bamba visited Michigan for the Wolverines' football season opener and hosted the Wolverines for an in‑ home visit Sept. 14. Duke and UConn have been in more recently. He followed up his Michigan visit with an unofficial to Harvard and has also seen Syracuse and Kentucky. Bamba plans to sign in the spring. Three of Rivals.com's basketball writers have him headed to Ken‑ tucky, while Rivals.com's Bossi sees him at Duke. He did enjoy his official to Michi‑ gan, however, so the Wolverines ap‑ pear to at least have a shot. ❏ Kalamazoo (Mich.) Central four-star power for- ward and U-M pledge Isaiah Livers has been to Michigan's campus a number of times this fall, including for the football team's season opener versus Hawai'i Sept. 3. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM On The Web For regular reports on Michigan basketball recruiting plus videos of U-M commitments and targets visit TheWolverine.com.