The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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56 THE WOLVERINE MAY 2017 BASKETBALL RECRUITING son is a 6-8 two-guard, not a point guard, but he's a great fit in a lot of ways. He averaged 11.9 points and 4.5 rebounds, plus 2.3 assists to less than a turnover per contest — so he can pass. Additionally, he's a 3.8 student that shot 44.7 percent from the floor and 41.5 percent from long range last year. Johnson will have two years re- maining, and he's also eligible imme- diately since he's a graduate transfer. Beilein had an in-home visit with him Easter weekend that reportedly went very well. Another late, potential addition is former Wright State guard Mark Alstork, who played for Michigan assistant Billy Donlon when he was the head coach at Wright State. One of the negatives — he averaged 4.3 turnovers per game last year and has a negative assist-to-turnover ratio throughout his career, but he was a 38.5 percent three-point shooter last year and can put it on the floor a bit. The Wolverines are also in the run- ning for a pair of very good grad- transfer point guards. The first is Howard's James Daniel, who led Di- vision I scorers as a junior with 27 points per contest. He played in only two games last season due to ankle injuries, but he's got one more season of eligibility and will transfer. DePaul, Tennessee and Ohio State are also in- volved. Daniel was on crutches during his team's senior day to repair a bone that was chipped when he injured his an- kle during a practice before the start of the season. Beilein spoke glowingly of him this year before U-M's game with the Bison. Ohio University point guard Jaaron Simmons, meanwhile, visited U-M the weekend of April 15. From the Dayton Daily News: "A 6-foot-1, 184-pound play-making guard, Sim- mons has been outstanding for the Bobcats the last two seasons after transferring from Houston, where he played as a freshman. He averaged 15.9 points and 6.5 assists for Ohio [20-11 overall, 11-7 Mid-American Conference] this season. "Simmons upped that scoring aver- age to 17.2 in MAC play and 20.3 after taking over the role of OU point guard from Antonio Campbell, who was lost for the remainder of the season with injury for OU's final 16 games." Simmons notched a season-high 38 points against MAC champion Akron and was named first team all- conference. He surpassed 1,000 career points this season and was eighth in the nation among NCAA Division I players in assists (6.5 per game). The previous season, he was third in the nation for assists (7.9). He also set the all-time MAC single- season assists record in 2015-16 (275), his first with the Bobcats. Simmons has declared for the NBA Draft, but he's not on any draft boards and could be a great fit as a grad transfer. Sources in Ohio say his visit went extremely well and that this one bears watching closely. MICHIGAN WATCHING 2018 JEROME HUNTER CLOSELY Michigan coaches continue to fol- low the 2018 class, in addition to re- cruiting the 2017s, and they've got several great options. Jerome Hunter is one, and he had an eye-opening moment in a mid- March playoff game between his Pickerington (Ohio) North team and Upper Arlington. The four-star small forward (6-7, Rivals.com's No. 72 junior nationally) scored 18 of his 27 points in the sec- ond half of a 64-44 win, doing most of his work inside. The class of 2018 Michigan offeree also showed well at the recent Elevate Hoops Capital Hoop Fest in April, informing The Wolverine he and his team made the championship game. "I feel like Pittsburgh, Michigan, Butler and Xavier are making me their priority," Hunter told elevatehoops. com. He clarified with The Wolverine that those are four teams on a list that in- cludes other schools, too, such as West Virginia and more. "They're four schools that I like," he said. "But it's not a top four." Hunter currently has no plans for visits, but he'll likely take more this spring. He enjoyed an outstanding trip to U-M last fall. "I liked Michigan a lot. Coach Beilein and I walked around, and he's really cool," he said." [Assistant] Saddi Washington is really cool too, and just the overall visit was really great. His pitch to me was that he wants me to come in and start right away. He wants me to play the 'wolf' position, which is their main scorer on the team. He just wants me to make an impact right away." Hunter averaged 19.3 points and 10.9 rebounds per game in the regular season. ❏ On The Web For regular reports on Michigan basketball recruiting plus videos of U-M commitments and targets visit TheWolverine.com. CLASS OF 2018 NOTES • "It would be an upset if Pete Nance does not end up at Michi- gan, Purdue or Northwestern," Ri- vals.com's Corey Evans reported recently of the 2018 three-star pros- pect. Nance, a 6-8 forward out of Akron, Ohio, and son of former NBA great Larry Nance, has been on U- M's radar a while. "I just really like the coaches, and the players seem like great guys. Ev- eryone just seems pretty awesome," he said of Michigan. "I have been up there just one time; I think it is really cool. They have a nice program." • Michigan coaches were also in to see Katy (Texas) Tompkins guard Ja- mal Bieniemy recently. The 6-5 ath- lete and Rivals.com's No. 132 junior nationally is very interested in U-M. Creighton, Texas A&M and Houston have offered. Four-star forward Jerome Hunter has offers from Michigan, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Xavier, among others, and is ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 79 prospect in the junior class. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM