The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/873137
OCTOBER 2017 THE WOLVERINE 55 BASKETBALL RECRUITING ane Wade when finishing at the rim," the site wrote. "Roy Rana, head coach of Team Canada's U-19 squad, saw R.J.'s coming-of-age performance up close. R.J. averaged 21.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.7 steals in the tournament last month. "After his dominant performance against Team USA, R.J. followed it up with 18 points and 12 rebounds in a championship win over Team It- aly. He was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player." "The way he puts together games, it's unique for a guy who still has incredible room for growth," Rana told the media at Toronto's Crown League in July. "What we haven't had is someone take us to the fin- ish line, and R.J. was able to do that. That's what really separates him." Barrett will decide quickly after he makes all of his trips. "I'm a simple person," he said. "If I go to a school and see what I like, then I'm going to go ahead and com- mit to going there. "I'm still going to take all of my visits. I don't want to not visit some- where and potentially miss out on something by making my decision too quickly." Barrett will very likely pick up his Michigan offer on his visit — that's how head coach John Beilein oper- ates — but as of now there are five offerees still available, and four of them were slated to visit Ann Arbor in September. Two were in town over the Sept. 9 weekend — Mono (Ontario) Oran- geville wing Ignas Brazdeikis and Versailles (Ohio) High wing Justin Ahrens. Both Brazdeikis (6-7, 200, four- star prospect) and Ahrens (6-5, 180, No. 138 senior nationally) were spot- ted at Michigan Stadium taking in U-M's football game with Cincinnati. They took many pictures with the squad and hung out with Johns and DeJulius. The visit blew both of them away. "The trip was amazing," Brazdei- kis reported. "I enjoyed everything so much. I just need a little time to soak it all in." He was also planning to visit Flor- ida Sept. 15 and Vanderbilt Sept. 29, but U-M has long been one of his leaders. He averaged 22.4 points, 7.5 re- bounds and 2.3 assists per game in 15 regular season Nike EYBL games with CIA Bounce. He averaged 17.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in five games at the July Peach Jam. Brazdeikis would be a top-50 player if he played in the United States, Rivals national recruiting ana- lyst Eric Bossi said. He was originally considering reclassifying to the 2017 class, but chose to stay 2018. He currently has seven on top — Michigan, Florida, Vanderbilt, Con- necticut, Illinois, Virginia Tech and SMU — and has mentioned Baylor as a possibility. Ahrens, meanwhile, also couldn't have been more satisfied. He said go- ing in he'd already seen everything at Michigan he needed to see. "I like their style of play and have a great connection with the coach- ing staff," he said of Michigan this summer. "I took an unofficial visit last year, and I loved the facility and crowd." The trip in September was about connecting with potential future teammates. "I just would like to build a better relationship with the team and play- ers and coaches to see how I fit with them for a full weekend," he said. Mission accomplished. "It was awesome. I loved it," he said. "They said take my time with a decision and that they know where I belong." Ahrens initially committed to Ohio State, but backed off his pledge in June after a coaching change in Co- lumbus. He is, however, still consid- ering the Buckeyes and was sched- uled visit there Sept. 23. He also checked out Xavier Aug. 22. Ahrens averaged 13.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game while run- ning with the C2K Elite unit on the Under Armour circuit this summer. Michigan will also get a visit from four-star combo guard Noah Locke (6-2, 175, No. 63 player nationally) of Owings Mills (Md.) McDonogh Sept. 16. Locke picked up his offer this summer after leading all Nike EYBL competitors with made three- pointers while hitting 45 percent of his attempts. He was slated to visit Providence, Xavier and Florida, while Maryland, Kansas, OSU and Virginia were vying for the last one. Offeree Duane Washington Jr., however, has gone silent. The 6-3, 180-pound three-star shooting guard transferred from Grand Rapids (Mich.) Christian to Sierra Canyon (Calif.) high this summer, and has since picked up offers from UCLA and Ohio State. He was slated to visit UCLA over the Sept. 8 weekend, Ohio State Sept. 15 and SMU Sept. 22. Michigan appears to have moved on. Finally, it appears the Wolverines are out for 2018 three-star forward Hunter Tyson (6-6, 180). Tyson took a Sept. 2 weekend trip to Davidson and is looking to set one up to Clem- son, but probably no others. "I'm supposed to talk to Clemson about scheduling an official with them," Tyson told GoUpstate.com, adding he enjoyed his visit to David- son. "Clemson is the only school I'm talking to about taking an official trip. "They are saying they really want me, and I could be a great player in their program." Michigan, Wake Forest, Tennessee, Charlotte and Elon were his other options. Tyson averaged 27.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game last season and visited U-M unofficially over the summer, picking up his offer. Justin Ahrens — a 6-5, 180-pound wing from Versailles (Ohio) High who is rated as the No. 138 prospect nationally by Rivals.com — traveled to Ann Arbor the weekend of Sept. 9. PHOTO BY JON LOPEZ/RIVALS.COM