Michigan basketball: 2023 big man offers and where things stand

Michigan coaches still don’t know how man scholarships they’ll have for 2023, but they continue to make offers. Here’s the latest on the offerees and where U-M stands:

RELATED: Michigan basketball – Portal options, Hunter Dickinson status & more

Listed from most to least mutual interest (as of April 17) – but first, the scholarship chart:

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Michigan “seems to be jockeying for front runner position in the center’s recruitment,” ZagsBlog.com reported recently. Michigan head coach Juwan Howard watched him with the New York Rens in Orlando not long ago and stays in touch with him.

“I play hard all the time, and like playing defense,” Kante told On3.com. “I can score 20 points per game, but I impact the game with my defense, guarding two or three positions in some games. I’m finishing better at the rim this season, and I’ve been shooting it well. I have been watching a lot of Joel Embiid and his footwork, how he scores the ball.”

He’s taken unofficial visits to UConn (a number of games), Providence and Rutgers, and Kansas, Syracuse, Georgetown and others have offered and are recruiting him hard. 

Kante averaged 7.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game with the Rens in the first Nike EYBL weekend. He also blocked three shots.

“Coach Howard texts me after every game I play — ‘good game, good win,’” Kante said in late February. “He has come to watch me play two times, and I have been watching them play a lot this season. They are probably recruiting me the hardest right now. 

“He loves my playing style how hard I play. He wants me to look at Moussa Diabate and Hunter Dickinson and how they play them. They are looking at me as a four and a five. He lets his freshmen play and make mistakes. They also play through their bigs and throw the ball inside. He was also a four and a five, played in the NBA.”

He wants to commit after late-summer Peach Jam, just before his senior season.

“I will be looking for the school who shows me the most love,” Kante said. “Where I can go and develop my game for the next level. That is the dream — the next level.”

Xavier Booker

6-11 • 205 • C

Indianapolis Cathedral 

On3 consensus No. 59

Michigan State seems to be the frontrunner here, and he’s visited several times. That includes an official April 16. 

“I have a great relationship with Coach [Mark] Montgomery. We can really talk about anything,” Booker said. “I have a good relationship with all the coaches. I really think I fit in at that program. 

“They compare me to guys like Marcus Bingham a lot and I definitely see the resemblance. They also compare me to Jaren Jackson Jr.”

The Spartans have made Booker their top recruit, per On3’s Joe Tipton. 

Booker hopes to be on the Michigan campus in the near future, but until he does, Tipton doesn’t view U-M as much of a threat.

“I definitely think I could fit in there,” Booker said of Michigan. “Just talking to Juwan Howard over the phone, we have a good relationship already and he compares to me like Hunter Dickinson and those type of guys. He also says that he works with his big guys a lot, and I feel like that would be good for me.”

He’d like to see Kansas and Virginia, but the two have yet to offer. Duke is also entering the mix. 

“It’s been all over the place,” Booker said of a decision timetable. “I thought I had it a couple of months ago, but stuff changes. I talked to my parents about it, and I think we are going to wait until the end of the summer or early school year.”

Zayden High

6-9 • 215 • SF/PF

Spring Branch (Texas) Smithson Valley

On3.com consensus No. 99

The 6-9, 215-pound High was “quite possibly the most pleasant surprise of the day” at Nike EYBL Session 1 in Orlando, Fla. April 8 weekend. The No. 99 player in the On3 consensus scored 31 points and added four rebounds and two blocks in the game On3.com’s Jamie Shaw saw. 

“After hearing of his 27-point game Friday night, I had to go check this guy out,” Shaw wrote. “The 6-9 forward did a little bit of everything Saturday. Whether that was knocking down catch-and-shoot threes, driving to the rim and finishing through contact, blocking shots, etc. You name it, Zayden High did it. Buy stock now.”

TCU and Kansas State both offered over that weekend, and Michigan followed a few days later. Colorado, Texas A&M, Western Kentucky, SMU, Arkansas, Houston, and others have also offered.

“However, I’d expect to see his list continue expanding,” Shaw said. 

High plays AAU ball with JL3 (Texas) 17U. He was also good at The Circuit League I The Jump event a few weeks ago in Carrollton, Texas. 

“If this weekend was any indication, expect Zayden High to be one of the biggest risers in the 2023 cycle this spring and summer,” On3.com’s Gerry Hamilton reported. “High was around 6-foot-6.5 around a year ago. Now he is closing in on 6-9 with the skill of a small forward in many ways. His ability to stretch the floor as a four man with the ability to put the ball on the deck against bigs, and make the correct pass makes for a coveted high-major prospect.”

Cyr Malonga

6-11 • 205 • C

Louisville (Ky.) Evangel Christian

NR

Malonga is from the Congo and has only been playing basketball for a few years. Illinois, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Georgia and others have offered in addition to Michigan, but there hasn’t been much more on him.

“Michigan, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Western Kentucky, and they’re still coming. Notre Dame called yesterday,” his mentor, Brandon Bender, said last fall. “He’s taken an unofficial to Memphis and Kentucky. Everybody is intrigued because he is a great academic student who has the options of going 2022 if he wants.

“He has tremendous athleticism. He can block shots, and his timing has improved very much. Offensively, he’s coming around. He gets a bunch of tip dunks and finishes around the rim. His game is evolving.”

Matas Buzelis

6-10 • 187 • PF/SF

Wolfeboro (N.H.) Brewster Academy

On3.com consensus No. 11

Michigan offered early, but Duke, Kentucky and just about everyone else has gotten involved with the talented wing. He can handle it, post a bit and shoot, making him a tough guard at 6-10.

Michigan, Florida State, Kansas, Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky and Wake Forest are recruiting him, but he’s focusing on “being a pro,” he said a few months back. He’ll explore all options, including G-League and overseas.

“Matas Buzelis has a lot of tools you look for in a modern forward,” On3 reports. “He has great positional size and good length. At 6- 10 you see he is very effective in transition with great balance and good burst. 

“Buzelis has a good handle in the open floor. He is currently a perimeter-oriented player. He needs to tighten his handle in the half-court, to help get him to his spots better and more effectively. The jump shot has a slow, and low, release. He is better shooting off the catch than the bounce and is a good off-ball cutter, finishing above the rim on backdoor cuts.

“Buzelis is at his best working with minimal dribbles from the mid-range/mid-post area. He needs strength and the motor runs hot and cold. The upside is high here.”

Buzelis has taken official visits to Kentucky, Florida State, and Wake Forest. He’s made unofficial trips to Purdue, DePaul, and Kansas.

Michigan would have to get him on campus to have any shot at all. 

Omaha Biliew

6-8 • 215 • PF

Branson (Mo.) Link Year Prep

On3.com consensus No. 10 

A teammate of Michigan class of 2022 signee Tarris Reed, Biliew’s versatility is his self-described best trait. 

“On defense, I can guard one through five, playing defense on the perimeter or in the post,” he said in late March. “I am shooting the ball well this season. I can put the ball on the floor attack straight lines. I’m a complete two-way player. The way I rebound, too, I can adjust to whatever other teams throw at me.”

Michigan offered long ago, but Oregon seems to have made a move. The G-League is an option, and he wants to visit “for sure.”

“It’s Oregon,” he said. “They have a great facility, and it is beautiful over there. 

“I hear a lot from Iowa State and Oklahoma State. Kansas is staying in touch here and there. Obviously, Arkansas is in contact a lot.”

Michigan hasn’t come up much recently. He does hope the G-League shows more interest. 

“I’d never turn those conversations away,” he said. “I know with my name and personality, NIL stuff will be there. I have not really gotten into that with any of the schools recruiting me yet, but it is going to be something with who I am.”

He plans to cut his list mid-summer. Michigan would have to get him on campus to have a shot. 

“When I go on these visits, I will look at how I fit into the campus lifestyle,” he said. “I am also going to look at how I will progress in each environment. Both on and off the floor, I want to take in as much as I can during my time there. Ultimately, I want to be a pro, so I want to go somewhere that will develop me. But I also want to go to a school where I will grow off the court. 

“My relationship with the staff will play a factor too. I have to trust someone who will hold me accountable to put in the work. I am trusting my future and my dreams with them, so we all have to be on the same page.”