Michigan basketball is on the short list for a trio of recruits

While Michigan is still working on NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness), U-M basketball coach Juwan Howard continues to figure it out on the recruiting trail. Howard has the Wolverines in good shape with an elite 2024 recruit and as a finalist for a couple of 2023 prospects. 

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Howard is still looking for a few more pledges to join power forward Papa Kante (6-9, On3.com No. 36 prospect nationally) out of South Kent (Conn.) school and shooting guard George Washington III (6-2, No. 111 consensus) out of Dayton (Ohio) Chaminade Julienne. Another big, Baye Ndongo from Denver Colorado Prep (6-10, No. 243 On3 consensus), has the Wolverines in his final 5 with San Diego, Colorado, Rutgers, and Nebraska. 

“Coach [Juwan] Howard has done a lot of good things,” Ndongo said. “I know if I go there, he will help me get where I want to go.”

He’s visited each of his finalists minus Rutgers and plans to decide before the end of the year.

Ndongo grew up playing soccer in Senegal, Africa, and was 14 when he started playing basketball. He joined the youth development program in his home country and represented Senegal at the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup. He moved to the United States and attended the Darrow School in New York for two years before transferring to Colorado Prep.

Power forward Eric Dailey (6-7, No. 57) of Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy is another with U-M on his short list. He won a gold medal this Summer with the u18 USA Basketball team in the Americas Championship. 

“I’m transitioning back this season to my original small forward, big guard,” Dailey said earlier this month. “We are down a guard right now, so I’m playing more of a guard position. I like to be a well-rounded player and fill the stat sheets.

“I watch players like LeBron James and Julius Randle; they fill the stat sheets. I’ll watch a lot of older players too, like Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony in the mid-range.”

Dailey has visited Oklahoma State and said he’s working on visits to Michigan and Memphis, “setting up dates.”  His dad played at TCU and then pro ball overseas, while his mother played at Texas and coached in the WNBA.

“I want to look for a program that will play me on the wing or at the guard, my true position,” Dailey said. “I’ll look at the relationship I have with the coach. I want to be in a family environment. I’ll need it to be a controlled environment … I can’t deal with chaos, can’t do drama or anything like that. That’s just not me.

“The school I go to, I want it to be a working environment where everyone is there to get better … a place where there is no jealousy and everyone knows their roles. Where the coaches care for the players and the players care for one another.”

Howard has been on him since his senior year, he noted. 

“And [Michigan frosh] Jett Howard, you know he is one of my former teammates, so he is always in my ears telling me I got to go there,” he added. “Michigan has a good basketball culture and basketball history, as well.”

He’s also looking at going directly to the pros, if feasible. A handful of scouts watched him at the late Nov. National Prep Showcase in New Haven, Conn., On3’s Jamie Shaw noted. 

“Dailey’s game is very comfortable in the mid-range. He is confident off the bounce in the half-court, which is typically him aggressively looking to get to the elbows,” Shaw reported. 

“Dailey has long arms and a broad frame; physically, he is advanced to most his age. In this setting, Dailey played on the ball a lot. He finished his Sunday morning [game] with 20 points and 5 rebounds and was 7-of-16 from the field with 1 assist.”

Finally, Michigan has made great progress with junior John Bol (7-2, No. 24 On3 consensus) with Howard taking the reins in his recruitment. The raw center had just finished watching the Fab Five documentary last year and learning about Howard and Michigan when the U-M coach called him a day later.

Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, and others are in the mix, but the Wolverines are in good shape early. 

“Them being my first visit was mind-blowing for me. As a kid from Africa, me being able to ever go on a visit like that was crazy,” he said. “And it being Michigan, one of the biggest schools in the country, I loved each and every moment there. 

“The coaches, the players … I’m already familiar with some of them. I like how they play, too … the bigs there don’t just set screens; they have roles in the offense, too. That is something I liked. I have a good relationship with Coach Juwan. We talk often, so I would say our relationship is really good.”

The Bel Aire (Kansas) Sunrise Christian center averaged 8.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks while shooting 70 percent from the field at the recent Bob Kirk Invitational, Shaw reported.