Michigan basketball scholarship chart following addition of 2023 four-star guard George Washington III
Michigan Wolverines basketball landed 2023 Dayton (Ohio) Chaminade Julienne four-star combo guard George Washington III, who made his pledge Tuesday morning. It’s time to take a look at the Maize and Blue’s scholarship situation and how Washington impacts it.
At 6-2, 165, Washington ranks as the No. 93 overall player nationally per the On3 Consensus. On3’s own rankings have him as the No. 134 prospect and a three-star. He chose Michigan over fellow finalists Wake Forest, Dayton, Louisville and Virginia. Washington was previously committed to Ohio State.
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Here’s a look at Michigan’s scholarship chart as of Nov. 2, followed by our analysis.
How Michigan got here
After Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate became the Wolverines’ second and third one-and-done prospects of this century, Michigan made some late additions to its 2022-23 roster, bringing in two graduate transfers — point guard Jaelin Llewellyn (Princeton) and wing Joey Baker (Duke) — and a foreign recruit in freshman wing Youssef Khayat (Beirut, Lebanon).
Between five freshmen and two incoming transfers, seven of Michigan’s 13 scholarship players are newcomers. There are no returning seniors or graduates.
As it stands now, Michigan has either none or one scholarship left to offer heading into the 2023-24 season. However, it’s unlikely for a number of reasons that U-M won’t add another player before then.
What’s next?
As it stands now, Michigan has no scholarships left to offer in the 2023 class, with the Wolverines holding commitments from Washington III and 2023 South Kent (Mich.) School four-star center Papa Kante, who pledged in October. The Maize and Blue are full at 13, and would actually be over, at 14, if Llewellyn chose to return for his extra year of eligibility.
However, it’s unlikely for a number of reasons that Michigan will end up being out of spots to offer when it’s all said and done.
First, junior center Hunter Dickinson could well depart for the professional ranks after this season. Secondly, Llewellyn will have an extra year of eligibility due to his COVID season, but it’s too early to predict if he will get invited back and accept an offer to return for another season. Thirdly, there’s almost always attrition to the transfer portal in today’s college basketball.
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With that in mind, Michigan isn’t the favorite for any other 2023 recruits. The top remaining target is Marietta (Ga.) Wheeler five-star point guard Isaiah Collier, and the staff has gone all in. USC is the heavy favorite, though, sitting at 93.4 percent on the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM) ahead of his Nov. 16 announcement.
Denver Colorado Prep forward Baye Ndongo remains uncommitted (but Michigan now has a big man pledge in Kante), and Australian wing Alex Toohey recently took an official visit to Ann Arbor. The Maize and Blue aren’t in the mix for any other uncommitted prospects.
It appears that Michigan will sign just two — Washington and Kante — during the Nov. 9-16 signing period.
2024 outlook
Michigan got an early start to the 2024 recruiting class, with Atlanta Lovett three-star point guard Christian Anderson pledging over a year ago. The high-level shooter will join the program ahead of the 2024-25 season.
As it stands now, Michigan has three more scholarship spots for that roster, but that number will only grow with attrition (and potentially decrease again with the potential of adding to the 2023 class).
The Maize and Blue have plenty of options in 2024, leading with three prospects per the RPM.
