Michigan ties might help with 2026 hoops offeree Jonathan Sanderson, but his recruitment is just starting

The first time we heard Jonathan Sanderson’s name, he was 6 or 7 years old and putting on a show for players like Michigan standouts Trey Burke and Nik Stauskas before or after John Beilein’s practices. He was already learning how to shoot floaters with his opposite (left) hand, putting on dribbling displays advanced for his age, and in love with the game. 

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Part of that it is going to happen naturally when your father is a former Ohio State and Ohio University starter, now Michigan strength coach Jon Sanderson. It’s in the genes, as they say … and according to doctors, the height might be, too. Already 6-2 and able to bully smaller guards as a lead guard who can play on or off the ball, Jonathan Sanderson might have several more inches in him. 

Even if he doesn’t, it’s clear he’s got a future in the game. Offered by Ohio U. this spring after an incredible freshman year at Saline High, Sanderson has seen his stock soar this summer. He dominated in an early summer adidas AAU event in Texas in front of an Iowa assistant, taking over down the stretch. Head coach Fran McCafferey was there the next game, and hours later Sanderson had his first Big Ten offer. 

He’d worked hard to get there, so he probably saw it coming. At the same time, Sanderson had a hard time putting his feelings into words. He grew up in a Michigan household, of course, with two parents who played Division I ball, but has become familiar with all the Big Ten schools as a student of the game.

“I don’t even know [how to explain it],” he said with a laugh. “Iowa … it’s cool because Iowa is one of those schools that as I got older, I could see what a great basketball school it was. Their playing style fits my game. They let their guards shoot it, get up and down the floor, and they like to run. I like that.”

Illinois would follow with an offer later in the summer, joining Eastern Michigan, Marshall, and Duquesne in addition to Ohio, when Sanderson continued to prove his 35-point output in front of the Iowa coaches was more the rule than the exception. 

Many, though, already knew that after his outstanding freshman year at Saline. Sanderson finished his freshman year as a second-team AP all-stater after averaging 19.3 points, six rebounds, four assists and 1.5 steals. He shot 91 percent from the free-throw line and 46 from long range, many of them NBA bombs or off the dribble. 

It was a 39-point outburst in a win at Chelsea that folks in the state really started to learn how special he was. He scored inside and out, off the dribble and in transition, against a very good Bulldogs team, and his recruitment was officially off and running. 

“My team won — that was the most important thing,” Sanderson said. “My team was awesome to me from the jump. I loved that. I was a freshman, and usually the story goes that they don’t let the freshmen do this, do that. But they let me be myself on and off the court. 

“And that game — that’s part of the game some nights. I was just really feeling it and on fire. That was a night that I felt I showed who I am. I always felt I played well, but that game against a tough Chelsea team that actually made it to states in D2 in Michigan high school basketball … that was a dogfight.” 

And Sanderson was the biggest of the big dogs in it. Opposing coaches we’ve spoken to in his league were impressed with his skills as a freshman — not just his shooting, which is elite, but also his passing and basketball IQ. He’s ambidextrous and still making the the floater with both hands, now with even more consistency while increasing his range with his left hand, and he’s knocking down shots from everywhere with extreme confidence. He’s also bullying smaller guards with his bigger frame, one his dad continues to help him sculpt. 

Recently, his hard work (which includes a minimum 500 shots a day along with the rest of his training) paid off with an offer from Michigan. It’s one he’d been working toward, and the latest of many more to come … and it was special. It’s far from a done deal — remember, Juwan Howard was in a dogfight to keep his son, Jett, from Tennessee — but it seems clear Michigan will remain heavily involved until the end.

“Michigan, I’ve been around it my whole life. Everything about it is awesome,” Sanderson said. “I love it … no ‘buts.’ Michigan is great, and the coaches are amazing. Right now, though, I’m searching for options and trying to figure out what’s the best for me.”

He’s only 15 years old, after all, and his recruitment is just getting started. And more offers are definitely on the way for a team-first kid who has the pedigree and the skills to be special.