Justin Pippen on choosing 'great guy' Dusty May, Michigan, his strengths and more

New Michigan Wolverines basketball head coach Dusty May quickly scheduled a visit with four-star guard Justin Pippen late in the recruiting process. Just days after seeing campus for the first time, Pippen — the son of NBA legend Scottie Pippen and younger brother of Memphis Grizzlies guard Scotty Pippen Jr. — announced his pledge to the Maize and Blue.

Appearing on the ‘Defend The Block’ podcast with host Brian Boesch, the Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon prospect explained how it all came together so quickly.

“He reached out to my agency first, and then he called me,” Pippen said. “I talked to him. He was a great dude. I kinda was open to it, got to know him, he was great. We got on a Zoom call, and then he had me come out for a visit, and it was great. It felt like home. Just from there it felt really great for me.

“I just know Michigan’s background and stuff, all the players that they’ve had that go to the league. My long-term goal is to go to the league and play as long as I can, so I know the development that Michigan has and the publicity they has are really good for me.

“I came [on my visit] about four days before committing. So I came here. I feel like the city is a little small town, everything’s close, so I really liked it. Being here, I even like it even more. Everything is close. Great group of people in Ann Arbor. I like it.”

Growing up, Pippen grew a “passion” for basketball from being around his father and getting unprecedented access to professional teams and players.

“I feel like all that growing up just tossed a ball in my hands,” Pippen said.

He’s learned valuable lessons from his father, too. Scottie Pippen won six NBA championships and was a seven-time All-Star.

“Just push myself to exhaustion,” the Michigan guard said of what his father has taught him. “He didn’t really come from a lot of money, so he had to work for everything he had. I’m not really like that, so he still wants me to work as hard as I can.”

Pippen, who will wear No. 10, is a 6-foot-3, 180-pounder who hit a late growth spurt, which helped him become one of the fastest rising players in the country as a senior, after playing sparingly for a loaded team his junior campaign. Pippen averaged 16.5 points, 4.9 assists and 4.5 rebounds his final prep season.

“I think just watching the seniors ahead of me, I really thought to myself I needed confidence,” Pippen said of receiving less playing time as a junior. “The whole summer, I worked out, I got a lot of confidence, I became more mature on the court and I feel like it just carried over and made a lot of things easier.”

Pippen said he models his game after his brother, who played college basketball at Vanderbilt, and Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball. A combo guard, Pippen is comfortable at both the point and shooting guard spots.

“First off, my shooting,” Pippen said of the strengths of his game. “I feel like I’m a great shooter. As well as my IQ, making the right reads with the ball, off the ball a lot of cuts and that stuff. I feel like I’m really good at that type of stuff.”

Pippen is working on adding strength this offseason in preparation for his first year of college basketball.

“Getting stronger, of course,” he said. “A lot of the dudes are bigger than me, so I feel like that’s the biggest thing. And then just getting in shape. The fatigue and all the stamina in college is a lot different than high school, so that’s another big piece of it.”

Michigan strength coach Matt Aldred has been a favorite of the players so far.

“He’s a great guy,” Pippen said of Aldred. “He pushes us to exhaustion, so it’s really good. Out of the weight room, he’s cool. You can talk to him whenever you want. I like him a lot. He’s a guy that can push us in the weight room and is cool off.”

Pippen is one of three scholarship freshman guards on Michigan’s roster, joining Durral ‘Phat Phat’ Brooks and L.J. Cason. The three have formed great relationships in the early going.

“I feel like we’re all going through this process together, so we bonded really well since the start,” Pippen said. “We’re a great group of teammates. We’ve been through this all together, so we can all relate. It’s helped us.”

Pippen has been imagining the moment of stepping onto a college floor as a player for the first time, and he’s excited for the season to start in November.

“I feel like it’ll be great,” Pippen remarked. “I’m really excited to play with this group of people. I always envisioned myself playing at the highest level, as well as college, so I can already envision it right now. Hopefully a group of people in the stadium cheering, and we’re gonna be doing a whole lot of winning.”