Michigan guard Jaelin Llewellyn a top-50 player in On3's college basketball transfer portal rankings
College athletics are slowly (‘rapidly’ might be a better word) becoming more and more like professional sports. The NCAA transfer portal has frequently been compared to “free agency” and NIL — though not its intention — is almost a substitute for a player’s salary. If Michigan basketball were a pro organization, one could almost consider its latest set of transactions a trade, with Princeton graduate guard Jaelin Llewellyn joining the program and, one day later, sophomore point guard Frankie Collins entering the portal. Collins is now committed to Arizona State.
If it were a trade (just from a Michigan standpoint, of course, since Collins and Llewellyn didn’t swap schools), the Wolverines would have the ever-so-slight advantage. Llewellyn checked in No. 47 nationally in On3’s college basketball transfer portal rankings, while Collins was slotted just behind him at No. 48.
Llewellyn received a 95.00 grade from On3, whose list is similar to a high school ranking regarding stars and ratings. Five-star prospects have grades 98-100, four-star recruits have grades 90-97, and three-stars have grades 80-89. The rankings include 16 five-stars, nine players ranked with a 99-grade. Fifteen of the top 25 players in the portal are still on the market, not committed to a new school.
Llewellyn is the No. 10 point guard, and he’s projected to start at that position for the Maize and Blue this coming season, though he does have flexibility.
“He is a point guard who could play combo, not a combo who could play point,” Michigan associate head coach Phil Martelli told MLive, speaking of Llewellyn.
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Llewellyn, a first-team All-Ivy selection in 2022, averaged 15.7 points per game for the Tigers in 2021-22. He shot 39 percent from long range.
Two other Big Ten teams joined Michigan in receiving commitments from transfer portal point guards — Maryland and Ohio State. The Terrapins landed former Charlotte standout Jahmir Young, who ranks No. 25 overall and fourth among point guards. Meanwhile, the Buckeyes nabbed Oklahoma State’s Isaac Likekele, the 34th-best point guard in the portal and an unranked prospect overall.
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The Big Ten has landed just nine commitments among the top 150 players in the transfer portal, which is the lowest amount among the six major conferences. Here’s the list of how many each power league has committed:
SEC – 17
Big East – 17
Big 12 – 14
ACC – 11
PAC 12 – 11
BIG 10 – 9
Michigan’s Five Newcomers
Llewellyn is one of five newcomers slated to join the Michigan basketball roster this coming season. The Maize and Blue reeled in the No. 16 class in the country, per the On3 Consensus team rankings. The former Princeton guard will be joined by four four-star recruits in St. Louis (Mo.) Link Year big man Tarris Reed Jr. (On3 Consensus No. 29 overall player) Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy forward Jett Howard (No. 36), Fairfax (Va.) Paul VI point guard Dug McDaniel (No. 66) and Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) power forward Gregg Glenn III (No. 121).
McDaniel is expected to compete with Llewellyn at point guard and play right away, at least in a backup role, while Howard should contribute at both the two-guard and on the wing. Reed should be the primary backup center, but he also has the ability to play power forward.
