Recruiting

Recruiting Roundup: NBPA notes, camp weekend, more

Michigan will host a pair of camps this weekend, extended a new offer, and several of its top targets had big weekends at the NBPA Top 100 Camp. Here’s the latest for our Patreon subscribers.

Offers, commitments & lists

Michigan extended an offer to Noah Locke, but also saw 2018 target Gabe Brown — who wasn’t offered despite visiting — commit to Michigan State and combo forward Cole Swider cut his list to four, eliminating the Wolverines.

Here’s a quick reaction of what to make of all three news bits:

On Locke: Watching Locke’s film, it is easy to see why Michigan thinks he’s a fit. He’s much more of a two-guard than a point guard, but he can shoot off the catch or bounce. His 6-foot-2 size is a bit of a concern, but he’s been measured with a 6-foot-8 wingspan last summer at a Nike camp — that could easily allow him to play the two.

Again, Locke is arguably the best shooter on the Nike EYBL circuit, if not in his class, and here’s his shot chart from this summer.

On Swider: This felt inevitable once Duke offered. Swider cut his list to four and is planning to take officials starting in June. He looked to be an almost perfect fit in Michigan’s offense, but there are plenty of other targets on the Wolverine board who could fill that role.

On Brown: This one will probably be debated for years to come after Brown committed to Michigan State over the weekend. The Spartans pulled the trigger on an offer and Michigan didn’t. Brown is a prototypical three-and-D guy with great length, bounce and a smooth stroke — but he’s also had 9 Nike EYBL games where he failed to reach double figures.

Camp weekend

Michigan will host a pair of camps this weekend: College Practice Camp (elite camp) on Friday afternoon followed by Team Camp on Saturday and Sunday.

We’ll have more from both camps throughout the weekend and into next week. It’s worth noting that there’s also a second College Practice Camp scheduled for August this year and that Nike’s Elite 100 Camp — designed to host Nike’s top underclassmen — is taking place in St. Louis this weekend. That could have a negative impact on attendance this weekend and shift some focus onto the second camp on August 5th for the 2019 class.

One notable camper who is reported to be attending is Iona (NY) three-star forward Souleymane Koureissi. Koureissi is a new name on the radar, but appears to be an intriguing prospect who has played mostly off the shoe circuits. He’s 6-foot-8 and can step out and hit the three, but also has the length to rebound and finish inside. Here’s some footage of Koureissi from this spring playing for his AAU club, Castle Athletics.

NBPA notes

Several Michigan targets participated in the NBPA Top-100 camp last weekend. Here’s a rundown of how they performed:

Simi Shittu

Shittu was named camp MVP after averaging 18.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per per game.

Rivals raved about his game:

No one was more productive than Shittu this weekend. Just like the most dominant cellular device that the world has ever seen, the discussion over who was the most dominant and powerful basketball player at the NBA Top 100 camp begins and ends with Shittu. He destroyed his opponents with strong finishes at the basket and his consistent rebounding abilities were up to par. Leading the entire event in both scoring and rebounding, Shittu kicked off the camp with three-straight 20 point performances and it took until his final contest of the weekend for a single-digit scoring output to be produced.

Pete Nance

Nance wasn’t all that productive at NBPA camp, averaging 3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game over 7 contests in Charlottesville. Nance did knock down three triples on six attempts and closed the week out with his best performance (7 points) in the final game of camp.

Hunter Tyson

Tyson averaged 8.5 points and 3 rebounds per game in camp including a 19 point game on 8-of-12 (3-7 3pt) shooting and a 16 point game on 6-of-9 (3-5 3pt) shooting.

Tyson will visit Michigan next week and, as we first reported weeks ago, an offer is expected.

Ignas Brazdeikis

Brazdeikis has had a very productive spring in the Nike EYBL and carried that momentum over into NBPA camp, averaging 9.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.

He shot 40% from three, made 10-of-11 free throws and reached double figures 3 times in 5 games on the week.

Race Thompson

Thompson averaged 6 points and grabbed 2.4 rebounds per game. He was very efficient with a 62.2 eFG% and his team, the Rockets, finished camp with a perfect 9-0 record.

Thompson visited Indiana this week and is expected to visit Michigan this week.

Jerome Hunter

Hunter shot just 42% on twos and 15% on threes for the week, averaging 4.4 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.

Hunter has had a huge spring on the adidas circuit, but this wasn’t a great week for him overall.

Brandon Johns

Johns had a big week, averaging 9.5 points and five rebounds per game. He shot 60% on twos and 40% on threes and was a presence on the offensive glass all week.

Other notes

  • Michigan will host a pair of 2018 prospects from the Illinois Wolves next week in Ty Mosley and Drew Peterson. Mosley is a slashing guard who can play a bit of point while Peterson is more of a skilled wing. Both are prospects that I’d expect Michigan to continue evaluating throughout July.
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