@BryceHopkins / Twitter
One Up, One Down: Brandon Weston And Bryce Hopkins
On Sunday, Michigan basketball saw its stock improve with 2021 Oak Park (Ill.) Fenwick power forward Bryce Hopkins while at the same time losing ground with Glendale (Ariz.) Hillcrest Academy shooting guard Brandon Weston.
Both rising senior prospects played in Illinois last year, but Weston recently announced that he’d be transferring to Hillcrest for the 2020-21 season. Right around that time, Weston released his top six, a group which included Michigan, and also announced that he’d be making his college decision very soon. Weston made that decision earlier today when he committed to Seton Hall.
Weston grew up in Brooklyn, so he has long-standing ties to the Seton Hall program, so his decision was not much of a shock. However, he is a top 100 overall prospect that would’ve boosted the ball handling in U-M’s 2021 class, though the Wolverines already have a true point guard committed in Frankie Collins.
Regarding Hopkins, the 6-7, 220-pound forward released a top group of Michigan, Kentucky, Texas, Iowa State, Illinois, Indiana, Cal, Oregon and Providence.
Hopkins was committed to Louisville up until Aug. 9, but the four-star reopened his recruitment and picked up a slew of offers. In fact, Michigan is one of four schools to extend a scholarship to Hopkins after his defommitment and wind up in his top group, so the Wolverines have covered a lot of group quickly.
According to Rivals.com, Hopkins is listed as the No. 6 small forward in the country and the No. 34 player overall, so he’s a big time national recruit that would potentially add another high-ceiling talent to head coach Juwan Howard’s ‘21 recruiting class.
Earlier in the cycle, Michigan picked up a pledge from Oak Park (Ill.) River Forest small forward Isaiah Barnes, and be lives in the same town as Hopkins, so the Wolverines are well-regraded in the greater Chicago area.
Do you think Michigan could dip into Oak Park (Ill.) and grab another highly touted basketball player? Should Michigan target a true center or take the best player available? Let us know!
