Joshua Christopher Among Michigan's Most Compelling Recruiting Battles
The Michigan staff and fans are waiting for Lakewood (Calif.) Mayfair five-star shooting guard Joshua Christopher to make his decision, and it looks like it's going to play out well for those in maize and blue. Over the last 10 years Michigan has won and lost some hotly contested recruiting battles.
1. Cassius Winston - 2016
Back in September of 2015, John Beilein was trying to find out who his future point guard should be. It was between four-star Zavier Simpson and four-star Cassius Winston, and Beilein chose Simpson. The Wolverines felt like Winston's leader for a while, but when Simpson chose U-M, Winston released a top three that did not include the maize and blue, and a week later he was a Spartan. It's pretty much impossible to be disappointed with what Simpson accomplished, but Winston was the better college point guard.
2. Tyus Battle - 2016
In May 11 of 2015, five-star Tyus Battle surprised a lot of people, including his mom, by committing to Michigan after visiting Ann Arbor. A month later, he reopened his commitment and decommitted from the Wolverines. After another month passed, and an additional visit to Syracuse took place, the versatile point guard chose the Orange and committed to Jim Boeheim. Louisville, Duke and UConn were also involved with Battle.
3. Devin Booker - 2014
Just one day after his 17th birthday in October of 2013, five-star shooting guard Devin Booker committed to Kentucky. Booker was also considering Michigan State, Michigan and Missouri before ultimately choosing the Wildcats. Booker's mother lived in Grand Rapids at the time, which played a major role in U-M's involvement. Booker even called Michigan his "strong leader" at one point, but Coach Cal and Kentucky seem to have a knack getting who they want.
4. Mitch McGary - 2012
McGary, who was once the top-rated prospect in his class, got down to a final three of Duke, Michigan and Florida before picking the maize and blue. He cited Michigan's staff and how comfortable he felt in Ann Arbor as the main reasons why he chose the Wolverines. He also really liked the idea of bringing Michigan's program back to prominence, which he helped do, along with fellow signees Glenn Robinson III, Nik Stauskas, Spike Albrecht and Caris LeVert.
5. Isaiah Todd - 2020
From just about five months ago, five-star power forward Isaiah Todd picked the Wolverines over Kentucky, North Carolina and Kansas. Todd is considered the No. 2 power forward and No. 13 player overall nationally in the 247Sports Composite rankings and would bring a level of versatility and athleticism to Ann Arbor that we haven't seen in the last decade. He's committed but unsigned as he decides whether he wants to play in college or overseas for a year before heading to the NBA. The status of the COVID-19 pandemic may actually keep Todd stateside, which would bolster U-M's roster next year in a big way.
6. Trey Zeigler - 2010
Way back in 2010, Ziegler shocked the world a bit and spurned big time programs for the chance to play for his father, Ernie, at Central Michigan. Michigan, Michigan State, UCLA and Arizona State all wanted the 6-5, 203-pound guard, but stay home and playing for pops won out. Zeigler transferred to Pittsburgh from CMU once his father was fired and then he transferred again to finish his career at TCU. He averaged 16 points per game over his two seasons at CMU, but trailed off quite a bit at both Pitt and TCU down to 4.4 and 10.1 points per game respectively.
7. Luke Kennard - 2015
In March of 2014, Ohio standout Luke Kennard picked Duke over Kentucky, with Michigan and Ohio State also in the mix. Kennard was a lights out shooter in high school and averaged a whopping 40 points per game as a senior. Many thought he'd absolutely flourish under John Beilein, but the lure of Coach K and Duke was too much to overcome. Interestingly, Kentucky also felt the loss of Kennard, perhaps because they already had Charles Matthews committed. Obviously Matthews ended up at U-M and Kennard spent just two years in Durham before being drafted by the Detroit Pistons with the 12th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
8. Jalen Wilson - 2019
After initially committing to Michigan on May 30, 2018, Wilson was released from his letter of intent about a year later following the departure of John Beilein. Michigan was still in the mix once Juwan Howard was hired, as was North Carolina, but Wilson ultimately chose Kansas. Wilson played in just two games this past season and did not record a stat for the Jayhawks.
9. Franz Wagner - 2019
In July of last year, in one of Juwan Howard's biggest early wins on the recruiting trail, Franz Wagner opted to leave Germany and join the Michigan basketball program. The 6-9 guard had been playing on a dual contract for Alba Berlin in the BBL and SSV lok Bernau Alba in the ProB league. Securing Wagner's commitment was huge for Howard and early program momentum and we saw that on the court this past season. It was either going to be Germany or Ann Arbor for Wagner, and Michigan fans are ecstatic he chose the Wolverines.
10. RJ Barrett - 2018
For a while it looked like Michigan was going to have a chance at landing Barrett, who finished the recruiting cycle as the No. 1 player in the country, but he ultimately trimmed his list to Duke, Oregon and Kentucky before choosing the Blue Devils. The Wolverines were in the mix, but as we mentioned earlier, certain programs just seem to have a knack for landing top-flight recruits.
