Michigan Basketball New And Notes

Michigan basketball's season came to an abrupt end but some developments are still taking place. Even with people practicing social distancing, Juwan Howard and his program is still running smoothly.

Saddi Washington Staying Put

Saddi Washington was being considered for the head coaching position at Western Michigan but will stay at Michigan per Sam Webb of 247Sports.com. Washington's choice to remove himself from consideration is noteworthy considering he's a Western Michigan alum. Washington has now been at Michigan for four years and is viewed as a great recruiter to go along with his coaching chops. The 44-year old Washington is going to be on candidate lists from here on out but retaining him for another year, especially with the talent heading to Ann Arbor, is a big deal.

Graduate Transfers

Harvard graduate transfers Seth Towns and Bryce Aiken have both listed Michigan as a school they are highly interested in. The Wolverines are also in the running for Mike Smith, a score-first point guard from Columbia.

Several different outlets reported on March 8 that Towns was considering Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio State, Syracuse, and Virginia. Towns measures in at 6-7, 215 pounds and was the Ivy League Player of the Year in 2017-18, his sophomore season. Towns has missed much of the last two years due to a knee injury that required two different surgeries. As of right now, Michigan doesn't seem like the most likely destination for the versatile forward.

At 6-0, 175 pounds, Aiken is a true point guard but can really fill it up. He averaged 22.2 points per game last season but played in only seven games because of a foot injury. In 2016-17, he was the Ivy League's top freshman performer. He is expected to receive a medical redshirt after missing the bulk of his senior season, which makes him eligible to play immediately.

Smith is another score-first point guard who averaged 22.8 points in the Ivy League last year. Smith has a ton of experience after starting 90 career games. He’s a career 33% shooter from three-point range and he shoots 82% from the free throw line. He's a very well rounded player and would actually be a very smooth transition from Zavier Simpson. Michigan, of course, has David DeJulius and Eli Brooks on the roster, as well as an incoming Zeb Jackson, but experience point guards make teams go.

Extra Year Of Eligibility

The idea of granting winter sport athletes another year of eligibility started to surface almost immediately after the NCAA tournament was cancelled but that doesn't seem very likely at this point. The basketball seasons were canceled abruptly on March 12 due to the coronavirus, but according to CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein, that's that. The policy would also encompass all other winter sport athletes as well, which means seniors across the country, in a multitude of sports, are done participating.

Spring sport athletes whose entire seasons were canceled, however, were granted an extra year of eligibility last week. I still see a lot of issue with it, but the decisions seems appropriate for the spring athletes who lost the majority of their seasons.

Which development are you watching most closely? How important is retaining Saddi Washington? Comment below!!!