Michigan Wolverines basketball coach Juwan Howard is off to an outstanding start on the 2021 recruiting trail, already holding three commitments, two of whom reside as four-star prospects.
Grand Rapids (Mich.) Christian four-star shooting guard Kobe Bufkin and Chicago Simeon four-star shooting guard Isaiah Barnes are the two headliners, though it's also worth noting that Stewartville (Minn.) High three-star power forward Will Tschetter resides inside the Rivals150 as well.
Howard's 2021 recruiting class currently sits at No. 5 overall in the country, with no schools in America possessing more four-stars than the Maize and Blue currently do. Granted, it's still quite early in the 2021 cycle, but it's also worth pointing out that only five other programs have as many four-stars (two) as the Wolverines do — DePaul, Louisville, Maryland, USC and Villanova.
Howard hit the ground running on the recruiting trail and held the Big Ten's top class for much of last year, thanks in large part to the October commitment of Raleigh (N.C.) Word of God Christian Academy five-star power forward Isaiah Todd.
Todd's decommitment was one of the primary reasons the Wolverines' class eventually finished No. 18 nationally and third in the Big Ten in 2020 (behind Illinois at No. 14 and Indiana at No. 16).
The Big Ten as a whole is off to much better start this time around, however, with four league members residing in the current top-10 of the national team rankings — Michigan State (No. 2), Michigan (No. 5), Wisconsin (No. 8) and Maryland (No. 10).
Michigan doesn't possess any five-stars in its 2021 class, but that's not a surprise when considering only three five-star prospects have made commitments so far in the cycle — Rolling Meadows (Ill.) High shooting guard Max Christie to Michigan State, White Plains (N.Y.) Archbishop Stepinac small forward A.J. Griffin to Duke and Allen (Tex.) Pope John Paul II shooting guard Manny Obaseki to Texas A&M.
In what could be a U-M recruiting class that signs as many as three more prospects (according to TheWolverine's Chris Balas this morning), Howard's 2021 haul appears destined to finish among the nation's best.
A top-five national finish is a realistic possibility if the Wolverines do indeed sign a six-man class, especially if they're able to haul in at least one of the several top-25 prospects they're currently involved with.
Dallas St. Mark's five-star small forward Harrison Ingram (No. 9 nationally), Norristown (Pa.) Westtown School four-star point guard Jalen Warley (No. 21), Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy four-star center Charles Bediako (No. 22) and Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy four-star center Efton Reid (No. 24) appear to be the primary top-25 prospects Michigan currently has the best chances of landing.
The highest any Michigan recruiting class has finished since John Beilein took over prior to the 2007-08 season was the 2012 haul that concluded at No. 7 nationally. That year's class featured a five-star prospect in Glenn Robinson, two four-stars in Mitch McGary and Nik Stauskas, and two three-stars in Caris LeVert and Spike Albrecht.
The start Howard is off to on the recruiting trail shows that his 2021 crew will not only have a realistic chance of matching U-M's 2012 ranking, but potentially surpassing it.
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