How Jett Howard Playing At IMG Academy Can Help Michigan Basketball
Over the weekend, four-star 2022 forward Jett Howard announced that he would play his final two seasons of high school basketball at the renowned IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., transferring from Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) University.
Michigan basketball has an obvious advantage when it comes to recruiting Howard, seeing as his father, Juwan Howard, is U-M's head coach and his older brother, Jace Howard, just signed with the Wolverines and will be an incoming freshman on the team this fall.
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How could Jett Howard playing at IMG help U-M out? Well, if he decides to follow in the footsteps of his dad and brother, he could bring teammates from the elite team with him to Ann Arbor. After all, IMG churns out plenty of talent each year. But, even if Jett Howard decides to go elsewhere, his dad will be able to make more in-roads at IMG through supporting and being around his son. He could land a player that way.
U-M has sent out offers to several of Howard's new teammates.
Early on in his tenure, Juwan Howard extended an offer to IMG 2021 five-star power forward Moussa Diabate. He's also offered teammate and 2022 four-star power forward Eric Dailey since.
The Wolverines are also targeting two other teammates, 2021 four-star shooting guard Tamar Bates and 2022 five-star power forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield.
There will likely be more interest from U-M toward other IMG products as Howard and his staff get a chance to evaluate them further.
Juwan Howard having the connection and the 'foot in the door' to recruits at IMG may be all he needs to give U-M a shot at their services. His relationship building through his sons has been a factor in past recruitments, including with 2021 five-star point guard Kennedy Chandler (and others) even though Chandler recently left U-M off of his top five list.
"Just my connection with [Juwan Howard] and the relationship," Chandler told The Wolverine when asked what made the Tennessee native interested in the Wolverines. "I have a good connection with him and his two sons."
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