Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard will host big time visitors for the second straight weekend. U-M's haul is second only to Florida's in its importance, Rivals.com's Corey Evans reported today.
It is a critical weekend in Ann Arbor, with three of Michigan's top targets coming to campus, along with the son of its head coach, Jace Howard, who just corralled the Michigan offer last month. He has a visit scheduled for Brown but could decide to end his recruitment before it gets that far.
The Wolverines will be focusing even more attention on Nimari Burnett, Lance Ware and Hunter Dickinson. Can Howard lure a fellow Chicago native in Burnett to play for him? Toppling Alabama, Louisville, Oregon and Texas Tech will not be easy. Ware, on the other hand, has often been connected with Kentucky, but do not underestimate Michigan’s chances.
Lastly, Dickinson will begin his official visit excursion, as the Wolverines have begun to pick up ground with the super skilled 7-footer. Landing any of the top 50 prospects is not expected this weekend, but the Wolverines are in a very good spot with the two frontcourt talents.
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First things first ... Howard tells us he will not be making the trip to Ann Arbor. He visited unofficially last month, but Hurricane Dorian but a crimp in his plans.
Howard will likely be on campus within the next month.
As for the other recruits: here's today's latest on their upcoming visits.
On last weekend's five-star visitors ... we provides some intel here earlier this week:
ITF HOOPS EXTRA: ON WALKER KESSLER, JADEN SPRINGER
Rivals.com's Dan McDonald added this on Kessler today:
You may have noticed that I submitted a FutureCast pick for Walker Kessler in favor of Duke. This weekend will be Coach K’s big opportunity to seal the deal on the five-star post player out of Georgia, as Kessler makes the trip to Durham for his official visit.
He just completed an official visit to Michigan last weekend after using the first one of his senior year on Auburn in June. By all accounts, the visit to Michigan went really well. Juwan Howard and his staff really impressed the Kessler family. The Wolverines were in a really, really good spot before John Beilein departed for the NBA, but geography isn’t working in Michigan’s favor here and that will be hard to overcome.
Auburn had some momentum with Kessler as well after a great June visit, along with receiving a commitment from his good friend Justin Powell, so the Tigers remain in a good spot.For right now, I’m sticking with my Duke pick. The Blue Devils have been consistent with him, have the academic situation he likes, a great point guard committed and they aren’t too far from home. The recent surge in Duke players being picked high in the NBA Draft is appealing to him as well.
After this weekend, he has two visits remaining on his schedule: North Carolina (Sept. 20-22) and Gonzaga (Oct. 4-6). Keep an eye on North Carolina in this one. The Tar Heels have some catching up to do as they haven’t been as consistent with him as Duke, but they check all the other boxes for Kessler and he’s built a really strong relationship with Roy Williams. The coaching staff has him sold on how he can fit alongside Day’Ron Sharpe, and Kessler has mentioned in the past being intrigued by how Luke Maye played in Chapel Hill. This could end up being a classic Tobacco Road recruiting battle down the stretch.
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