Michigan basketball recruiting: 2024 John Bol, another honor for Christian Anderson
Michigan head coach Juwan Howard offered Bel Aire (Kan.) Sunrise Christian big man Jon Bol (7-2, On3.com No. 29 consensus player nationally) last year. Since then, their relationship has only grown stronger.
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Bol visited in the fall and continues to keep tabs on the program.
“When I went to Michigan, I would say the whole coaching staff stood out to me,” Bol said in mid-March. “They took the time to get to know me and my whole family. I talk to them all on like a weekly basis.
“The team, too. The culture of the team, how they practice, and everything they do as a team stood out. They are all there as a family if one person is down, everyone is there to pick him up. That’s something that is rare for a team. Michigan itself is a big school with a lot of kids and a lot to do. And it is a good school too. It was all good in Michigan.”
Bol has also visited Missouri. Many others are still on his radar as he searches for a program that “actually wants him,” he said … Michigan would qualify.
“The top schools are Texas, Texas Tech, Florida, and a lot of others,” he added. “I’m hearing from Arkansas, Kansas, West Virginia, and Creighton a lot too, but they haven’t offered yet.
… “The culture of the team is something I will look at too. The team being together as a family. Sometimes, it can be hard for you as a player, like something happens at home, and you need a teammate or somebody there for you.”
In that respect, Michigan seems to have made an impression.
Michigan pledge Christian Anderson with another honor
Atlanta Lovett guard and Michigan pledge Christian Anderson Jr. continues to grow, both in stature and in his game. The 5-11 guard added another honor recently — Georgia state 4A player of the year.
Anderson led the regional champs to a 20-10 record, averaging 26.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. He was honored as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,572 points Jan. 9. He then scored a season high 40 (of his team’s 48) points in a 68-48 loss to Pace, making 14 of 23 field goals. A month later, Anderson made 16 of 21 field goals, including 8 triples, and notched 46 points and 5 assists — a 95.2 percent eFG (effective field goal) percentage in a win over Stockbridge (eFG considers the triple vs. the two-pointer).
The future Michigan point guard then averaged 39.3 points per game in playoffs where he showed out. He scored 20 in a 49-48 loss to Madison County in the state quarterfinals. His triple from half court hit the rim as time expired in the heartbreaking loss.
“I think this is going to be the first time in the Big Ten Conference where a coach has the chance to have a player who does everything that he wants him to do while adjusting to any level of play,” Adrian Collins, the founder and director of Runna Report, which specializes in grassroots basketball scouting, said. “If Juwan Howard wants Christian to score 30 points a game, he can set that up. If Juwan wants Christian to record 10 assists, he can set that up.”
He won’t get him at Michigan until after next season, but there’s hope he can be an immediate contributor.
