Michigan basketball recruiting: Class of 2024 visitors lining up
Though Michigan coaches are still waiting for their first 2023 commitments, they’ve also been identifying and watching 2024 targets. They’ve already doled out several offers, and several have lined up visits.
RELATED: Michigan basketball – Phil Martelli gives early takes on U-M freshmen
The first, Wichita (Kan.) Sunrise Christian Academy four-star center John Bol, visited Sept. 9 weekend on football’s Hawai’i game weekend. It was Bol’s first official visit, and while he wasn’t available for comment, several close to it believe Michigan is in good position early.
Bol, originally from the South Sudan, started playing basketball about three and a half years ago while living in Nairobi with his brother. He’s a quick study, already the No. 17 overall prospect in the 2023 class.
Texas, Texas Tech, Notre Dame, Missouri, Illinois, and others have offered in addition to Michigan, but Howard made an early impression. Bol was watching The Fab Five ESPN documentary earlier this year — a day later, Howard just happened to call and extend an offer. Before then, Bol had no idea who he was.
“They’ve been talking to me for a while now,” he told Kentucky On3 this summer. “It’s actually fun with Juwan Howard, him playing in the league and being a big man, too. It’s just a good fit for me.
“The way he communicates with me, the way he talks with me, it’s not always about basketball. Sometimes he’ll be asking me about school, about other stuff, and building a relationship. He’s a very good coach.”
This weekend, Michigan will host point guard Travis Perry, an elite shooter out of Eddyville (Ky.) Lyon County. Cincinnati, Kentucky, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio State, Nebraska, Purdue, Stanford, and Wake Forest have all offered, but Perry told KSR he feels U-M is “prioritizing him.” He averaged 27.5 points per game last season.
Kentucky could be tough to beat. He admitted he never expected to get an offer from the home state school.
“Really just being the best teammate and best player I can be,” Perry said of his approach to his junior year. “I saw something today that why Steph Curry is so great is because of what he can do for other people. So that’s really the mindset I’m trying to take into the season, being the guy that makes other people look good, that makes the good come out in them … not worried about my stats or what I can do to look good.”
On Oct. 28 weekend, the U-M coaches will host Caleb Williams of Washington (D.C.) Sidwell Friends School. Michigan has had success in the DMV area, of course, with Hunter Dickinson, Terrance Williams II, and Dug McDaniel all hailing from that part of the country.
Williams, a 6-7, 215-pound wing, is On3.com’s No. 92 junior nationally. Villanova, Penn State, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, and others have offered. He put himself firmly on the radar after an outstanding performance in the 2022 DCSAA Class AA Championship.
