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Newsstand: Former Michigan basketball standouts Zavier Simpson, Charles Matthews to appear on ABC's 'Shark Tank'

clayton-sayfieby: Clayton Sayfie05/18/22CSayf23
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Four Michigan alums are set to face the sharks. The Players Trunk co-founders Jason Lansing and Austin Pomerantz, along with former Wolverines basketball players Charles Matthews and Zavier Simpson, will pitch the company for investment on ABC’s ‘Shark Tank.’ Lansing and Pomerantz were U-M team managers. The episode will air Friday night at 8 p.m. ET.

The Players Trunk is a platform for former college athletes to capitalize on the gear they earned during the duration of their college career, per the company’s website.

“We were both managers for the Michigan basketball team. And two of our friends who were on the team wanted help selling their old gear, and there wasn’t really a way to do it. And that’s when we sort of thought of the idea,” said Lansing in an interview with Chicago Business.

“You can sell items that you can’t buy in the bookstore, right? So it could be a warmup jacket that you literally can’t find anywhere else than directly from an athlete, and to be able to wear that to a game and have everyone ask you where you got it. It’s pretty cool.”

Five former Michigan basketball players are in the NBA conference finals, the most out of any school in the country. All five player for former U-M head man John Beilein, the winningest coach in program history, who congratulated the crop of talent in a tweet.

According to On3 Director of Recruiting Chad Simmons, 2023 Detroit King five-star quarterback Dante Moore will take an unofficial visit to Michigan on Friday (May 20).

A local product, Moore has been to U-M’s campus a number of times, most recently for the Wolverines’ basketball game against Iowa March 3. He was also in Ann Arbor earlier this winter, Feb. 5. He was also set to make it to town in mid-April but wasn’t able to make it in.

Moore is the No. 8 overall player in the country, the fifth-best quarterback nationally and the top player in the state of Michigan, per the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Quote Of The Day

“The Thunder have precious few roster spots at their disposal and four draft picks (three first-rounders), meaning there is a decent chance they won’t be making this selection ultimately. One of the big mysteries surrounding the 2022 NBA draft will be where Caleb Houstan, a onetime projected top-10 pick, ends up. Houstan declined his invite to the NBA combine, indicating there might be something to the rumors of a first-round promise, or that Houstan has a landing spot he’s comfortable with. Houstan’s positional size, defensive awareness and perimeter shooting gives him a high floor as a prospect, despite his disappointing freshman season at Michigan.”

ESPN.com NBA Draft analyst Jonathan Givony, who projected Michigan wing Caleb Houstan to be picked with the 30th pick in the first round to the Oklahoma City Thunder

Headlines Of The Day

• Clayton Sayfie, The Wolverine: Michigan wing Caleb Houstan projected as first-round pick in latest NBA mock draft

• EJ Holland, The Wolverine: Blue Chips: The latest intel on five-star QB Dante Moore ahead of weekend visit

• Clayton Sayfie, The Wolverine: Five-star QB Dante Moore visiting Michigan this weekend

• Chris Balas, The Wolverine: Why CJ Carr should be priority one for Michigan football

• Clayton Sayfie, The Wolverine: Early betting lines released for five big Michigan football tilts