Recapping a big recruiting week for Michigan Basketball

Michigan Wolverines head coach John Beilein and his staff are doing everything but coast into their mid-August vacation period. The new look Wolverines staff has had a busy week of recruiting following their biggest prospect camp of the year held this past Saturday on campus. Crisler Arena was filled with players that will be starting school in 2017, 2018 and 2019. A few participants received scholarship offers and the Wolverines were able to snag a commitment from a 2017 prospect. Here is a recap of the week that was in Michigan Wolverines recruiting.

Isaiah Livers - 2017 Forward

The Wolverines stole a prospect away from the Michigan State Spartans with the commitment of 2017 forward Isaiah Livers. The 6’8” forward is the Wolverines third pledge for the 2017 class, joining Jordan Poole and Eli Brooks. Livers was a member of the Kalamazoo Gazette Dream Team last season and averaged 14 points and 10.4 rebounds.

Considered by 247Sports as the second best player in Michigan this season, Livers projects as a stretch four in college. His combination of size and shooting ability can make him dangerous on the wing. He should fit nicely in Beilein’s multi-forward offense. Earlier this week, BTPowerhouse took an in-depth look at Livers commitment.

Jamal Cain - 2017 Forward

Less than 24 hours after Livers announced his commitment to Michigan, another Wolverines target was trimming his list of schools. Detroit Cornerstone wing Jamal Cain included Michigan on his final four list of schools. Florida State, Georgia and Marquette round out Cain’s list. Cain averaged 13.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game on the Nike EYBL circuit.

Cain is ranked as the third best player in the state of Michigan in the 2017 class by 247Sports. The 6’6” wing is thin but athletic. Cain is a high energy player who can consistently score from mid-range. Beilein and his staff have worked wonders on developmental players and Cain fits the mold. Should he add some weight he could be a contributor later in his college career.

Cain took an official visit to Ann Arbor and received a scholarship offer in late April. One issue that could hold up Cain’s recruiting is the shakeup to Beilein’s staff. Former Michigan assistant and current University of Detroit head coach Bacari Alexander was a main recruiter for Cain at Michigan but has since left. Detroit had interest in Cain but failed to make his final four. It will be interesting to see where Cain commits now that Michigan has added multiple players who can play on the wing.

Robby Carmody - 2018 Guard

The recruiting focus was not only on next season, but also on years down the road. The third player offered by Michigan in the 2018 class was Pennsylvanian guard Robby Carmody.

Carmody is a consensus top 100 player in 2018 and sits at 58 overall on 247Sports composite rankings. The best spot on the floor for Carmody to play will be shooting guard. This is important because it keeps the door open for 2018 point guard Dwayne Cohill, who still awaits an offer from Michigan. Ryan holds offers from Notre Dame, Pitt, Xavier, Northwestern, Louisville, Penn State, Purdue and Cincinnati, among others.

The best comparison of a current Michigan player and Carmody would be Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahman. Carmody loves to attack the glass and fights for buckets. His court vision is great and he is probably more athletic than Abdur-Rahman was coming out of high school.

Cormac Ryan - 2018 Guard

One of the biggest unknowns to come out of this week was the emergence of shooting guard Cormac Ryan. A standout performer at Michigan’s College Practice Camp, Ryan received an offer from Michigan only days after attending the camp. Ryan hails from the Middlesex Magic, the same AAU team that produced current Wolverines forward Duncan Robinson.

Michigan has shown interest in Ryan all summer so the offer comes as no surprise. What makes Ryan an unknown is his rise over the summer. Ryan is unranked by 247Sports yet the Wolverines are the 13th school to offer him a scholarship. The schools interested in Ryan are not no-name community colleges either. Indiana, Florida, Stanford, Northwestern, George Mason, Boston College, Tulane, Davidson, St. John's, Rutgers, DePaul and Rice have offered Ryan so far. To add to the hype, national power Duke has reached out to the 2018 shooting guard recently. Ryan is considered a four star by Rivals.com.

All reports from the Michigan camp say Ryan’s game can be best described as smooth. Brendan Quinn of MLive described him as a player who looks like he is going slower than everyone else, but in a good way. He has the ability to slow the game down and not get flustered easily. The bread and butter of his game is his jumper which looks effortless but is consistent. Ryan is a high energy player although it may not always look like he is playing all out.