With Hunter Dickinson likely gone after next season and Moussa Diabatte having one-and-done potential, Michigan is absolutely taking a true center in the 2022 class. The Wolverines are firmly in the mix for several elite bigs and continue to keep tabs on a few prospects should the Plan As not work out.

Hampton, Virginia was my destination over the weekend at the Southern Jamfest. It was another opportunity to evaluate a few of those Plan As and gather intel on where Michigan stands.

Lively Ascending To The Top

Dereck Lively was the best player on the court in a game full of premier talent with Team Final (5* Jalen Duren, 5* Emoni Bates, 4*Justice Williams and more) taking on Team Loaded (4* Tyler Nickel, 4* Jayden Epps, 4* Alphonzo Billups and more) in the semifinals of the Southern Jamfest on Sunday.

The 7-footer had the full arsenal on display in a performance that had the gym buzzing. Elite finishing as a vertical lob threat, rim protection, agility, vision and perimeter shotmaking ability beyond the arch. He finished with 15 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 assists in 15 minutes of game action as Team Final blew-out Team Loaded in large part due to Lively's dominance. 

While I already bumped Dereck to 5-star status in my database a few weeks back after his outing in Scranton, the real question now is whether he's a top-10 overall prospect or merely in the top 15-20 range.

In my detailed report on Lively earlier this month from the KYDA Invitational, I suggested he had some potential as a shooter based on his mechanics and comfort taking shots beyond the arch. He cashed in on that promise this weekend by knocking down a corner three with so much confidence that he started making his way down the court before the ball could go through the net at the :20 second mark in the clip above

That same evaluation from Scranton talked-up his passing ability and that played out again in Hampton. The pass Lively makes at roughly the :31 second mark above isn't something you see often from a 7-footer. Justice Williams leads him a bit too much with the hit-ahead and Dereck has to walk a tight-rope just to stay in-bounds before jumping in the air and dropping a precision dime across his body to Justice Williams in stride for an easy layup. That level of spatial awareness, body control and passing execution bodes very well for his projection as a passer in college.  

Lively already had the look of an All-American level defender that provides high-level finishing via lobs and dumpoffs. If he's just an adequate shooter in tandem with his passing ability, the potential here is off-the-charts. Mainstreams ranking him in the 40s is far too low. At worst, this is a top-20 prospect that will flirt with top-10 overall for me. His development this Spring has been so impressive that I'm actually pondering whether Dereck's long term ceiling is higher than Jalen Duren. In any event, Lively has clearly surpassed Donovan Clingan on my personal board for 2022 bigs.

In speaking with Dereck and his family in the last month, I have discovered something significant. Lively's mother is the Director of Marketing with the Athletics Department at Penn State. And while that is obviously going to keep PSU in the thick of things, I don't think its a foregone conclusion that he ends up in State College given the circumstances. PSU has a new head coach in Micah Shrewsberry who may be working from behind and the Nittany Lions don't necessarily have the best track record in terms of program success or getting bigs to the NBA. Dereck is working on setting up visits and I do expect Michigan to lock-in an official at this point. 

[Hit THE JUMP for the latest on Duren, Clingan and Washington]

The Man-Child

5-star Jalen Duren needs no introduction and we won't spend a lot of time exploring his on-court game. He's the most physically imposing HS prospect in the country that also happens to be a gifted passer. Those attributes were on full display in Hampton, as his combination of size/agility/verticality/strength manifested on defense in ways that few others can match. His inherent physical gifts make it to where Duren can just float through a game and use his discretion as to when he would like to assert himself for total domination. 

Nothing new on the recruiting front. Jalen Duren is not coming to Ann Arbor. The professional route is probably the safest bet, with Miami being the the most likely option if he decides to attend college for a year, with a reclass to 2021 a possibility. 

Two-Horse Race

Interview:
2022 Team Spartans (MA) 4-star Donovan Clingan 🎙

“Today we came out and played together and were happy for each other” @GoTeamSpartans @clingan_donovan @CoachJC10 pic.twitter.com/4TE3rtTOZN

— The Circuit (@TheCircuitHoops) May 22, 2021

4-star center Donovan Clingan was in action over the weekend at the Circuit League in Texas. The 7-footer impressed with his vision and finishing ability against high-level competition. The lefty from Connecticut definitely has some similarities to a certain big man on the current roster.

Once thought to be a lock for UConn based on geography and family preference, Juwan Howard has Michigan surging and the Wolverines may be on even ground in relation to the Huskies. In the interview above, Donovan says he hasn't locked-in any visits just yet, but you can assume Michigan will definitely get an OV at some point in the near future along with UConn and Syracuse.

The official visits will go a long way in determining where Clingan spends his college days. The on-court fit in Ann Arbor is custom-made for Donovan's skillset, and that message is resonating with the Clingan camp in recent weeks. This is a true 50/50 battle with the allure of being a potential home-town hero versus the sure-thing in Ann Arbor.

Still In Tier 2

5-star big Jalen Washington was offered by North Carolina earlier this month and has locked in an official visit to Chapel Hill in early June and will also make his way to Stanford a few weeks later. Michigan is still in contact with Jalen, but has yet to extend an offer. He's an elite perimeter shotmaker at the center position, but hasn't displayed the level of consistent athleticism/physicality/paint production that Juwan Howard covets to warrant a serious pursuit. Washington is an outstanding student with a great academic resume, so if the Wolverines get serious here I would expect Michigan to get a visit and be a serious contender given the ties to Chris Hunter (Washington attends Hunter's former HS).