Dug McDaniel Commits To Michigan, Juwan Howard Remains A Recruiting Master

I had a very mixed reaction when Michigan hired Juwan Howard. I understood it to a certain extent, the guy was a former player who had a lot of NBA experience, he knew how to succeed in the league. But I had serious doubts about whether he’d be able to out coach and out recruit the best. It’s a tall order when arguably the best coach in the history of the conference is an hour down the road. Since his hire, Juwan Howard has spent the last two calendar years heaving two giant middle fingers at every person who ever doubted him. And earlier last night, he pulled in another big time recruit, this time in the form of 4 Star point guard from the DC area Dug McDaniel. You can check out his breakdown courtesy of my friend Ant Wright. 

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I loved John Beilein. Love, love, loved the guy. The dude revived a dying program and took it to new heights. With that said, Coach B was the master of adapting, he was the king of doing the most with what he had, but it always felt like an uphill battle. They could never out recruit Michigan State or any of the big guns in the Big Ten. That has changed under Juwan Howard. Juwan has three McDonald’s All-Americans entering his program. And that’s just the 5 Star guys. He's also...

• Got Top 50 player Franz Wagner to commit after Coach B went to the NBA
• Recruited 4 Star center and Stoolie Hunter Dickinson, who was Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Second Team All-American in his first season in Ann Arbor
• Snagged Chaundee Brown and Mike Smith up in the transfer portal last season, both of whom were key pieces of Michigan’s run to the Elite 8 in 2021.
• Brought in grad transfer and Sun Belt Conference Player Of The Year DeVonta Jones for this upcoming season. He’ll most likely start for Michigan this year.

"The thing that stuck out to me the most was how much he loves the University of Michigan" said Hunter Dickinson when I asked him what it is about Juwan Howard that makes him such a special recruiter. "He sells the basketball portion as well as everything off the court that comes with Michigan. You can tell he really enjoyed his time at Michigan and he wants to now give the next generation of basketball players that same great experience he got at Michigan."

A program like Indiana will always recruit, and despite their down year last season, Michigan State isn’t going anywhere either. As long as Izzo is there, they’ll be competitive, but Juwan Howard is turning Michigan into the place to be. And it's obvious that his players love playing for him.