New Michigan basketball coach Dusty May has landed his first recruit since taking over the job in Ann Arbor, and it’s a name that comes with some firepower.
Justin Pippen, son of NBA legend Scottie Pippen, committed to the Wolverines program Friday afternoon. The 6-foot-3 combo guard is a four-star prospect according to 247Sports Composite rankings, rated the No. 101 player in the Class of 2024 and the No. 13 combo guard in the nation.
Justin Pippen, whose brother, Scotty Jr., averaged 12.9 points in 21 games for the Memphis Grizzlies this season, was teammates with LeBron James’ son, Bryce. Bronny James also attended the school before he enrolled at USC last year.
Justin Pippen has been listed as a late bloomer on his profile, much like his father, and has reportedly grown more than 2 inches in the past eight months. Pippen held offers from schools like Stanford, Texas A&M and Georgia Tech, but Michigan offered him earlier this week.
It’s been a busy few weeks for the Michigan basketball program: Earlier this week, the Wolverines announced what the Free Press reported earlier in the week: May’s finalized his six-man staff consists of assistants Mike Boynton Jr, Akeem Miskdeen and Justin Joyner; general manager Kyle Church; director of player development Drew Williamson and special assistant to the head coach Brandon Gilbert.
That follows the announcement that both Will Tschetter and George Washington III had removed their name from the transfer portal and officially decided to stay in Ann Arbor. Last season’s leading scorer, Dug McDaniel, landed at Kansas State and former Michigan big man Tarris Reed Jr. announced on Wednesday that he is joining the two-time defending champion UConn.
Michigan also has incoming three-star point guard Durral ‘Phat Phat’ Brooks committed to the program and more guard help could be on the way. On Friday, former Auburn point guard Tre Donaldson, currently in the transfer portal, went on Instagram live wearing a Michigan jersey in what appeared to be Ann Arbor.
Donaldson played 35 games last year for the Tigers, where he averaged 6.7 points and 3.4 assists as he shot 41.2% from long range and had better than a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in 19.2 minutes per game.