Michigan Basketball In Position To Land Transfer Julius Mays

Photo Credit: Scout

It looks like this crazy year of recruiting for Michigan's basketball program has taken another twist today as CBSSports reported that Julius Mays would be transferring from Wright State.  Typically, this wouldn't matter that much, but it was also reported that Mays had listed Michigan as one of his top schools.  Mays is a 6' 2" guard that played at both North Carolina State and Wright State.  He averaged 14.1 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game last season at Wright State.  He's a very capable player and has experience playing in both the ACC and some big games.  Along with this, from what I understand of his situation, he will be eligible to play next season.

Right now, he's considering Michigan, Purdue, MSU, Kentucky, and Cincinnati as transfer destinations.  Do I think he'll end up here?  Probably not, but if Michigan doesn't land what appears to be its only remaining prospect in the 2012 recruiting class, Caris LeVert, I think there's a chance Michigan lands Mays.  However, because he's originally from Indiana, I think he will be leaning towards Purdue.  Plus with their lineup, they probably have more room for him than Michigan.  At Michigan, where he'd be for one year, he'd likely be competing against players like Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway, Jr. for playing time.  Whether he could pass either of them for a starting spot is pretty debatable.  Along with this, Burke and Hardaway play a lot of minutes last season, so playing time would certainly be an issue if Mays came to Ann Arbor.

The one significant advantage Mays would bring to Michigan would be increased depth.  Typically, when a team adds a player, they have to give up a scholarship for 3-4 years and are bringing in a true freshman.  In this situation, Michigan would only have to sacrifice a scholarship for one year and get a very experience and capable player.  Along with this, Michigan's only point guard in the 2012 class, Spike Albrecht, would probably be able to redshirt next season, which would do a lot to help Michigan in the long run because Michigan has been short on point guards as of late.  Whether he'd backup Hardaway or Burke is something that's unclear, but there's no doubt if he came to Michigan he would be on the floor for a good chunk of time.  I don't see him starting, but if Burke or Hardaway had a bad night, I could see Mays playing as many, or more, minutes than Burke or Hardaway for that night.

For Michigan fans, I wouldn't get my hopes up too much, since I really believe he's going to end up playing for the Boilermakers, but there's no doubt that he could be useful for Michigan if he ends up here.  There doesn't seem to be an exact timeline for his decision, but I couldn't see it going too much longer because he'll certainly want to become acquainted with the staffs and his fellow players.

On a side-note, if he ends up at Purdue, which I expect, this could do a lot to chance the balance in the Big Ten.  Purdue probably won't be a championship favorite by any means, but with Mays and their solid incoming recruiting class, I could see them being able to upset teams like Indiana, Michigan, and MSU.  Don't expect them to be dominant, but Purdue certainly pulled off some impressive wins last year when they were consistently the underdog team.  In other words, keep an eye out for Mays whether he lands up at Michigan or not, because fans will probably know him well by the end of the season.