U of M Basketball Recruiting Discussion

[*JD*]

Cole Bajema becomes Michigan's 2nd 2019 Commit. He's currently unranked but was sighted as being one of the top performers in a recent camp in Las Vegas. I would guess he'd be top-200 but maybe even top-100. He's a 6'7" guard, who is a rail but has skills.

https://umhoops.com/2018/08/04/class...mits-michigan/

[*JD*]

Here's a write-up about him from a couple of days ago:

https://usatodayhss.com/2018/why-col...full-attention

And video

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/videos/sports/high-school/recruiting/2018/07/31/watch-cole-bajema-show-off-high-major-skills-las-vegas/868476002/

[*JD*]

More:
BREAKING: 2019 F Cole Bajema commits to Michigan

ByJOSH HENSCHKE 27 minutes ago
16 (Photo: 247Sports)
2019 forward Cole Bajema picked up the coveted offer from Michigan and immediately accepted said offer by committing to John Beilein and the Wolverines' program on Saturday. Bajema took to his Twitter account to share the news of his commitment.

"I am excited and blessed to announce that I will further my education and basketball career by accepting a scholarship offer to attend the University of Michigan," the tweet read. "I would like to thank God, my parents, and my coaches for their help in allowing me to realize my dream of attending the greatest university in the world. GO BLUE."



Bajema's offer from the Wolverines comes after a strong July period where he impressed many colleges with his AAU squad, FOH Seattle 17u. Bajema, who visited the Wolverines' campus previously, had attended the programs Elite camp in June which allowed him to get his name on the Wolverines' radar in the 2019 class. After that, the rest was history with Bajema impressing Beilein enough, who observed him multiple times at the end of July, to offer him a scholarship offer.

According to 247Sports' Josh Gershon, Bajema was listed as a July breakout player.

"Few players saw their stock rise more this July than Bajema," Gershon wrote. "Who quickly moved from mid-major to high-major priority. Bajema has good size and length, impressive athleticism, a pure shooting stroke with range to the perimeter, ball skills, a quick first step, crafty finishing ability and plus vision. He has nothing but upside as there's plenty of room for him to gain strength and as does, his game should only continue to improve."

The Wolverines' interest in Bajema first piqued when Bajema sent game film to the Wolverines' program. A full academic tour, as well as the camp performance, was enough to secure contact from the Wolverines for an extended period of time. With the Wolverines missing out on 2019 five-star combo guard D.J. Carton, who committed to Ohio State, the Wolverines quickly turned its attention to Bajema.

Bajema, who spent four years growing living in Grand Haven, Michigan, followed in his father's footsteps of being a fan of the U-M program. Bajema's father, a lifelong Wolverines fan, passed along the fandom to Bajema and will now see his son play for the Wolverines' program.
16COMMENTS
He is currently unranked in the 247Sports recruiting rankings in the 2019 class and only recently had a profile made on the network. A solid month of July can do that for someone who burst onto the scene so suddenly. Bajema committed to the Wolverines over offers from in-state program Washington, Virginia and Oregon State, among others.

Bajema is the second commitment of the 2019 class, joining four-star Jalen Wilson into the fold.

[AlabamAlum]

I must be getting very old, because he looks 10 to me.

[*JD*]

Still no composite but 247 is giving Cole 4-stars and rank him #61.

[*JD*]

At least one of the other recruiting services has chimed in so 247 now has a composite on Cole Bajema. He's at #180, though still at #61 for 247. I don't know how much he'll climb. The reason he was unranked prior to the summer seems to be that his H.S. is in a very rural area. I don't know if there's any more AAU stuff going on this summer.

[*JD*]

At least one of the other recruiting services has chimed in so 247 now has a composite on Cole Bajema. He's at #180, though still at #61 for 247. I don't know how much he'll climb. The reason he was unranked prior to the summer seems to be that his H.S. is in a very rural area. I don't know if there's any more AAU stuff going on this summer.

247 has updated their rankings. Quite the disparity for Bajema on there and other recruiting services. 247 has moved Cole up to #56 but his composite actually moved down to #183. Meanwhile, Wilson is #30 by 247, with a composite putting him at #38.

[*JD*]

247 has updated their rankings. Quite the disparity for Bajema on there and other recruiting services. 247 has moved Cole up to #56 but his composite actually moved down to #183. Meanwhile, Wilson is #30 by 247, with a composite putting him at #38.

Another Update:

Wilson is at #42 composite (#30 on 247) and Bajema is up to #80 (#56 on 247). With the bump to Bajema, Michigan has the #9 ranked class overall.

It would be nice if they added another top-75 guy but the class is already pretty strong.

[*JD*]

There's still not much in the way of video on Bajema but this was added in the last month.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYjKFzUUAAM

[Detroit Dan]

Ideal Beilein player. 6'7" and can drive to the basket or hit the step back 3. (c:

[*JD*]

Ideal Beilein player. 6'7" and can drive to the basket or hit the step back 3. (c:

Damn. I was hoping that there was some news.

[Detroit Dan]

Please he's not a top 50 recruit, so he'll probably be around for several years. Altogether, possibly the perfect recruit.

[WM Wolverine]

He might be atop 50 recruit in another month.

[*JD*]

I'm sure there were recruits making visits the last couple of weeks. Any word on their visits, insiders?

[*JD*]

I'm not bucking up for UMHoops or 247's insider info at this point but I see that UMH has Cam'Ron Fletcher (#37 247 wing) and Caleb Love (#31 247 PG) as 2020 targets.