Mailbag: The latest on Josh Christopher; Gazing into Michigan Basketball’s future

Happy Monday morning! Joey Oliver is off-duty today, so the Brews are back in my hands to start the week. On Sunday evening, I took to Twitter to ask for questions from our readers to fill out today’s piece on all-things Michigan Wolverines. What comes next is questions about five-star 2020 guard Joshua Christopher, the outlook moving forward for the hoops team and more.

We’ll start with Christopher.

The newest bit of information to report here is that Christopher took to social media over the weekend (Friday) to tease that he would be announcing a decision date soon. That basically amounts to what happens when movie studios release a teaser for the trailer that is set to come out for a movie.

Some people have asked about Arizona State re-emerging as a potential suitor, but all of the buzz out there now seems to link the elite guard to Michigan. As far as when he will announce the decision date, that is anyone’s guess. Given that the next signing period begins in April, maybe he stretches things out until then for suspense purposes, but this feels like a kid who will pull the trigger when he is ready to make the call.

Michigan fans should feel good about the five-star prospect and 10th-ranked player in the country joining them. He is 100 percent trending to the Wolverines on 247Sports’ Crystal Ball rankings and many of those selections come from trustworthy sources who do not operate on gut feelings.

Right now, the odds seem to be in his favor. Juwan Howard told the media last week that he and Davis had a discussion about his future a month or so ago and that he outlined his expected role. Beyond that, we have no idea what that means. He certainly has earned it, though, and a veteran presence surely will be welcome on a group next year with a ton of youth on the roster.

Howard’s timeline seems to line up with when we have seen Davis take off, so is that just a coincidence? It might be, but this is a guy that is playing loose and a head coach that has all the confidence in the world that he is going to give the team good minutes when he is out there.

As of now, you’re right. It probably does sort of hinge on the size of the class Michigan brings in. Without adding another recruit, they are already one over the scholarship limit for next season. For the longest time we assumed that Davis would be the one trimmed off the top to make it work, but what if they land Christopher and even another five-star in Greg Brown? These are things we are not sure of yet. That said, it is cool to see Davis find his niche after being a human victory cigar throughout most of his Michigan career. We know that Howard would develop his centers, but we were not expecting it to be Davis moreso than Jon Teske.

It’s a little early to get an idea of who they will be going after here seeing as we still do not know how much room there is for next season’s team, but expect them to recruit the point guard position hard. Five-stars Khristian Lander and Kennedy Chandler as of now have to be considered the top targets here, but we will see what happens here.

Something to keep an eye on is phenom Emoni Bates right down the road in Ypsilanti. He is being called the next Kevin Durant/LeBron James-type of prospect and despite the fact that he is currently a high school sophomore, there is at least some chatter he could reclassify to the 2021 class and play a year of college basketball. Michigan State and Michigan may be in position to make a play for him if that were the case. The Bates family wants him to be challenged, and that just is not going to happen at the high school level, especially as he develops physically. One way or another, people expect him to be in the 2022 NBA Draft.

Let’s switch gears here to football recruiting for the Class of 2021.

Donovan Edwards is one of the top running backs in the country and is right in Michigan’s backyard. The 33rd-ranked player in the country out of West Bloomfield already looks the part (and has an elite mustache) and the Wolverines appear poised for a battle with Ohio State and new-look Michigan State under Mel Tucker. Where things stand right now, it certainly feels like Michigan could be the leader, but some outside Schembechler Hall say it is not that simple.

OSU is and will continue to push hard for his services and given the recent history between the two schools, Michigan cannot just sit back and assume that because he is local they do not have to put as much work in. The opposite may be true, actually. It is going to take a big effort from Jay Harbaugh and Josh Gattis to make this happen, but they have the resources to pull it off. It would not be ideal to lose him to the Buckeyes, as that one would obviously hurt double.

Finally! Something I am actually an expert in and am qualified to speak on...

Star Wars was the first piece of massive pop culture I can remember consuming as a kid, so it will always have a big place in my little nerd heart. But let’s call a spade a spade. Conservatively and objectively speaking, a third of the Star Wars movies are not good at all and a few more are probably “meh.” Marvel had some misfires early on, but went on a five-year run (so far) from Ant-Man to Spider-Man: Far from Home that saw them firing off heater after heater. The way they wrapped up 10 years of storytelling in Avengers: Endgame is something that will never be replicated and that movie goes down as the most bonkers theater experiences I have ever had.

But seriously, dude. Shame on you for making me choose.