Evaluating one of Michigan basketball’s latest offers: 2023 five-star guard Marvel Allen

The offseason just started, but Juwan Howard and the Michigan Wolverines are already hot on the recruiting trail, offering five-star 2023 point guard Marvel Allen.

Allen originally committed to LSU, but decommitted just a few weeks ago, saying in a statement he committed to the Tigers because of his relationship with recently fired head coach Will Wade and “wasn’t expecting it to come to this point.”

According to the 247Sports composite, Allen has an impressive .9935 rating, making him the 18th ranked recruit in the entire class. He’s also rated as the fourth-best point guard in the class and the second-best recruit out of the state of Florida.

It’s a bit more accurate to call him a combo guard, as Allen has 18 offers including Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Memphis, Georgia and more.

Allen and Michigan incoming true freshman Gregg Glenn helped lead Calvary Christian to a FHSAA 4A State Championship. In the video below, you can see Allen thrives in transition, has a nice little pull-up jumper and seems to have quite a bit of chemistry with Glenn.

Allen is really a...Marvel...to watch (pun DEFINITELY intended) once he gets into the lane. As you can see at the 4:25 mark in the video above, he already has great patience when he gets close to the rim, using shot fakes and his pivot foot to create space for himself.

That poise once you get into the paint is something a lot of guards develop in college. One of the reasons Allen is rated so high is because he already has that portion of his game figured out.

The 6-foot-4 guard started to make a name for himself in his sophomore season, showcasing great finishing ability, a smooth midrange jumper and a nice fall-away shot along the baseline. He does a great job of timing exactly when to feed post players the ball on his drives.

He also has active hands on defense and is always looking to push the ball in transition, as he clearly thrives in a fast pace.

Looking at his potential fit with Michigan, I could see him playing well alongside Frankie Collins. They could have a nice two-man games and could each get Michigan easy buckets in transition. I think he’d also do well in the pick-and-roll game with incoming freshman big man Tarris Reed Jr.

With as polished as he is on offense already, Allen has a chance to be a star wherever he ends up playing his college ball. If Michigan is able to land Allen, he would add to a guard rotation already full of talent with Collins, Kobe Bufkin and freshman Dug McDaniel.