The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MAY 2019 THE WOLVERINE 57 BASKETBALL RECRUITING "The visit was great," the 6-3, 165-pounder said. "I'm not sure what date, but I'm taking a visit there, for sure." The kid they call "bones" because of his slender frame is becoming a hot commodity, just having re- emerged after undergoing a tragedy. He lost his brother and grandmother in a house fire that resulted in him being hospitalized before recover- ing and returning to basketball. Al- though listed as a three-star prospect by Rivals.com, he's one of the faster risers remaining in the 2019 class. Rivals.com's Corey Evans was im- pressed with Hyland at a recent Un- der Armour event. "A slew of Division I programs re- main on the lookout for talent this spring in completing their rosters for next season, which makes the case of Nah'Shon Hyland more pertinent," he wrote. "A skinny but fierce com- petitor at the scoring guard spot, Hy- land can go and get a basket with the best of them. VCU has offered and remains in hard pursuit, although a bevy of other power programs are showing interest, as his commitment remains far off." Delaware, Rhode Island, Seton Hall, Saint Joseph's and Temple are among the programs that have also offered, and Hyland has already been to Saint Joseph's and Temple for of- ficial visits. Hyland said Beilein and his staff were planning on seeing him again the week of April 29. "I love the whole program … great school, awesome coach," he said. "I haven't decided about my col- lege yet and I am just trying to get more offers, but I am definitely going to college. I am just focused on this travel ball season right now and then to see what is next. I will probably look at things next month [May] after I get through the live period." As of now, he's just happy to be playing ball again. "It is a pleasure to be back out here, because I didn't get to play on the circuit last year, so just to get back out here and to be a leader on the floor, to start to have fun with it all, it just feels good," he said. "To get back out here with the 17s group, it is just about regrouping." Finally, U-M had one other seri- ous 2019 option, but it appeared to be off the table April 26. Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy guard Lester Quinones (6-5, No. 44) was slated to come in April 29-30, but his visit had been canceled. LSU, Memphis and Maryland are schools also high on his list, but he'd said his mother really liked the Wol- verines' academics. Beilein said he would continue to do what was necessary to find pros- pects to replace the departures, insist- ing he wouldn't change his model. "I don't want it to be the expecta- tion that a guy comes here and he's going to be an NBA player," Beilein said. "The expectation is, I'm going to work hard. I'm going to unpack my bag and be there for four years, but if I have an opportunity to go earlier, Coach is going to support me. "But when they play on teams with D.J. Wilson and Moe Wagner and Ca- ris LeVert — they played with those guys and then they watch them, I think the natural attraction is, 'Well … I'm next.'" BEILEIN CHECKS IN ON 2020 ETHAN MORTON The Michigan coaches continue to work on 2020 recruits, in addition to 2019 prospects, and head coach John Beilein saw one of the apparent priorities in the class April 24. But- ler (Pa.) Area Senior's Ethan Morton (6-5, Rivals.com's No. 44 junior na- tionally) hosted him after Beilein had just returned from overseas. "It was great to get to talk with him and catch up after the season," said Morton, who averaged 27.0 points per game this year. "I'm glad he stopped by because I know how busy he is right now." Morton is in high demand. He hosted Ohio State April 22, Mar- quette and Indiana April 23, Michi- gan at his school April 24 and Purdue at his home the same day. He was ex- pected to host the Iowa staff April 29. Morton plans to visit Indiana May 13 and told TheHoosier.com he'd like to use official visits to Marquette, Michigan and Ohio State in August before he makes a decision, although those visits could come sooner. He tripped to Indiana, Purdue and Stan- ford during the fall of his junior year. His final decision will be a tough one, he admitted. "That's kind of going to be a gut thing," he said. "That might be right before I want to decide, or it could be after April and May, or I might wait until after July. I will say, it'll probably be by the beginning of August." ❑ On The Web For regular reports on Michigan basketball recruiting plus videos of U-M commitments and targets visit TheWolverine.com. Ethan Morton of Butler (Pa.) Area Senior is ranked as a four-star talent and the No. 44 overall prospect nationally in the class of 2020 by Rivals.com. PHOTO COURTESY GOLDANDBLACK.COM