The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1529264
56 THE WOLVERINE ❱ DECEMBER 2024 ❱ BASKETBALL COMMIT PROFILE BY CHRIS BALAS O nly days after landing his first top- 100 class of 2025 pledge in Oregon small forward Winters Grady, Michigan men's basketball head coach Dusty May pulled in another with power forward Oscar Goodman from Auckland, New Zealand. A fast riser this summer, Goodman averaged 17 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3 as- sists and 1.4 steals per game at the FIBA U-17 Championships this July. Sources told us after an Oct. 12 official visit to U-M that the 6-foot-7, 225-pounder, On3's No. 90 player overall in the 2025 class, had a great visit to Ann Arbor, and he confirmed that with us. "It was really good," he said. "Great staff, and such good dudes on the team." Goodman's Michigan visit came after trips to Georgetown and Texas Tech, and he also saw Ohio State. Before that, he had already been gaining interest from NBA scouts as an international standout, playing with the NBA Global Academy, a training partnership based in Australia set up to help international prospects get exposure for the next lev- els of basketball. It didn't take long for him to get no- ticed there. In addition to his perfor- mance at FIBA this summer, he was named MVP of the FIBA U-16 Asian Championships in 2023. Programs like Wisconsin and others took notice and started building relationships before he trimmed his list. "I'm probably going to commit in the next week," he told us Oct. 15. On Oct. 23, he became a Wolverine. Michigan landed a good one, On3's na- tional recruiting analyst Jamie Shaw told us. "He's not going to wow you. He doesn't have the sizzle to his game, but he's got the meat and potatoes, if that makes sense," Shaw said. "He knows how to play. He's got a physicality to him. He moves the ball well, cuts well off the ball, can knock down a shot. "He goes in and is not afraid of the contact, the physicality of the game. He plays with toughness and just finds ways to produce, whether it be with a basket, getting a rebound, moving the ball or setting up his teammates, or cut- ting off the lane to create a pathway for his teammate." Offensively, Shaw added, Goodman has a "very skilled game." He believes that will translate nicely at the next level and that he might find himself on the floor early because of it. "He's not the tallest guy, and there are going to be some questions about his athleticism," Shaw cautioned. "But in that 6-foot-7 range, he's got a strong, sturdy base and some physicality to him, as well. That won't be an issue for him early on. "He can knock it down from three. He's not shy taking them, either. Dur- ing his World Cup play this summer, he knocked down maybe 1.2 per game there, shot just over 30 percent. He's got to tighten some things up a little bit, but that's going to probably project to be something he does." Defense might be something the coaches need to figure out with him. Though he's not the quickest player lat- erally, Goodman does use his physical- ity well to help keep opponents from blowing by him. Shaw compared it to a football cover cornerback who presses at the line and doesn't let a receiver get into his route. But Goodman is smart on that end of the floor, too, Shaw said. "If Dusty employs some more team- based defensive styles where they guard as a team and not on islands, he can probably sink down to guard some threes, even," he said. "I know they have some things they do with [current big men] Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin when they're looking to play some big lineups. That could suit him." Overall, though, there's no ques- tion May brought in another prospect who should help the program reach the heights he anticipates in Ann Arbor. ❑ International Standout Oscar Goodman Commits To Michigan Goodman averaged 17 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3 assists and 1.4 steals per game for New Zealand at the FIBA U-17 Championships this July. PHOTO COURTESY OSCAR GOODMAN