The Chris Mack recruiting map: Michigan

Who is your favorite Mack era Musketeer from Michigan? If you said anyone other than Jalen Reynolds, you're lying. Perhaps you had clicked this link with Brad Redford on the brain. While he would have been a wonderful choice - not least of which because he hails from the same city as Bronner's Christmas Wonderland - he was a Sean Miller signee and thus not eligible for this study. We're left with just one player from Michigan: a big, mean dude who dunks on everyone he can find and doesn't hesitate to tell them about it.

The keen-eyed among you have no doubt noticed that I've ignored Edmond Sumner's accumulated line of 8/5/6 from last season. That's true, I have. With Sumner redshirting and carrying four years of eligibility forward, I have chosen not to include his aborted freshman season in this study.

Jalen originally signed as part of the same class as Dee Davis before some transcript issues motivated him to take a prep year. That apparently didn't do it - though the NCAA's policies and procedures are so ridiculously opaque that it's hard to know where exactly to place responsibility - so Jalen ended up debuting last year despite having graduated high school two years prior. Reynolds was universally seen as a four-star recruit, boasting superb athletic ability and a refined mid-range game. Curiously, both a lack of offensive aggression and a need to add strength crop up in recruiting reports on him; both seem to have been addressed. Pitt, Providence, and West Virginia were all also recruiting him before he signed with X.

Barring something bizarre happening in the next two seasons, this one is on its way to panning out. Reynolds was inconsistent as a freshman but showed flashes of an ability to dominate, most notably with his 17 and 16 and MSG in February. His minutes and efficiency improved across the board in his sophomore year, with him establishing himself as the team's number two big man behind Matt Stainbrook. He'll come into his junior season as option 1A among Xavier posts on both ends of the floor. After a couple of post-signing false starts, Reynolds appears to be set for a very productive three- or four-year career at X.

I think Michigan on the whole has been better to Xavier than shows here. Reynolds is obviously big, but I think Edmond Sumner could go down as a Musketeer legend if he can stay healthy. With those two and the lingering goodwill from Brad Redford's time with the team, the Mack era Michigan recruits have been solid additions to the program.