Michigan basketball coach Dusty May will reportedly get a visit from Florida State’s Jamir Watkins this week, hoping to add to his unbelievable recruiting haul. May and his staff received eight commitments from eight official visitors in putting an outstanding roster together in just a few months — now, they hope to make it nine.
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May told us last month they had one more scholarship to offer, but he wasn’t going to use it just for just anybody. Watkins would fit the bill as one who could definitely help, and some believe he could be the final piece to a championship roster.
“We’re being aggressive this week … casting a wide net for the last couple weeks, but we’ve also been extremely selective,” May said on today’s Defend the Block podcast. “There are probably a few guys that we would have [moved] on earlier in the process before we filled out our roster.
“But now, it’s either going to be someone that really, really impacts today, winning immediately, and also fits into the group as far as skill set and what the holes on our roster might be … or we also might look at a developmental player, somebody that can help us down the line and learn and bang against these guys day in and day out. We’re looking at it from several different angles.”
Watkins, the top available player remaining in the portal, will also visit St. John’s this week, per CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein. Florida State, Oregon, Kansas State and Cincinnati were also reportedly on his list.
A 6-7, 210-pounder, Watkins spent three seasons at VCU (2020-23), before transferring to Florida State for the 2023-24 campaign. He averaged 15.6 points, 6 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game with the Seminoles, shooting 50.2 percent on twos (127-of-253), 34.4 percent on threes (33-of-96), and 79.5 percent at the free throw line (163-of-205). He had the highest usage rate on the team (28.2 percent).
Watkins also led the team with 64 steals, and he ranked second on the squad with 92 assists, one shy of the team’s leader (point guard Jalen Warley, 92). He produced 0.996 points per possession on ball screens (including passes). He was effective at getting to the rim, converting on 57.5 percent of his 181 opportunities in close, and had a 54.8 effective field goal percentage on catch-and-shoot jumpers, which stood in the 69th percentile nationally.
If May lands him, he’ll add to an impressive haul that includes Auburn transfer Tre Donaldson, former FAU center Vladislav Goldin, Ohio State’s Roddy Gayle, and others. Weeks ago, the coach said he was even more confident about winning in year one than he expected given how recruiting had gone. Watkins would take it to another level.
“We expect to win,” May said in early May. “There won’t be a night where we walk on the court this season where we say, ‘hey, we need to do this in preparation for later.’ We’ll have expectations when we set foot on the court to win every single night or be in a position to win. A lot goes into winning. Coach [Bob] Knight used to say a lot, you put yourself into position to win every single night and then you end up winning a lot more than you lose and you put yourself into position to win championships.”
Asked if he was surprised at how quickly he was able to put a roster together, May didn’t flinch.
“We’re a very confident group. We believe in our work,” he said. “We believe in our principles, our way of doing things.
“We’ve been pleasantly surprised with how well-received this university and this basketball program has been. We’ve also been pleasantly surprised with the guys who joined us. Did I anticipate it was going to go like this? I probably thought we would miss on a few guys than we had, but it’s “speed dating” like I said in the initial press conference. Decisions are made quickly. I do think we provided a really unique situation for a lot of these guys.”
That definitely appears to be the case. And if he lands Watkins, he might just provide them a chance at a championship season.
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