Column: Thoughts on new U-M basketball pledge Lee Aaliya

Michigan picked up a nice late addition to the 2023 roster in Argentinian Lee Aaliya, a 6-9 center/forward with great potential. Here are thoughts on his commitment, what it means for the 2023-24 season, and more.

Aaliya is a fantastic pickup this late in the game

First — great land at this stage in the game for head coach Juwan Howard and Co. Though he’s not a shooter, Aaliya is athletic, has proven he can play against very good competition, and was coveted by many programs. Flat out, Howard has not gotten the NIL support needed to compete for some of the nation’s elite recruits. Rather than make excuses, he’s hit the transfer portal and gone international to land some prospects who should be able to help the program (like Lebanese wing Youssef Khayat a year ago).

Ideally, these are players they’d be adding with outstanding preps in any given recruiting class, and that’s still the hope. As of now, however, the collectives are primarily focused on Michigan football, leaving Howard and his staff to do what they can to put together a roster at a disadvantage. They’re doing it pretty well.

Aaliya doesn’t appear to be the “project” some have characterized him

When we think “project,” we think of guys like Amadou Ba, Josh Asselin, etc. … players who maybe haven’t been playing the game that long so don’t have a feel. In that sense, even Moussa Diabate, as talented as he was, was a project a few years ago. He was still learning the game and figuring out the intricacies that come with playing a lot of basketball.

Aaliya isn’t a shooter, though as some have noted he has nice form on his triple. He made 4 of 12 in the recent FIBA U19 tournament and averaged 17.1 points and 9 rebounds per game (thought the free throws need work. He was just about 25 percent, if that). However, he as our MHoops1 noted, he has a great “feel for the game” which is evident on film. He scores a lot in pick and roll situations and in transition.

There are guys who were projects like Dennis Rodman who could rebound because he had incredible instincts, and he worked at it. But he was always a residual player. That won’t be the case for Aaliya. We don’t expect him to turn into Mo Wagner on the perimeter, for example, but he can be solid offensively, and he has the tools to be very good defensively. He’s already a good shot blocker, too, and the hope is he can provide a few minutes this year to spell the bigs, even if he’s just bringing some defense and rebounding. Regardless, having another body there for insurance is big.

Make no mistake — Michigan ‘won’ this recruiting battle, and there’s one potentially big hidden positive in that

On3.com’s Joe Tipton broke the news (as he often does), but Aaliya’s NIL agent, Alex Saratsis, confirmed the news with ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. Now … read that again. Aaliya has an NIL agent, which likely means Michigan probably got some assistance here to land him (to be clear, we aren’t insinuating they dropped a bag — maybe just gave him some assurances about what he could/would make when he got on campus).

No, we don’t think landing Aaliya was the result of a more coordinated NIL effort on Michigan’s part. U-M is still playing from behind in all sports (even football), especially the “other” sports, and basketball falls into that category. Howard and Co. have been playing with one hand tied behind their backs. Hopefully, this is the step in the right direction associate head coach Phil Martelli predicted it would be when we talked to him earlier this summer.

“Michigan, in my opinion, strives for excellence in everything they do. Nutrition, weight training, the way we travel, the way we’re equipped, the way we’re dressed,” he said. “Everything. So, when the smoke clears, Michigan will be at the top with regard to NIL. Is it rough sledding getting there? Yeah, it is. But I don’t for a second question where Michigan will end up.”

As former Michigan football coach once said, “hope springs eternal.” Regardless, landing Aaliya was a win.

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