Report: Michigan hoops among schools most in contact with Jose Perez

Michigan basketball is still working on ways to tweak its roster for the 2023-24 season as its overhaul continues into the month of July. One of its top remaining targets on the board, former West Virginia guard Jose Perez, continues to hear from head coach Juwan Howard and staff.

According to social media insider Trilly Donovan, Perez has heard the most from Michigan, California, Gonzaga and Oregon days after entering the portal. Other schools remain involved in his recruitment heading into the weekend.

Perez has had a frenetic college basketball career to this point, spending the first two seasons of his career at Gardner-Webb, averaging 15.2 points per game in two seasons. From there, he transferred to Marquette in 2020-21 and Manhattan for the 2021-22 season. Last year, he transferred to West Virginia but had a waiver to play immediately denied, meaning he had to sit out this past season. When WVU head coach Bob Huggins resigned his post last month, it opened the door for Perez to find another school to play for with a season of eligibility remaining.

Perez has started 76 of 97 career games at the college level, averaging 15.1 points per game while shooting 39.8 percent from the field and 30.4 percent from three-point range. He is a 75.1 percent free-throw shooter.

Should Perez choose Michigan, he would likely compete for the starting small forward spot with the ability to play shooting guard in some lineups.

Michigan has added three transfers to the roster for next season, all officially signed. Guard Nimari Burnett (Alabama), forward/wing Tray Jackson (Seton Hall) and forward Olivier Nkamhoua (Tennessee) are all expected to come in and compete for starting jobs. With Michigan needing to replace the production lost from Kobe Bufkin, Jett Howard and Hunter Dickinson leaving the program, it has been an all-hands-on-deck effort to get things headed back in the right direction.

Michigan has a pair of scholarships remaining after adding the three transfers and a true freshman in 2024 in three-star combo guard George Washington III. The Wolverines might not yet be done adding to the roster, either. The roster could use another guard and a true backup center to soon-to-be sophomore Tarris Reed.

The Wolverines went 18-16 last season, missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015 and splitting the games they played in the NIT with a win over Toledo and a loss at Vanderbilt. The goal is to get back to the tournament in 2023-24 and get some momentum back for head coach Juwan Howard.

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