ITF HOOPS EXTRA: The latest on Michigan and Antonio Reeves

Michigan basketball is still putting together the 2023 roster, having landed a big piece recently in Tennessee’s Olivier Nkamhoua. The Wolverines still need a guard, however, and continue searching the portal.

One that remains on the top of the list, even though he’s still not in the portal — Kentucky’s Antonio Reeves. He could be the missing pieces for U-M after averaging 14.4 points per game, the second most on the team, while scoring a team-best 80 3-pointers in his one season in Lexington.

Reeves was the SEC’s Co-Sixth Man of the Year. He put up 20 or more points four times and led the team in scoring in 13 games this season. He had a career-high 37 points in a win at Arkansas.

He’s also from Chicago Simeon — Juwan Howard territory — so there’s a link there.

Yesterday, it appeared Reeves was ready to rejoin the Kentucky team after reportedly taking classes at Illinois State in the hopes of becoming a potential graduate transfer. That hasn’t happened, and now it appears it’s trending the other way — that he might explore his grad options.

Kentucky is still hopeful Reeves will return, but both sides seem to be feeling each other out. They were expecting him to announce his return a few days ago, but then he reversed course and reportedly went silent. There’s still some hesitation, folks believe, because he’s worried about competing for time, and now they’re starting to believe he’s looking for reasons to leave.

It’s being framed as though Reeves wants to get his shots and have an opportunity to be the go-to guy on a team. He might not get that with the talented freshman class they have coming in. It’s also been discussed that it might be tougher for him to graduate this summer than anticipated.

We all know about the Michigan difference when it comes to transfers and admissions. That could be another factor, thought it doesn’t appear to be at this point. Michigan and Indiana are the two schools he’s considering most if he goes that route, from what’s been gathered. But there’s still the “if he gets a bigger NIL deal at Kentucky, that will seal it” thought from some camps, as well.

It’s been extremely quiet on the Michigan side of things. The Wolverines also reached out to Rutgers guard Paul Mulcahy, so they aren’t putting all their hopes on one target. If they could land either, it would go a long way toward solidifying the roster.

Watch for more on these Michigan basketball developments in the days to come.

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