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NCAA Basketball Recruiting: Analyzing top-40 forward AJ Casey top 8 teams

By Tristan Freeman

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 09: Head coach Chris Holtmann of the Butler Bulldogs reacts against the Xavier Musketeers during the Big East Tournament Quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden on March 9, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 09: Head coach Chris Holtmann of the Butler Bulldogs reacts against the Xavier Musketeers during the Big East Tournament Quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden on March 9, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images) /
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NCAA Basketball AJ Casey Hunter Dickinson Michigan Wolverines (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
NCAA Basketball AJ Casey Hunter Dickinson Michigan Wolverines (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images) /

Michigan Wolverines

The Wolverines recently landed four-star center prospect Tarris Reed Jr. to go along with another top-100 commit in point guard Dug McDaniel. Although it’s a fairly young roster on paper, the odds are good that star center Hunter Dickinson and top-10 overall prospect forward Caleb Houstan won’t be around for next season.

That leaves an opening for a recruit like Casey to come in and have a big role. And even if five-star big man Moussa Diabate opts to return for another year, these two can play alongside one another in the frontcourt. Head coach Juwan Howard and Michigan Basketball is one of the top programs in the country and if Casey wants to play a role similar to Isaiah Livers, then this pairing has a real shot of happening.

Ohio State Buckeyes

Currently, the Buckeyes have the No. 1 recruiting class for the 2022 cycle, with four commits. Three of them are ranked in the top-50 in guards Bruce Thornton and Roddy Gayle Jr., along with center Felix Okpara. The missing piece is a power forward, as star junior EJ Liddell is likely leaving after next season after making a 50/50 decision to come back for 2021-22.

Next. 9 candidates for Big 12 to expand. dark

Casey has a similar game to him and outside of three-star freshman forward Kalen Etzler, there’s currently a wide-open pathway for this frontcourt target to come in and have an early impact. Landing Casey would give Ohio State a top-5 overall class most likely and they’ve been in the mix since the beginning. If he opts to stay regional the Buckeyes have a great shot at landing the top-50 recruit.

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