Three-star G Joe Girard III picks Syracuse over UM
Michigan’s long pursuit of 2019 target Joe Girard III came to an unsurprising end.
Girard, a three-star combo guard from New York, chose to stay close to home and committed to Syracuse during a college announcement ceremony on Sunday. He picked the Orange over Boston College, Duke, Michigan, Notre Dame and Penn State.
Girard, New York’s Gatorade boys basketball player of the year and the state’s all-time leading scorer, took an unofficial visit to Ann Arbor on Jan. 14, 2017 and was visited by a member of the Michigan coaching staff on several occasions before receiving an offer on Jan. 27, 2018, per 247Sports.
However, after a pair of visits by Michigan coach John Beilein in April the Wolverines appeared to cool on him, and Girard only made official visits to Syracuse and Boston College over the summer.
The Wolverines have 2019 commitments from four-star wings Jalen Wilson and Cole Bajema and are already one scholarship over the allotted limit for 2019-20, but that’s only if everyone from this season’s team returns.
jhawkins@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @jamesbhawkins