Two In-State Products Among Five Early Signees for Wolverines

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan David and Meredith Kaplan Men's Basketball Head Coach John Beilein announced today (Friday, Nov. 10) the signing of five players to National Letters of Intent to join the Wolverines for the 2018-19 academic year.

The Class of 2018 includes:

Ignas Brazdeikis, 6-8, forward, Oakville, Ontario (Orangeville Prep)
Colin Castleton, 6-11, center, Daytona Beach, Florida (Father Lopez Catholic HS)
David DeJulius, 6-1, guard, Detroit, Michigan (East English Village HS)
Brandon Johns, 6-8, forward, East Lansing, Michigan (East Lansing HS)
Adrien Nunez, 6-5, guard, Brooklyn, New York (St. Thomas More Prep)

A left-handed forward from Oakville, Ontario, Brazdeikis has played the last three seasons at Orangeville Prep. Averaging 30.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game, he was named an Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association (OSBA) All-Star as well as the league's MVP. He made a clean sweep of the league honors, capturing the OSBA's tournament MVP accolade after guiding Orangeville to the title with a dramatic 99-97 victory over the TRC Academy in the championship game.

In addition to his prep play, Brazdeikis has been a valued member of Canadian national team program. Playing with the U16 team at the FIBA Americas Championship, he helped Team Canada to the silver medal, averaging 9.2 points and 7.2 rebounds in the tournament. The following year, he averaged 14.7 points and 6.9 rebounds in helping Canada to a fifth-place showing at the U17 FIBA World Championships in Spain.

"Ignas is a dynamic player with the ability to impact the game in a variety of ways because of his size, length, athleticism and overall skill set," said Beilein. "Iggy is a terrific student-athlete whose character, work ethic and passion will allow him to embrace and enhance the culture and core values within our program. Our players and staff are incredibly excited about his commitment and look forward to his further growth before joining us."

Beginning his third year as a varsity player at Father Lopez Catholic under coach Eddie Miller, Castleton earned all-area first team honors from the Daytona Beach News and Orlando Sentinel while averaging 23.3 points, 11.0 rebounds and 5.4 blocks as a junior. After beginning his prep career on the junior varsity team as a freshman, he averaged 15.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.5 blocks as a sophomore.

"Colin has an incredible skill set for his size," commented Beilein. "He has shown a blend of being able to shoot from distance and use a low-post game to score as well. When you add in his ability to dribble and pass, he is a terrific fit for our style of play. What we like most is his ability to impact the game on the defensive end, at the rim and on the glass, and we love that he embraces that role. Colin's appreciation, enthusiasm and passion for his family, teachers, coaches, community and the game are attributes he will bring with him from Florida and our fans will appreciate."

After playing his first two prep seasons at Detroit Edison, DeJulius transferred to East English Village and had a breakout season, averaging 25.0 points, 6.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds while knocking down 76 three-point field goals. For his efforts he earned Associated Press Class A first team all-state honors, second team from the Detroit News and third team from the Detroit Free Press.

"David is a highly talented point guard that plays with poise and personality," said Beilein. "His abilities to score and be a playmaker fit well in our style of play. Anytime we can get one of the top in-state prospects, it's a great for our program. He's a leader, has high character, and is a hard-working kid who values academics and the total Michigan experience. We love it when guys come running through the door to be a part of the Wolverine family."

Starting his fourth season on varsity, Johns has guided East Lansing to just two losses over the last two seasons, posting records of 24-1 and 23-1, respectively. Johns helped the Trojans win two straight undefeated Capital Area Blue Conference titles and advance to the regional final of the Class A state tournament in 2017. As a junior, he averaged 20.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks and was named the Associated Press Class A Player of the Year. He has back-to-back AP and Detroit Free Press Class A first team all-state honors, while the Detroit News selected him to the Dream Team in 2017 after first team honors in 2016.

"We are thrilled to be signing such a talented and versatile player as Brandon. He is a humble kid, even with all the expectations he has carried over the years as a top prospect in Michigan and on the national level. Brandon is an explosive athlete that also has a high skill level. He checks a lot of the boxes we look for in our student-athletes, and we are excited to be a part of his continued development as a student-athlete."

After starting to play basketball in seventh grade, Nunez spent the last two seasons coming off the bench at Bishop Loughlin in Brooklyn. Last season, he helped Loughlin reach the NYCHSAA Class AA semifinals in one of the state's toughest divisions. He will spend a postgraduate year at St. Thomas More Prep prior to coming to Ann Arbor.

"Very much like our other signees, Adrien is a high-character kid who values academics and has a tremendous work ethic," said Beilein. "He took this past summer to 'bet on himself' and is using his postgraduate year to really develop and prepare for a collegiate career. His size and shooting ability are just some of the reasons we started following him this summer, and we believe his best basketball is ahead of him. Once he came on his visit, it was clear he was a good match for us, both academically and athletically."

Michigan has three seniors on course to graduate this season: Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Duncan Robinson and Jaaron Simmons.