Five-star Battle picks Michigan

Excited to say that I am going to be a Wolverine!!🙌🏾〽️🏀😆 pic.twitter.com/xdEUC5o9ol- tyus battle (@kidmamba23) May 11, 2015

Shortly after his weekend visit to Michigan, five-star junior wing Tyus Battle surprised his father, Gary, by telling him that he was ready to commit to the Wolverines.

It wasn't that the 6-foot-6 shooting guard from Gladstone (N.J.) Gill St. Bernard's wanted to pick John Beilein and the Wolverines that surprised the elder Battle. It was the timing. Gary had figured his son would take more time and more visits but it was made clear late Sunday afternoon that his son's mind was made up.

"I was surprised because he had two more visits he could take," Gary told Rivals.com. "He told me on Mother's Day; we had gone to Buffalo Wild Wings. We went to watch the Cavs' game and I asked him what he thought of the visit and he said, 'I think I want to be Wolverine.'

I asked him to sleep on it and he said I don't think I need to, let's call coach tonight. I asked him to sleep on it again and he said again he wanted to call coach. My wife said, 'He's not a fly-by-night kind of guy and if that's how he feels, he needs to do it.' "

So the Battle family set up a call with Beilein and the commitment was made.

It was Michigan's style and approach in the process that won over Battle. A good athlete with long arms and a very dangerous jump shot, he is just as serious in the classroom as he is on the floor.

"He's a really serious kid and a great kid academically and he wanted a college that would give him that balance," Gary said. "At the end of the day Michigan had done such a great job recruiting him and covering the academics. Also, they do such a great job with their wings, zero McDonald's All-Americans and seven pros. He felt really comfortable with the staff."

Though his son ended his recruitment earlier than anticipated, the elder Battle said that his son, Beilein and Michigan are all a great match.

"The way Beilein is, he and Tyus are kind of similar in how they think," he said. "They are both methodical and take their time and that resonated with Tyus. (It was) the opportunity to play and the depth chart that they put together, along with the academics compared with anything anybody else could have done for him."

Currently ranked No. 14 in the class of 2016, Battle is third member of Michigan's 2016 recruiting class. He joins four-star power forward Jon Teske and three-star center Austin Davis.

[rl]