Justin Pippen, Scottie Pippen's youngest son, commits to Michigan

Justin Pippen, the youngest son of NBA legend Scottie Pippen, announced he will be playing college basketball next season at Michigan. The 6-foot-4 senior point guard out of Sierra Canyon High School (Chatsworth, California) was one of the fastest risers in the high school senior class and chose the Wolverines over Cal, Florida, Texas A&M and Stanford.

"I'm really excited to be heading to Michigan," Pippen told Yahoo Sports. "It's a great program and all the new coaching staff is on the same page and telling me I can come in right away and make an impact."

After being the leading scorer for Sierra Canyon all season, Pippen received interest from several Division I programs from around the country and took visits to UC Santa Barbara, Texas A&M and a recent visit to Michigan last weekend.

"It was a great visit, just being able to see the campus and meet with the coaches," Pippen said. "They just told me to keep working and love the way I see the court and we're going to come in and make a statement next year in the Big Ten."

Last summer, Pippen didn't play on any major AAU team or circuit. Instead, he was in the gym with his older brother, Scotty, who played three years at Vanderbilt and led the SEC in scoring (20.4 points per game) his junior year, went undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft and played for the Los Angeles Lakers for two seasons before being picked up by the Memphis Grizzlies . Also in the gym with the Pippen brothers at times over the summer were Kenyon Martin Jr., Devin Booker, Jalen Green and Kevin Durant.

"I feel like my brother has increased my work ethic, for sure," Justin Pippen said. "Just being in the gym with him and other pros this summer, and my dad as well. He's just telling me to wake up every single day and put the work in."

Pippen finished his high school career at Sierra Canyon, playing alongside four-star guard Isaiah Elohim in the backcourt. Pippen also played with Bronny James for three years prior to James committing to USC as well as Amari Bailey who was a star freshman at UCLA before being drafted in the second round to the Charlotte Hornets in the 2023 NBA Draft.

"Each year, I just took what I could from those players' games and tried to get better, mainly on the defensive side since both Bronny and Amari were so good with the ball in their hands," Pippen said.

This is the first big recruiting win for new head coach Dusty May as he also hired six new assistant coaches in finalizing his coaching staff. Pippen continues his dad's basketball legacy and will be a freshman to watch next season with how well he plays as the primary ball handler and also shoots the 3 off the dribble - something he's learned from a few of the best players to ever play the game.