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U-M basketball target Ethan Morton picks Purdue

One of Michigan basketball's targets in the 2020 class is off the board. Butler (Penn.) Area forward Ethan Morton committed to Purdue on Thursday night, picking the Boilermakers over a list of schools that included U-M, Indiana and Ohio State, among others. According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Morton is a four-star prospect and the No. 42 overall recruit. He was one of the first prospects in the 2020 class to receive an offer from Michigan, picking up a tender on Oct. 20. Morton saw his recruitment expand throughout the process as he became a national recruit, and he appears to have been especially coveted by Big Ten programs. The Wolverines — who are typically selective throughout the recruiting process — have seven offers out in the 2020 class. Michigan has one commitment from Maumee (Ohio) guard Zeb Jackson, and has offered center Walker Kessler, center Zach Loveday, forward Carlos Johnson, wing Micah Peavy and guard Nimari Burnett, along with Morton. On Tuesday, Burnett — a five-star prospect who originally hails from Chicago and currently plays in California — became the most recent prospect to receive an offer from the Wolverines. Michigan's scholarship situation for the 2019-20 season is currently pending while the program awaits final decision from Ignas Brazdeikis on whether to remain in the NBA draft or return to school. If Brazdeikis elects to stay in the draft, the Wolverines would have two open scholarships. If he chooses to return, Michigan would have one open scholarship. The Wolverines are scheduled to lose two scholarship players after the 2019-20 season — senior center Jon Teske and senior point guard Zavier Simpson — which would leave them with a minimum of two open scholarships to use in the 2020 class, if there were no further attrition. Contact Orion Sang at osang@freepress.com . Follow him on Twitter @orion_sang . Read more on the Michigan Wolverines and sign up for our Wolverines newsletter .