It seemed like a slam dunk: Jett Howard, Juwan Howard’s youngest son, committed to Michigan Wednesday. No surprise, right?

Well, he almost committed elsewhere, he said on Instagram Live with ESPN’s Paul Biancardi.

Howard, a 4-star recruit from IMG Academy in Florida, chose his dad’s Wolverines over NC State, Georgetown and Tennessee. But the Vols almost landed the star small forward.

“Honestly, starting Monday, I was going to go to Tennessee,” Howard told Biancardi. “I was locked on going to Tennessee. Then I just sat down with my dad and had a heart to heart moment and he told me everything, really, that I needed to hear. He told me he trusted me and all the things he needs from me. … I really just believed in him and took the chance.”

So maybe it wasn’t a sure thing, after all. One thing’s for sure, though: Michigan’s recruiting class got that much better with Howard’s commitment.