Brent Hibbitts visit

Dylan do you think this is a possible scholarship offer situation or a preferred walkon scenario?

Dylan do you think this is a possible scholarship offer situation or a preferred walkon scenario?

I know I wasn’t asked, but if it is a scholarship situation, I would be very puzzled why they wouldn’t return to recruiting Towns very heavily, seeing as how OSU just told him they don’t have space. I will also add that if it again is indeed a scholarship situation, there must be some REAL confidence from the coaches that Robinson and Chatman can move to and play the perimeter (2 or 3) in the system.

He told me that they’ve been recruiting him for the past three months or so, but they haven’t discussed an offer with him at this point. Should know a lot more after his visit tomorrow.

He seems like a preferred walk-on type to me and adding walk-ons with MAC-level offers is usually a nice bonus.

Again, it would be truly perplexing to offer Hibbits (and we know damn well he’s committing on spot) from both a talent and roster composition standpoint…I would really be scratching my head…just doesn’t make sense.

I’ve covered Hibbits’ game through film…I’ll just say I’m not a fan, and I don’t think many on the board were either.

Dingo/MattD I agree with both of you. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Brent Hibbitts > Jaylen Brown

Again, it would be truly perplexing to offer Hibbits (and we know damn well he's committing on spot) from both a talent and roster composition standpoint..........I would really be scratching my head...........just doesn't make sense.

I’ve covered Hibbits’ game through film…I’ll just say I’m not a fan, and I don’t think many on the board were either.

How are you not a fan of his game? He’s 6’8" and can put the ball on the floor and shoot well. He’s got plenty of skill. It’s just that he’s not explosive/athletic enough to compete in the B1G at this point. Change that and you’ve got a Top 100 player. Unfortunately, athleticism is the one thing that can’t be changed much, just improved. Even then, I’m not sure he’d have enough bounce to rebound in the B1G.

Pretty much the only full game footage available against legit comp; my scouting report from a previous thread:

'Was able to get full game film from AAU on Hibbits (#4 on film below) from July 2014. Once again, the comp. level isn’t very good, but certainly an upgrade from the clips above. I’ve only been able to go through half of it, but if I’m being honest, I just don’t think Hibbitts can play high major D1 ball with his lack of athleticism…he’s very challenged in terms of lateral movement and speed. Caveats apply because the film is 8-9 months old, but unless he made some SERIOUS strides in terms of athleticism, I just don’t think he has been naturally blessed with the tools to play high major basketball. ’

Notable first half plays:

1:40 mark – displays decent change of direction on the crossover from the right wing, but is a bit too upright, misses the layup
5:18 mark – able to get a step on his man going left, but then throws a wild off balance, cross court pass
5:35 mark – gets switched onto a guard at the top of the key, guard easily beats him off the bounce, defensive stance is much too high, needs to get lower and move feet laterally
7:01 mark – receives entry pass in the post (scramble ensues because the entry pass was poor and Hibbitts fails to meet the ball); Hibbits can’t get a step on the hesitation move and is almost forced out of bounds before throwing another off balance, one leg pass, at which point his teammate bails him out by hitting a FT line jumper
7:45 mark – offensive player easily gets a step on Hibbitts going left (the offensive player is very slow/laterally challenged himself) then puts a spin move on him to create a good look (but misses). Hibbitts is simply much too high in his defensive stance, simply can’t do that when you are laterally challenged in the first place
15:55 mark – receives post entry pass; takes a power drop step dribble over his left shoulder, has very little elevation on the shot attempt but is fouled. Knocks down both FT with good form
16:28 mark – gets the ball on the right wing; takes 2 dribbles left and can’t get a step on the defender despite the defender having to recover from the screen set on him to give Hibbitts some space
17:20 mark – receives the ball on the right wing after setting the pick; takes 1 dribble going right and attempts the jumpstop layup and might have been 4-5 inches off the ground. Missed the layup and looked very off balance and uncoordinated

18:30 mark - misses catch and shoot 3 short
19:05 mark - poor close out, fails to get low enough to shift hips, offensive player hits stepback jumpshot from left baseline
22:55 mark - gets ball on left wing and attempts to go right, takes 3 dribbles and can’t get a step on the defender, attempts to try behind the back dribble and the ball is nearly stolen
29:05 mark - defending the baseline inbounds pass; lets the inbounder get inside position at which point he gets an offensive rebound and Hibbitts is forced to foul
29:50 mark - receives kick out pass from the big on the left wing, shot fakes and goes left when the defender is out of control closing out, makes poor pass when defense collapses on him baseline, resulting in TO
32:45 mark - opposing player gets defensive rebound (this is the opposing team’s center, who is not the fastest guy in the world), takes the ball up the court and puts a hesitation move on Hibbitts at the top of the key and gets just enough separation to get a clean look after lowering the shoulder…this was pretty bad. No way you ever want to get beat by an offensive player that athletically challenged
38:10 mark - hits cutter with nice pass for dunk

The only way this makes sense to me is as a preferred walk on. Reminds me of that Thornton kid for MSU a few years back (at best).

As I said in the comments on the site… Makes sense as a preferred walk-on. Some quotes from his coach.

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2015/05/06/michigan-basketball-brent-hibbitts/70883558/

Seen him twice in person last year. At this time his lack of even average athleticism is his biggest drawback. He’s mechanical but efficient with the ball in his hands, but have EXTREME doubt about that translating effectively to D1. What in the world would be the need for his skill set with the present composition of the roster? Head scratcher for sure. You can absolutely book it that if offered, he’s a Wolverine.

Seems like it would be a preferred walk-on situation, which would be quite a nice pick-up.

The linked article says he’s being considered as a preferred walk-on. So calm down.

The linked article says he's being considered as a preferred walk-on. So calm down.

But why calm down when we can panic on a Wednesday afternoon?

Thanks Sane and Dylan. Seriously, people just go crazy before they even have a clue as to what the staff is doing!

The linked article says he's being considered as a preferred walk-on. So calm down.

But why calm down when we can panic on a Wednesday afternoon?

But panicking brings life into the middle of my week! Seriously though, I wasn’t trying to seem like I was panicking. I was trying to point out the potential “optimistic” side that all of the recent moves we’ve seen from the staff make a lot more sense to me if they have faith that Chatman and Robinson are actually as versatile as advertised. It’s going to be a long offseason waiting until we can see if that’s the case or not.

In the meantime, I hope Brent makes the best decision for him as a player and as a future college student.

Hibbitts is in as a preferred walk-on

Hibbitts is in as a preferred walk-on

Michigan adds Brent Hibbitts as preferred walk-on | UM Hoops.com

What does preferred walk-on truly mean?

I assume he has to pay his own way and this doesn’t count as a scholarship?

Also, how many walk-ons are allowed?

That’s essentially the definition of preferred walk-on. Pay your way to school, but promised a spot on the team.

Those Tyus Battle dominoes are already falling :wink: