That’s pretty darn good, better than Duke did with all those Plumlees, for instance.The fact that McGary didn’t start the season (on a team that went 20-0 and was ranked no. 1) is small change compared to the overall rewards reaped.
But, even if you don’t think that Michigan is the right place for Bamba or any particular player, that doesn’t mean that they have to go to Duke or UK to improve their NBA chances. Just consider Ben Simmons at LSU. Anthony Davis and Jabari Parker aren’t in the NBA because of where they went to college.
Of course, there are great reasons to go to those schools: get treated really well, get to play in high profile games, have a good shot to go far in the NCAAs, get fine coaching, etc. But it’s still the case that various top recruits go elsewhere and they don’t suffer in terms of NBA opportunities.
If Bamba was hanging out with Mathews I would love to know Mathew’s response to Bamba when he inevitably asked: “So, why did you transfer from Kentucky to Michigan”?
I can only imagine any answer he gave to be helpful towards landing him.
I beleive the stars might be aligning in our favor.
Now that Matthews is on board I’ll share this with you…he really had to be convinced to come here. Charles flat out questioned the UM coaching staff about the perception of UM and said “everyone thinks of UM as an elitist school”. The thing that sold Charles on UM is wing development/NBA draftees. He made a business decision, which is smart, and I’m certainly glad he’s here. Just wanted to give you guys a glimpse into some of the difficulties facing UM, in particular under JB.
Matt, just a clarification on “elitist”… Is it that we were seen as elitist or that we were seen as elitist w/o the results to back it up? Reason I ask is b/c I presume duke is seen as elitist as well, but it doesn’t seem to stop their flow OR maybe it does with Matthews type recruits as well and I wasn’t sure.
Even if we incorporate that information into a worst case scenario then we have Mathews saying to Bamba: " I came to Michigan because they will prepare me for the NBA better, not because I like it here. I came here despite the fact that I find them elitist here and despite the the fact that I could have gone almost anywhere I wanted to go…"
Yeah, I can’t see the conversation about “elitism” being an obstacle for the Bamba recruitment—just prior to his Harvard visit (!) .
From a random Michigan poster on the Rivals national board:
FWIW our rivals mod is hearing this one could before in the fall now and that bamba doesnt want to drag it into the spring.
So, third-hand insider info lol. Take it how you want. The other posters in the thread seem to think that that would bode poorly for Duke as it is questionable whether Marques Bolden will be a one and done player (thus questionable whether Duke will have a starting spot open for Mo). So he’d have to commit without a guaranteed spot.
Yeah, Bamba’s (and his camp’s) statements and visits would indicate that he is very interested in ‘elitist’ schools who value their student-athletes’ educations and mental aptitudes. The Ross business school is a major recruiting tool, it’s a beautiful building and plays up its prestige. Classmate’s have made it clear that Ross is mostly about networking. Bamba looking into Harvard, when they dont even offer sports scholarships, also lends credence to the general sentiment that academics are a legit concern. UConn and Syracuse, while absolutely not bad schools, are a little harder to explain. I guess Syracuse has a great sports broadcasting program.
FWIW I still consider this an extremely long shot, but just cant help but to indulge in the arguments for Bamba-to-Umich.
I am not accusing you of anything MattD, but, is it reasonable to assume that you might have a perceivedconflict of interest regarding 2017 recruits and here around the Bamba recruitment? Serious question.
Of course that’s reasonable. That said I think UM has some appealing qualities for Bamba, and I have solid second hand info that Bamba enjoyed his visit. I have not spoken to Bamba or his camp though, so I cannot speak intelligently on whether we are a serious option at this point
Matt D do you have any planned or have you reached out to attempt to plan a conversation with Bamba?
Your opinions have grown on me over the years and I would be interested in your take after speaking to him.
This has a feel of previous highly coveted recruits we have went after but has a slight different feel as Bamba doesn’t seem to be the typical 5 star kid so perhaps the stars could align for us.
Extremely difficult to talk to top ten types because 1) they have media/coaches texting them every 5 minutes and 2) Coaches often handle their PR. I’ve been fortunate to speak to some really big time kids, but I don’t recall speaking to a top 10 type
Here’s his EYBL and Peach Jam stats for those interested:
11 Games played, 14.1 ppg on 70% shooting and 64% from the line, 13.6 rpg, 3.4 bpg, 0.8 spg. Also of note is that he only averaged 1.6 fouls per game with all those blocks.
See when I see him saying elitist I think of it as the school in general. That has been said for a long time elitist, arrogant etc. what about the basketball team is “elitist”? I’m just not grasping that.