Will he be? Honest question. He’s a good shooter and solidly built. You also can’t argue with his production. But he’s pretty short and not explosive.
If he commits to Michigan I’ll be pretty happy. But if he ends up elsewhere, I won’t be too upset about it.
Chez, what’s very high demand? Do you really think he’s going to get offers from the Kentckys and Dukes of the world? And if he does, do you think they won’t recruit over him right away?
Don’t get me wrong–he’s a very nice player and I hope he commits to Michigan soon. But even Matt, his self-professed biggest cheerleader (get well soon, Matt), says he projects him as a top 80-100 player, or in other words, someone unlikely to be playing basketball after college for a living, much less be an early entry. In such a case, it is a huge gamble for a guy who has said that he grew up a Michigan guy and that this was his dream offer to let things “play out.” I don’t blame him, and it may work out for him, but he does run a risk here.
It’s not about blame, it’s about understanding the situation. We have two examples of guys in the last two years who had Michigan offers and appeared in the end to want to play at UM, but the offer was no longer on the table - Cain and Seth Towns (possibly three with Langford). They obviously wound up in good situations, and I’m sure DeJulius will too, but there is a significant potential downside in waiting for an extended period of time if you’re not a top 25 guy, certain not a top 50 guy.
The contact from Kentucky also speaks to how much people respect Beilein’s scouting. He offers someone and people take notice.
IMO, DeJulius is going to garner increasing attention from his continuing rapid development. It may/may not ascend to the blue chip pursuit level, but then again it potentially could.
He’s a nice player that could blow up very easily going forward. I believe we play this one out and hope home is where his heart is.
I’m still a believer that pg is not a position of strength for this team the next couple of years. We’ll see how great that need turns out to be going forward.
I wonder if Cohill could get an offer now that it looks like we will take a PG. Assume JB thought DeJulius would commit and now that he isn’t maybe they extend another offer or two. Eric Hunter as well from Indy
The offer to DeJulius might say more about increased positional flexibility for offers than it does about what the staff thinks it has in Simpson and Brooks (and what it might mean for a guy like Cohill).
In the '16 and '17 classes, you have Teske and Davis, who are big enough to play the 5 and Livers who is big enough to play the 4, with Watson, Matthews, and Poole with enough size to play the 3 (and Matthews being athletic enough to play a small-ball 4) – and Wilson and Wagner in the class behind that able to man the 4 and 5. Especially if we can get a guy like Johns in '18, you don’t need a ton of size in the class.
As others have pointed out, playing two “PGs” in the backcourt has worked pretty well in the NCAAs. Offers to guards and wings might be more about who the staff likes best as players as opposed to filling needs, especially at this point. But we’ll see.
I guess I’d rather him not “Battle” us but hope he chooses Michigan.
2018 kid this far out from the early signing period? Let him take his time and make sure he’s 100% sure before committing anywhere. (And I mean that for any 2018 recruit, not just DeJulius specific)
If he was a 2017 late signing period target, then, yeah, I’d view the delay as a bad omen.
Patience, within 48 hours
Even with the Kentucky interest?
I just can’t see U.K. offering him this early. Kid is a stud, but not a top 15 stud. The initial contact must have been awesome to hear,feel,experience from U.K., but I’m thinking he knows his place is in Ann Arbor. Hope so anyway.
DeJulis, Ryan &/or Carmody & Johns would be a good, talented class, especially combined with Brooks/Poole/Mathews/Livers. Want to see Johns be consistent this year. But all of those names above is a pretty good new, young crop of talent.
I think he has to know a UK offer is unlikely. You basically need to be at the very least a top 25 player to play point for UK.
Of course it is unlikely, but the fact that UK even showed interest would have most recruits putting their commitment on pause while they wait the inevitable interest from other schools.
…unless Michigan really happens to be his dream offer?
Yup. Sounds like that is the case.
Which is good because then an early commitment wouldn’t have that Tyus Battle feel.
Done deal!
Wow, great news, thanks for letting us know.
No tweets/social media referencing this please, it will be public shortly.
Long way to go obviously, but Dave has a Chauncey Billups type game in my opinion. Best case comparison is Jordan Taylor of Wisconsin
This isn’t social media?