2018 Recruiting Notes

If we are out of the picture for Barrett, CC needs to be number one on our list, even if we have one more big on our roster than we usually have. I think CC has the skills to play the 4 anyways. Need him

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Itā€™s one thing to be a rim protector in high school/AAU, another thing for that to translate to high-major college level.

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I get it. EYBL has always tended to be a pretty good barometer. That is the best competition he can play at the H.S. level.

It translates more often than not.

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No proven rim protection, but Teske has potential. 12% block rate in limited minutes.

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Locke has a similar skillset to Brooks and Poole, but the thing is that heā€™s better. Heā€™s the best shooter in the class, can shoot from a dead sprint, and constantly goes straight up and square. A guy like Beilein would have a tough time passing up a kid that shoots like Locke.

Add in that heā€™s good enough on ball to be a secondary ball-screen handler, and heā€™s really tough to pass up. Thereā€™s not much separating Currie and Castleton to me - Currie seems worse because heā€™s younger and committed prior to getting really scouted. I think thereā€™s a significant difference between Locke and Poole/Brooks.

Finally, we have guys on the roster who can feasibly offer rim protection - Davis was one of the best shot blockers in Michigan, and led Class B in blocks for three straight years. Teske did ok in limited time as a shot blocker. I realize that this is ā€œtheoreticalā€ but no less theoretical than Brooksā€™ and Pooleā€™s shoot acumen at the college level.

With everything thatā€™s gone on in the 48hrs, I would strongly consider holding pat with the Class of '18. There is likely to be a massive transfer market this spring.

Beyond the normal number of Grad Transfers annually available, if this turns out to be a quarter as salacious as the Feds have hinted, youā€™ll still see at least 2-3-4 major programs placed on multi-year post-season bans, which opens non-grad transfers from those schools an option to switch schools w/o sitting out a year.

If youā€™re not sold on UMā€™s depth at Center after this season, dip in to the transfer market for a proven college performer. If youā€™re concerned about team 3point shooting from Poole and Brooks and Livers and Matthews, inquire in to transfers who have proven an ability to shoot the 3 in college.

Not only could it give UM a more likely instant impact athlete on the roster, it also would likely better space out scholarships down the line.

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Not me. While Iā€™m ecstatic with this class whether or not we get anyone else, if we can get Locke or Castleton in particular, Iā€™d take either in a heartbeat. Iā€™m not worried about spacing over classesā€“indeed, Iā€™d much rather go after a bigger class this year, because as JB edges closer to retirement, it could get harder to recruit, and thatā€™s not an issue this year when heā€™s got 3 years left on his contract. Iā€™m not interested in transfers who are going to have to sit a yearā€“we could possibly lose all 5 starters after this season if Mo Wagner and Charles Matthews play great, and I want guys capable of competing for rotation spots right away. And if we have any attrition of our own aside from early entries to the NBA, which is very possible, weā€™re going to have roster spots to fill via late signees anyway, and going after multiple bodies late isnā€™t always successful. While itā€™s always tempting to say bank the scholarship in the hope that there will be a shiny new object late in the game that you can get, Iā€™m in favor of bird in the hand if guys you want are available now. The guys weā€™re still onā€“at least Locke and Castletonā€“are bird in the hand takes to me. With Nunez (or Kennedy if it gets that far), I havenā€™t seen enough to form a strong view one way or the other about taking either instead of waitingā€“those are classic ā€œtrust the staffā€ guys.

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I donā€™t think itā€™s crazy to project that one of Simpson/Brooks/DeJulius might seek other opportunities, Simpson particularly, if it looks likes Brooks is going to pass him up this season. There are not going to be minutes for three pure point guards starting in 2018-19.

Thatā€™s somewhat speculative, and I donā€™t know that Beilein would feel comfortable over signing by 2 based on that, at this point, but a transfer may very well happen.

Yea Iā€™d rather take both CC and Locke and let things sort themselves out later and/or send Currie to prep school. Both are high quality players who fit potential needs.

I donā€™t know if we can oversign by two under Big Ten rules. You can do it if you have someone entering his fifth year because you donā€™t have to extend the four year scholarship if you donā€™t want to, but we have no one like that next year. Dylan?

As for your example, yes, if Simpson gets passed by, he might leave, but neither Brooks nor DeJulius is going before next year; DeJulius wonā€™t even be on campus yet. And from early reports concerning Simpsonā€™s improvement, I donā€™t think heā€™s going to be passed up this year.

If we want to take two more guys in the fall, my guess is that weā€™ll do so if and only if Currie has agreed/will agree not to reclassify to '18 and stays with his original class.

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Yes, word is that X is looking great and could be our starting PG.

Just looking at photos, too, the baby fat is gone, and has been replaced by an 8 pack. Thatā€™s a very good sign.

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Brooks can play shooting guard. As a Freshman, Dave might be content to be waiting his turn, as he learns from junior year Xā€¦Seems normal to meā€¦

Have you heard that Brooks is likely to pass up x at pg?

Agreed. People also forget we have a difficult system to learn. A guy who has sat on the bench for a year or two absorbing what we do is far more valuable than a transfer learning it for the first time.

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I have to believe that by Monday weā€™ll have another commitment, maybe even two. Weā€™re running out of spaces so CC, Locke, Nunez will need to act quickly to grab a spot.

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I think Castleton is a 5 all the way. The reason Wagner has good success driving from the perimeter is because he is doing it against opposing 5ā€™s I think Castleton will be the same and could have a similar career arcā€¦limited minutes as a freshman and then coming on as a sophomore, especially after a year in the weight room.

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Man, people flippantly talking about over signing and ā€œletting it work itself outā€ are advocating the same stuff you slam Tom Crean and other programs for. Canā€™t play the virtuous card and they over signing card at the same time.

Personally, I would be disappointed in Coach Beilein if he started SpringCreaning at UM. Pushing Currie to re-reclassify after the staff agreed with him & his family that he should enter the Class of '18 would be another shady form of SpringCreaning.

The scholarship slots for next season are full. Itā€™s all but guaranteed one slot more will come open at seasonā€™s end (most likely Wagnerā€™s)ā€¦ if the coaches want to over sign by one slot with that insider knowledge in place, OK, Iā€™m fine with it. But over signing with out KNOWING a spot will be available, yes, I have an issue with that.

Stepping away from the clean vs Crean item, I also think the options likely to be available in the transfer market this spring will be a better fit for the 2018-19 roster than another freshman who will likely enter school a year + a Camp Sanderson away from being able to have an impact against B1G caliber competition.

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I agree, but he has the skills to play the 4 too. That was in response to people saying we would have too many 5s on the roster. Guys with that kind of length, ball handling, and 3-point shooting can always have a spot.

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Michigan has ā€œover signedā€ at least several times under Beilein in the early signing period. I believe, they have failed to carry 13 guys on scholarship more than once or twice during that time. Iā€™d have to go back and look at the numbers for both cases, but the transfer stuff works both ways. So many guys are transferring that you have to prepare for it (either to accept transfers or expect transfers).

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I donā€™t see the Castleton as a four much at all. I get that his HS film is more encouraging in that regard, but what you are in EYBL tends to be a lot closer to what you are in college. To me, in EYBL, he looks like a great shot blocker, coordinated/skilled traditional big man. Nice mid-range jumper, solid moves in the post and potential to be a good roll man. Heā€™s not freelancing with the ball on the perimeter or driving past guys.

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Just for the record, Iā€™m one of the guys who is completely comfortable having four 5ā€™s on the roster. I really donā€™t want a situation where we have to play a Smotrycz-type at the 5.

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