'15 Big Man Mike Edwards

Clearly another project. The recruiting theory is, if you are going to take a chance, take a chance on size. Bigs tend to develop later than guards. All that being said, I think he has potential based of his highlights. Haven't seen his lowlights though.

Believe me when I tell you, Mike has come a LONG way. I am not exaggerating when I say there was a point in time a little over a year ago where you even questioned if he could play college basketball. All that to say, I think Mike is just touching the surface of his potential, but he is very raw, and will need LOTS of development.

Will have a full update on Edwards soon. Was just on campus for open gym over the weekend. Will also take an official to Georgia this weekend.

Have him pull a McGary and reclassify to 2017 class. How old was McGary when he landed on campus?

I’ve seen him several times in person…both in open gym and game settings. He plays for Westland John Glenn. Not a guy that fits the traditional JB mold, not going to be able to stretch the floor with shooting, and not a guy that you can dump the ball in the post and get you a back to the basket bucket. He has developed a decent handle for a guy that big over the past 6 months, but I certainly wouldn’t feel comfortbale with him on the wing. Decent athelte and rim protector, but his movements seem very uncoordinated at times…might still be getting adjusted to his body size. He is very much a project type that may be good as an upperclassmen.

Overall, just don’t see the need for another five with Doyle, Donnal, Wilson, and Teske.

Update on Mike

Based on your article, I see:

Michigan coaches told Edwards that there’s a possibility that a scholarship could be waiting for him, but that he’ll have to wait while the roster is sorted out.

“(Michigan) said they may have an offer pending,” he said. “But they said they might know in a week.”

Any specific idea of what John Beilein is expecting to see happen within a week? It might be a stretch, but one week kind of falls close to April 1st, the day where Brown is supposed to announce his decision.

Nope, he didn’t know specifics. Think it was more just about Michigan needing to see how the roster came together.

Based on your article, I see:

Michigan coaches told Edwards that there’s a possibility that a scholarship could be waiting for him, but that he’ll have to wait while the roster is sorted out.

“(Michigan) said they may have an offer pending,” he said. “But they said they might know in a week.”

Any specific idea of what John Beilein is expecting to see happen within a week? It might be a stretch, but one week kind of falls close to April 1st, the day where Brown is supposed to announce his decision.

I would think it is less about someone committing and more about someone leaving like Caris to the draft or Max not getting a fifth year, or a transfer (maybe Donnal).

It seems pretty clear that Donnal does not have much of a future here. After two years in the program, he still isn’t even close to showing the kind of game we hoped for from him. He’s not doing much inside, and he hasn’t been much of an outside threat, either. Unless someone gets hurt, I doubt he’ll see much more than 5 minutes a game next year, and maybe less if Wagner is added.

It seems pretty clear that Donnal does not have much of a future here. After two years in the program, he still isn't even close to showing the kind of game we hoped for from him. He's not doing much inside, and he hasn't been much of an outside threat, either. Unless someone gets hurt, I doubt he'll see much more than 5 minutes a game next year, and maybe less if Wagner is added.

It’s interesting that there is such a negative perception, apparently widely held, about Donnal, particularly in comparison to Doyle. Donnal actually had more rebounds per minute than Doyle, and points per minute were not all the much lower. And Donnal did hit 37% from 3 (in relatively few shots) and showed a pretty good mid-range game. He also finished much better inside as the year went on and was more assertive in limited opportunities.

I think it stems from (a) the growth of our wings/guards, in comparison, (b) the preseason hype about Donnal, and (c) him looking a bit tentative early on. But look at other big guys, like Frank Kaminsky, or Schilling and Costello, or Mo Walker, or the OSU bigs, and Donnal’s stats aren’t out of line with some players who became pretty decent pieces on B1G teams.

I’m not saying Mark will become awesome, and maybe he’s on his way out, but I think it’s a little early to write him off. He’s still quite young - the same age as Dawkins, for instance, younger than Rahkman, almost two years younger than Costello, etc. Another summer in Camp Sanderson and coming in with less pressure might be just the thing.

As for Ricky – and I know this is supposed to be his thread – I agree he needs to work on his strength and footwork, and a 12-15 foot jumper would be nice.

Clearly another project. The recruiting theory is, if you are going to take a chance, take a chance on size. Bigs tend to develop later than guards. All that being said, I think he has potential based of his highlights. Haven't seen his lowlights though.

Believe me when I tell you, Mike has come a LONG way. I am not exaggerating when I say there was a point in time a little over a year ago where you even questioned if he could play college basketball. All that to say, I think Mike is just touching the surface of his potential, but he is very raw, and will need LOTS of development.

Sounds a lot like Chatman in the rawness department. Not sure we need another project big man at his point.

The most interesting comment in that article on the homepage was “Michigan said they might know within a week.” Should we be expecting an announcement?

Sounds like Edwards drew quite a crowd today for a workout…

Per Evan Daniels

Mark Fox, Mike Anderson, Bruce Weber, Jamie Dixon, Steve Wojo, Derek Kellogg & Tim Miles watched 2015 6-9 big man Michael Edwards today. Missouri, SMU & Auburn also had assistants watching Michael Edwards. Sounds like a late bloomer!

Definitely a late bloomer, if you would’ve seen Mike a year ago…you wouldn’t even think it was possible for him to improve as much as he has.

If you listen to the “recruiting roundup” on WTKA today they go into some detail about Edwards. I’m surprised somewhat by their thoughts on his ceiling; specifically that in 2-3 years he “could be Jordan Morgan” if he works really hard. Sam Webb also hints that if JB and co miss on Wagner and Brown that they may prefer to have Biefelt back for 1 year vs Edwards as a project.

After watching his highlights, I feel as though they may be selling him short a bit. Sure, he’s raw. However, he looks taller than Jordan and is a better athlete. He can explosively finish at the rim better than anyone on our roster now except Dawkins. He looks like he has the potential to be a plus rebounder as well. Even if he is a year or two away, being the next Morgan would be welcome after the post-play we’ve witnessed this year. It would be really nice to add a Schilling-like player to battle in the post instead of another tall shooter type.

Looks like Auburn, Marquette and Pitt have offered Edwards per Verbal Commits https://twitter.com/VerbalCommits/status/580901161118502914

Sounds like Edwards drew quite a crowd today for a workout...

Per Evan Daniels
https://twitter.com/EvanDaniels/status/580885170598883328

Mark Fox, Mike Anderson, Bruce Weber, Jamie Dixon, Steve Wojo, Derek Kellogg & Tim Miles watched 2015 6-9 big man Michael Edwards today. Missouri, SMU & Auburn also had assistants watching Michael Edwards. Sounds like a late bloomer!

That’s an eye-opening list. Go get us an interview!

Just talked to Mike on Monday. http://www.umhoops.com/2015/03/24/class-of-2015-big-man-mike-edwards-hearing-from-michigan/

I know he’s off to Georgia this weekend and then let’s see where his Michigan interest goes in the next week or so. Definitely blowing up, people searching for sleepers late in the game.

Just talked to Mike on Monday. http://www.umhoops.com/2015/03/24/class-of-2015-big-man-mike-edwards-hearing-from-michigan/

I know he’s off to Georgia this weekend and then let’s see where his Michigan interest goes in the next week or so. Definitely blowing up, people searching for sleepers late in the game.

Webb is of the opinion that Edwards is most likely a Plan C type of kid. A backup if Wagner doesn’t come, and even then the staff may prefer to keep Max.

Just talked to Mike on Monday. http://www.umhoops.com/2015/03/24/class-of-2015-big-man-mike-edwards-hearing-from-michigan/

I know he’s off to Georgia this weekend and then let’s see where his Michigan interest goes in the next week or so. Definitely blowing up, people searching for sleepers late in the game.

Webb is of the opinion that Edwards is most likely a Plan C type of kid. A backup if Wagner doesn’t come, and even then the staff may prefer to keep Max.

Yeah, will be interesting to see how things shake out over the next couple weeks. They are clearly slow-playing him to some extent.