When officials are scheduled, it is generally thought that securing the final visit is an advantageous position. Some schools have a no visit policy once a recruit commits, hence they have their “fun” with the first 4 and commit on the final visit. Still think he ends up at SC, but once you get a kid on campus anything can happen. Rather be first vs the middle
Yea you’re probably right on being the last visit…time will tell.
Last is usually best as long as he makes it to you. Definitely would rather go first than middle though because it guarantees you a chance before he commits somewhere
I like the positioning of the visit sooner rather than later. Set the bar high so he has something to measure the others against. You can see that Michigan is becoming a very special school to play for and is establishing its own identity and culture. It might take another year, maybe two, but UM will be a top 5 destination under John Beilein.
I think we’ll be a top 5 destination too! Many 5 stars will want to come here, but we’re so exclusive that we’re going to give their spots away to D3 transfers!
Lets pray he commits.Antonio Blakeney will officially visit Louisville next Sunday, per his coach Steve Reese.
— Evan Daniels (@EvanDaniels) August 22, 2014
I think we’ll be a top 5 destination too! Many 5 stars will want to come here, but we’re so exclusive that we’re going to give their spots away to D3 transfers!
I think you have to leave it up to the staff. Note every 5 star kid fits the UM culture. Maybe 2 or 3 top 50 kids will fit into the system, but they will shine. It will never be a me first culture but it will be a team first program. The foundation is set just need a few bricks every year!
I know, but I still think they screwed the whole situation up.
Could be, only time will tell. I try not to get caught up in who they don’t get and find more enjoyment from who is here! Funny, they just keep winning! Looks like they might surprise a few people again…not me though, Beilein has been winning with this formula for 30 years. Go Blue!
Could be, only time will tell. I try not to get caught up in who they don't get and find more enjoyment from who is here! Funny, they just keep winning! Looks like they might surprise a few people again...not me though, Beilein has been winning with this formula for 30 years. Go Blue!
The common theme for me is disappointment then surprise.
Novak: Disappointed then surprised
Spike: Disappointed then surprised
MAAR: Disappointed so far surprised
Some guys have been disappointing but we’ve been able to work around them with great success or they ended up weeding out.
I think it’s the work ethic and character traits of the selected individuals that can’t be measured and only the staff has access to. The top 100 kids are typically measured by tangible criteria and video available to the 247’s of the world. I wonder if they even talk to the kids.
The other issue I wonder about is the academic’s at schools. Look at the issues with kids that won’t do the work or go to class. This staff will not tolerate academic neglect and that minimizes the pool of kids that fit the culture. I recall Syracuse having some issues over the past decade and I’m sure many other programs. It certainly is a distraction when you don’t have committed players to academics and have a one and done goal.
Actually, I think that I agree with you guys now. We really can’t tell if we messed up because for all we know jalen could be a bust…
Chazer - I think we should be very careful in questioning the “character” of recruits that don’t come to UM. Just because a kid doesn’t have interest in UM or vice versa doesn’t necessarily indicate a lack of “character” or a lack of motivation on the academic side of things. What some are doing is implying that other schools will tolerate academic dishonesty/fraud when that is just speculation in an effort to boost our “culture”. Im of the opinion we should “rep” UM by focusing on the positives about UM that we are aware of rather than speculating about what schools/recruits are potentially doing that is immoral or not within the confines of amateurism. If we have to boost UM at the expense of implicitly questioning the morals of other recruits/schools, I think that could make us just as immoral as the schools/recruits we’re speaking of. Just my 2 cents
Who’s character are we questioning? There are two parts to this…
-
Michigan generally has higher standards to offer kids and wants to make sure they are the right fit ahead of time (requiring at least 2 years of transcripts, etc.). There are plenty of other schools that don’t play by those rules and that is what it is.
-
If Michigan gets to the point where it offers/prioritizes a kid (visited, offered, etc.) and the kid is still a priority then the problem isn’t character. That’s basically a sign he’s passed Michigan’s screening. If he ends up somewhere else, he ends up somewhere else.
Actually, there is a third part…where UM doesn’t offer/show interest in a recruit, but the recruit doesn’t have any academic/character issues. Staff simply doesn’t like the given recruit in a pure basketball sense. In other words, its not always the case that the pool is limited on the basis of character/academic issues, WE could be inherently limiting the pool because we prefer a certain type of player stylistically. I just think its best we promote UM for what it is rather than boosting our “self esteem” by bad mouthing others - seems rather childish in my opinion
Actually, there is a third part.........where UM doesn't offer/show interest in a recruit, but the recruit doesn't have any academic/character issues. Staff simply doesn't like the given recruit in a pure basketball sense. In other words, its not always the case that the pool is limited on the basis of character/academic issues, WE could be inherently limiting the pool because we prefer a certain type of player stylistically. I just think its best we promote UM for what it is rather than boosting our "self esteem" by bad mouthing others - seems rather childish in my opinion
Well, I thought that was obvious. There’s plenty of guys that don’t ‘fit’ because of their basketball abilities.
I guess I missed who was being badmouthed?
Chazer’s point, along with some others, is that UM’s pool is limited based on our elevated academic standards and our “culture”. In other words, he is implicitly taking shots at other schools/recruits by claiming they can’t cut it at UM academically. What’s the point of doing that? Why not just focus on our pros/cons internally? Personally I think that it’s just an excuse, and I refuse to allow it be a justification for our recruiting/performance, especially when we’ve missed out on guys repeatedly that pass our “culture” test, or they wouldn’t have even been offered per your post above.
Danjel Purifoy picks Auburn.
Never much going on there but another one off the board.
Chazer's point, along with some others, is that UM's pool is limited based on our elevated academic standards and our "culture". In other words, he is implicitly taking shots at other schools/recruits by claiming they can't cut it at UM academically. What's the point of doing that? Why not just focus on our pros/cons internally? Personally I think that it's just an excuse, and I refuse to allow it be a justification for our recruiting/performance, especially when we've missed out on guys repeatedly that pass our "culture" test, or they wouldn't have even been offered per your post above.
Don’t think that anyone is saying that every top100 kid on whom we pass is falling short on character, grades or fit. But there are a number for whom that is the case. In most cases, there is self selection, i.e. they aren’t interested in Michigan. Where they are interested, in some cases it’s academics or not a good teammate or the coaches just don’t like the kid as much as the recruiting gurus do for what we try to do.
As Dylan implies, fit was not the issue for Coleman or he never would have been offered. However, at some point the staff felt that, after giving him oodles of time (well over a year) to decide and a lot of attention, he was still lukewarm towards Michigan, at best, and they decided to prioritize someone else. Sometimes a recruiting picture changes over time based on different influences getting involved. Every case is unique.
I think @sane1 hits the nail on the head perfectly here. Don’t understand any character assassination RE: Jalen Coleman as he’s by all accounts a good kid. Coleman had his chance, didn’t take it and Michigan moved on an option it wanted.