I would have been happy to land Williams, but I’m also not crushed he’s going somewhere else. I really can’t see him playing much in 2015, and by 2016, I think any of Battle, Langford, Frankie Hughes, and Huerter have more upside for us at shooting guard. Now, of course, there’s no guarantee we get one of those guys, but I also feel like other targets will emerge if we don’t.
Williams not cool with waiting for Brown?Former VCU signee Kenny Williams tells ESPN he is down to Virginia and North Carolina.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) April 30, 2015That’s a bummer. Unless…
That’s not ideal news. I’d love to think it has something to do with Brown, but I doubt it does.
I wonder if next year’s depth chart is a concern now that Caris is back. I can’t much speak to UVa’s depth chart. But he should have a pretty clear path to playing time at UNC. Pinson is the only real 2 guard on that team. Last year, they were forced to run a lot of 2 PG sets. They used Tokoto at the 2 when they didn’t have 2 PGs out there. Paige is currently the only good 3-point shooter on the team. They desperately need someone else that can shoot from range.
Whatever the reason, while Williams is a very good player, he’s not, as I posted above, a combo or a pure PG, which is what we need going forward. To me, Williams only made sense if Caris had left. He’ll be good elsewhere–don’t get me wrong–but Williams was a luxury, not an essential.
Williams not cool with waiting for Brown?Former VCU signee Kenny Williams tells ESPN he is down to Virginia and North Carolina.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) April 30, 2015That’s a bummer. Unless…
That’s not ideal news. I’d love to think it has something to do with Brown, but I doubt it does.
I wonder if next year’s depth chart is a concern now that Caris is back. I can’t much speak to UVa’s depth chart. But he should have a pretty clear path to playing time at UNC. Pinson is the only real 2 guard on that team. Last year, they were forced to run a lot of 2 PG sets. They used Tokoto at the 2 when they didn’t have 2 PGs out there. Paige is currently the only good 3-point shooter on the team. They desperately need someone else that can shoot from range.
Whatever the reason, while Williams is a very good player, he’s not, as I posted above, a combo or a pure PG, which is what we need going forward. To me, Williams only made sense if Caris had left. He’ll be good elsewhere–don’t get me wrong–but Williams was a luxury, not an essential.
I was operating under the assumption that even if we got Williams, we’d have one scholarship open in 2016 earmarked for a PG.
I definitely agree with you that we have a greater need for a slasher/creator. If we get one in the 2016 cycle, I won’t be too upset about losing out on Williams.
But if we miss out on our top wing targets and end up with “just a shooter” in the 2016 class, I think we might be wishing we had Williams. He’s such a pure shooter and will likely be a good perimeter defender.
I think we’ll take two guards/wings in 2016. One preferably a point guard.
Assuming we don’t land Brown, now that we opened up a scholarship in 2015 by putting Hatch on medical, are we going for late targets?
It doesn’t make much sense to me to take away Hatch’s playing rights, and spend the whole year with only 12 scholarship players, even if it gives us one more scholarship in 2016
If something came up I’m sure they’d be open to it, but I could see them banking it (without Jaylen) as well. If you listed to Beilein and Austin talk the other day, a lot of the decision was about what’s best for Austin and that might not be dressing for practice every day as he focuses more on his studies.
If something came up I'm sure they'd be open to it, but I could see them banking it (without Jaylen) as well. If you listed to Beilein and Austin talk the other day, a lot of the decision was about what's best for Austin and that might not be dressing for practice every day as he focuses more on his studies.
Fair enough. But being an assistant might take as much time as practicing with the team. So I assumed that this interview was mostly “just talk” and that it wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t have two recruits maybe trying to enter a full roster.
But yeah, as long as Austin wasn’t pushed away for this particular reason, then I have no problem with banking the scholarship either (although another late prospect like RAK or Dawkins wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world)
I know Bielfield has been granted his release, but could he still come back?
It does if he truly wants to concentrate on academics.
I could see max coming back if we don’t get Jaylen
I would have been happy to land Williams, but I'm also not crushed he's going somewhere else. I really can't see him playing much in 2015, and by 2016, I think any of Battle, Langford, Frankie Hughes, and Huerter have more upside for us at shooting guard. Now, of course, there's no guarantee we get one of those guys, but I also feel like other targets will emerge if we don't.
I find this theory interesting because a year ago I don’t think people envisioned as of this point the 2015 recruiting class to be Moritz Wagner. People said to wait until thing settle and we are at the point now where it’s Brown or nothing else for 2015. Will we be saying the same thing this time next year with Battle, Langford, Hughes and Huerter? Like I said if Michigan gets Brown that obviously changes things but on the surface right now it doesn’t look good for the 2015 class.
Interesting point… Things have changed a bit since most of Michigan’s heavy 2015 recruiting with respect to Duncan Robinson (essentially a 2015 commit) and the development of MAAR and Dawkins. Both players showed enough promise that it’s too early to recruit over them obviously and they look like rotation guys.
The 2015 class is what it is, I think. And I guess that’s OK with LeVert and the rest returning. Everybody said to “wait until 2016”, so I am still banking on a good haul next year.
What IS a bit frustrating is that signing guys like Langford and Goodin seems increasingly unlikely and we are starting to look for serviceable substitutes. Some very good players, no doubt, but it would be 3 years running without getting a single “Plan A”, despite no small effort. (Although Brown would change that.)
Edit: to acknowledge that Chatman was essentially a “Plan A” for whom I maintain high hopes. I think that’s a special case and the point still stands.
It does seem quite odd that you would set up an official visit then cancel 1 day later and trim that school off your list.......that's a complete 180 in only 1 day
Hmmm…maybe the coaches had to tell him the boat is full?
That’s the hope.
To be fair, this is kind of how Kenny’s last recruitment went as well. He talked about taking a bunch of visits then abruptly committed to VCU – IIRC.
I think that Goodin is still very much in play for us.
I think that Goodin is still very much in play for us.
Agree. Louisville isn’t going hard after him. He will go to Louisville if they ever do. We could be in a decent spot with the UF situation and Louisville stalling.
Tough strategic call on whether to go all-in for him, because doing so basically hands Winston to Izzo. I suppose it comes down to how big the staff views the gap (if any).
Would take Goodin over Winston any day.