Don’t know where else to put this, because its ridiculously early, but I’ve had the opportunity to watch 2020 Steve Pearson play. When I say freak athlete, that may very well be an understatement. His athleticism at that age is insane.
The basketball coach - whoever it is - is going to get a leash about 1/10 as long as Harbaugh’s. Amaker landed the #1 class one year at Seton Hall, yet was a pretty average recruiter here. In fact, for who they are, I’d argue Harvard has given Amaker more leeway in recruiting than Michigan ever did.
We don’t contend for 90% of five stars because we don’t offer cash, no show classes, guaranteed starting spots, and things of that sort. And anyone who thinks Coach K is doing things above board hasn’t been paying attention for the past 15 years.
I disagree with your take on Brooks being equal to Spike. Maybe freshman year Spike as in just a shooter off the bench. Obviously we won’t know about Brooks until he plays for us but I personally think Spike was one of the best backup PG’s in the country for his sophomore and junior years. Honestly if Brooks is eventually able to play at that level I’d be ecstatic, but I just don’t think he has the distribution skills.
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Well, I’m trying to be diplomatic here lol. My candid, unfiltered opinion of Brooks probably isn’t that high, but I haven’t seen him play live so my opinion isn’t very informed and I’m trying to be mindful of that.
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True, until we see more of him it’s mostly a guess. Like I said though, if he is able to play at Spike’s level I’d say it’s a solid pickup.
Isaiah Livers on weekend visit, Bamba
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Makes us a final four squad. M seems like a great fit, both because of Coach B’s system and because we’re the number one public uni in the country.
Before today, never once in my life heard tell of M basketball being “elitist”. Now I’m reading conversations as if it’s a real thing, based on anecdotal conversations. I can’t take this conversation seriously.
Googled: " Michigan basketball elitist " not surprisingly the results were nil. Nothing about the basketball team. Nothing about Coach Beilein.
This is not a subject I wish to debate. Only making an observation.
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And yet, compared head to head (i.e. when Spike was at the exact same stage relative to Brooks), he had an Appalachian State offer at best (I’m not sure exactly when it came), and Brooks has defending champion Villanova and Ohio State offers on top of a Michigan offer.
I can certainly see being skeptical given Spike’s development, but the above context is so glaring that it feels unreasonable not to include.
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Honestly, I’m not even sure what MattD means by it. Could be not much more than that you can’t be an academic slacker, which is fine by me.
He might not end up as slick as Spike on O, but his D will be better from day 1.
Kam Chatman also had an Arizona offer, just saying.
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It’s a culture thing. I think it means that we are now what the Fab Five said Duke was (and that they hated) back then.
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Have to disagree here, especially considering his size (or lack of). Brooks is probably close to Spike in terms of overall size. He doesn’t appear to be very well off laterally as well. Defense is not something I anticipate Brooks to be very good at, at least initially.
Hey guys, let’s try to pull this thread a little bit back on topic at least a bit… We are talking about Eli Brooks, elitism and who knows what else rather than Mo Bamba.
Like I said, it’s meaningful context but of course not prescriptive.
Dylan, the culture stuff does feel relevant to discussion of fit for Mo Bamba, IMHO, but you’re the boss 
Yeah I mean the point has been made either way, I just don’t want it to consume this thread.
I’m not really sure that’s what Bamba’s recruitment is going to come down to. Generally these things come down to who in the inner circle is calling the shots and what factors win out at the end. Think it’ll be interesting to see what next steps/visits he takes from here.
Any chance the Jordan brand helps with the “inner circle?” I know an answer would just be speculation, but I have no idea how this stuff works.
I mean all of these things help and play a factor, it’s just how much. The branding, the chance to wear Jordans, kids like all of that.
Mo Bamba is a different type of kid that seems to think on a higher level than all of that though. How many five-star recruits go up to the Sloan conference for fun? His criteria will probably look different than many others.
The shoe brand stuff is really important in some other recruitments in different ways as well (think about those random kids that have all Under Armour or all Adidas lists, or when Maverick Rowan’s AAU coach wouldn’t let him discuss Louisville), but I don’t think those are the kind of recruitments that Michigan is going to win generally speaking. I don’t think this is a situation like that in the slightest, just pointing out the other way that shoe brands can be important.
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I am not sure Coach K has swag but he has also been coaching the US Olympic team the past few Olympics. I don’t believe for a moment he coaches these guys but all these guys like LeBron, Kobe etc… say great things about Coach K. I have no doubt those legends of the game and their comments resonate with high school players.