Next Monday will be April 25th. Cain is set to take the full tour two days later, at which point it’s the worst kept secret in the world that he will receive an offer. And that’s a prerequisite to an offer anyway.
So, beating someone to the punch two days earlier, is, well, not beating someone to the punch. Who would possibly care? If a recruit or his family cares about someone offering two days before another program, they need a reality check.
And since it seems 99% likely this would make zero difference, I don’t know why you mentioned it.
We really need to land young imo. How he isn’t racked I. The top 75 is beyond me. He’s the type of player who wins games. His style of play just wins. I don’t see much weakness in his game. For what this roster needs especially young would be perfect. Rebounds well, plays solid d, nice three ball, great at dirty work and finishing. Doesn’t seem to need a ton of touches to score eighteen points. Seems to have a solid turn around to. I really hope we don’t lose out on the kid.
Who are some backup fours were eyeing if he goes elsewhere? Does anyone know?
With all due respect LAW, I think I’m a bit closer to the situation than yourself. For you to suggest what should make a difference in your opinion, is what is truly pointless. You are entitled to your opinion, no doubt, but you don’t have a clue as to what matters and doesn’t with respect to Jamal Cain and family.
If nothing else, Cain will serve as a test case to show how waiting till post-blow-up to offer a previously under-the-radar guy affects the likelihood of actually securing the commitment. Based on the interest he reportedly has in Michigan, I think there’s a decent chance he commits quickly, but without a doubt, his debut with The Family has changed his recruitment in a big way. Since most people seem to be resigned to finding diamond-in-the-rough, late-riser types and don’t expect to land high-end guys like Wilkes etc., landing Cain becomes especially important – there just aren’t many lower-profile options who can do what he does, especially not in our backyard.
Does this mean that we will have an advantage over schools which do not offer before the 27th? If MSU, etc. come in later, will that matter to Jamal and his family. And, does the fact that we invited him to take the full academic tour/receive an official offer before Brooklyn give him an advantage over those schools which waited until after they saw him in Brooklyn to offer?
I recognize that you have talked to Jamal and his family, and I respect that you know more about what they think than I do. However, leaving aside schools like Xavier and Georgia which offered substantially before Michigan will (and thus could be said to have a distinct advantage in terms of timing), are you actually saying that there is a real difference to Jamal and his family between when in a two week period a school offers? if so, what do they think that difference is?
Well, all I can say is, if the family cares about some other program offering two whole days before we do, that would be a negative reflection upon them for me, not the UM staff. But I have feeling they are smart about this and it won’t be an issue.
Yep it is always someone else’s fault that JB can’t recruit better. Its boosters, or greedy relatives or impatient kids or cheating programs or [insert other dumb excuse here].
Every other major program outside msu don’t reside 45min away. If JB is as good at identifying diamonds in the rough like most claim around here, he wiffed here.
Waiting on offering is dumb. No other way to spin it.
He also lives in Tom Izzo’s back yard. I assume that means that you believe that Izzo also had ample opportunity to evaluate him and offer him before now. Or maybe, just maybe, both wanted to see him a bit more because sometimes, the way kids look is materially different as they move along in the process. To be clear, kudos to those like Matt who thought and said that Cain would blow up earlier than virtually every major college coach out there (save for Xavier and Georgia). However, given the fact that some kids are overrated early, as well as underrated (see e.g., Carlton Brundidge, Kelvin Torbert), there is a tradeoff involved here.
If you think we end up landing him, then I don’t get the hand wringing. I’d be happy to revisit this if he chooses to go elsewhere, but this seems like much ado about nothing.