I wouldn’t say “whiffed” until the ink is dry on a commitment elsewhere, but at the very least, waiting until a guy blows up on the EYBL circuit means that you sacrifice any advantage that comes from early identification of talent.
And if seeing him vs high-level competition is a legitimate prerequisite, it makes one wonder why Austin Davis got an offer so early.
Izzo has also been in on a larger number of high-end 2017 guys than us, so it makes landing Cain less essential to their future success.
He’s not good enough for Izzo to be a priority.
Haha I mean, that should be common sense.
I don’t think waiting to offer means that you are sacrificing any advantage that you had. JB has spent time building a relationship with Cain. I’m sure that counts for something.
Plus, even if JB offered last June and Cain committed on the spot, that would not prevent other big time programs from throwing their hats into the ring now.
If he wants to go to Michigan, he will.
Then why hasn’t Izzo offered if it’s so obvious that this kid in his back yard is going to be all that you say he is. Lazy Beilein’s the one who’s showed up to watch the kid work out. Had him at Crisler several times.
Again, Cain is not good enough to be a plan A guy for Izzo.
He is certainly good enough for JB and his program. Unless you believe JB should be recruiting on Izzo’s level? If so, you can’t be too happy with our roster and outlook.
That’s the most naive take I’ve ever heard.
Which part? The fact that JB has a leg up on building a relationship with Cain? Or the fact that an early commitment would not stop other programs from coming? Because neither of those are naive.
Izzo offered Young. Is Young a better prospect than Cain?
IMO, yes he is.
Izzo really whiffed on Young.
So to be clear then, you want us to rush in and offer kids who are not good enough to be priorities for Izzo?
And in answer to your question elsewhere in this thread about whether people who aren’t willing to settle for Izzo’s Plan Bs are unhappy about our recruiting over the last three years, yes, I’d like to be recruiting better, and believe that it is a problem which needs to be remedied. However, I don’t believe you solve that problem by deciding that you’ll prioritize Izzo’s Plan Bs, especially when Izzo’s Plan Bs over the past few years–Ellis, Schilling, Nairn, Bess, Clark, McQuaid and Aherns–have not exactly been overwhelming. For that matter, aside from his truly excellent 2016 class, 2013-2015 were not great years for Izzo in the recruiting process–those seven guys, Deyontae Davis, who would have been a great player had he stayed more than a year, and two transfers (Forbes and Harris) who shoot well, but are not especially great at other aspects of the game, something many have blasted in the players Michigan signed.
RE: The ‘offer’ conversation… This is a good read. http://espn.go.com/blog/ncbrecruiting/national/insider/post?id=6661
Change your mind again?
And in your eyes, it’s always somehow JB’s fault, right? What exactly should he do differently with Cain? Doesn’t any coach have to be sure of an offer before he makes it? I mean, if Cain were a complete “can’t miss” prospect, wouldn’t he have more offers by now than the ones he does (all of which, objectively, are inferior offers compared to Michigan on both a basketball and academic basis).
Look, if other, comparable programs to Michigan had offered 2-3 months ago, and we were just now getting around to it, the delay would be a legitimate point of criticism.
Quite to the contrary, he’s visiting next week and he’s going to get his offer, and that offer will be better than any others he has received to date.
And yet, people like you want to find a hypothetical reason to be critical of the timing, when really, there is none. I just honestly don’t understand people who complain for the sake of complaining. I’m sorry if you’re an unhappy person who has to find something to complain about, because that’s really what it seems like here. Christ, our staff has been recruiting this kid, all reports are they are building a good relationship with him, and they’re set to offer him in the next week. That all sounds pretty positive to me (and probably is for the kid and his family, too), until someone has to come along with a contrived, negative spin on it.
I guess that Beilein’s offers are not fluid, at least. Another interesting tidbit on the same page from Telep on 9/4/13:
“Villanova lives in the 50-100 range of the ESPN 100 prospect rankings. Recently, the Wildcats scrapped the notion of chasing the talent and began going with the best fit for the program so we’ll see if they can keep up the momentum of the last five years.”
And maybe it’s possible that until now, he hasn’t been sure about offering him, right? I like Cain on film. But during the past year, people have also suggested he’s been very inconsistent, and I recall reading that JB came to one of his games where he had like 9 points. He’s also in Tom Izzo’s backyard too, and while Izzo has given scholarships to such standout wing players as Alvin Ellis, Matt McQuaid and Kyle Ahrens lately, he hasn’t offered Cain.
You guys act like this kid is Chris Webber - a complete, no-brainer offer - and our staff is simply too slow and stupid to figure out the obvious. And yet no other staff has done it, either.
The petty nonsense with these posts is amazing to me. We’re going to offer him next week. When we do, it will in all likelihood be his best offer from both a basketball and academic standpoint. Why would any rational person find fault with any of that?
Nova started 4 4 stars and a 5 star in the national title game. Hart was the worst ranked guy at 92 and their top 2 guys off the bench were both top 100 kids as well. So I guess you can say they live in that range but they’re relentless in that pursuit. How many teams can say they play 7 top 100 guys 20+ minutes a game? Michigan is a far cry from that type of team and depth.
On paper, we’re hardly “a far cry” from that.
Next year, assuming Wagner starts, we’ll start Walton (four star), MAAR, Robinson, Irvin (five star), and Wagner (four star). Our top bench guys will likely be Simpson (four star), Donnal (four star), Chatman (five star), Wilson (four star).
We don’t suffer from recruiting low ranked players. We suffer from the fact that the guys projected to be stars on this team at the time of their recruitment (Walton, Irvin, Chatman, Donnal), aren’t.
Now, is it fair to criticize the staff for what appear to be misses? Sure it is. If even two of Walton, Irvin, Chatman, and Donnal were playing at their anticipated level, the team would be a lot better.
At the same time, on the whole the staff’s track record has been pretty good, and I don’t recall anyone saying we shouldn’t take any of those guys - just like right now, I don’t hear anyone complaining about Simpson, Poole, and Cain (all four star talents), so if one of them (or even all) turn out to be nothing special, it’s not like anyone here is actively predicting that or something.