2018 - Big - Colin Castleton (Commit)

I think they take the first of Castleton or Locke and then wait and see what Barrette does before taking anyone else.

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This is very interesting to me, in a good way. I just have a hard time believing we will turn down Locke. If we do, they must be IN LOVE with Castleton.

Either way it puts the onus on both of them to let their intentions be known immediately after this weekend, so as a fan, this is good lol.

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what is his OV schedule like. I thought it will be after Barrettā€™s visit.

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Both are visiting this weekend along with Nunez, a wing from St. Thomas More in CT.

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Why is Locke such a much have? His skillset is pretty redundant to Brooks and Poole. Rim protection is far from redundant. I hope Castleton beats him for the spot.

Castleton seems like a clone to Teske.
JB loves shooters.
We have been recruiting Locke far far longer.
We already have Currie committed to 18ā€¦which would be our 3rd center going into next season.

Not saying Locke is a must have, but those reasons make it hard for me to fathom that we turn him down.

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Castletonā€™s game does not even resemble Teskeā€™s. They both can rim protect but Castleton has a face up game that Teske canā€™t match. Iā€™m hoping that Currie grows some before he gets her because I am not sure he has that rim protection aspect to his game at 6ā€™-8".

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no, CC is much more than a rim protector. His parameter game is more of Wagner

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Even stillā€¦thatā€™s 4 centers next seasonā€¦basically 4 guys for 1 position.

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Who says all 4 stay after the year? Beilein has told many a players before that they wonā€™t ever play much at Michigan until they get the hint.

Iā€™m one of those guys who doesnā€™t mind four 5ā€™s on the roster, as long as there is talented depth in the other 9 roster spots, which there will be. I think having 2 5ā€™s as the regular part of the rotation (in this case, 2 of Davis, Teske, Castleton), 1 as an emergency foul trouble/injury replacement, and 1 to redshirt (Currie) is good. Will be very interesting to see how this class closes outā€¦I donā€™t think they can go wrong.

I agree that Locke is more similar to Poole and Brooks than Castleton is to Teske and Davis, but I wouldnā€™t say redundant. Obviously each player is unique and skill sets and skill level donā€™t overlap completely. One thing I will say is as good of shooters are Poole and Brooks, Locke is elite. I donā€™t think Castleton has one elite skill, though I think he is a very good player and would love to have him. Nicely well-rounded and could use some time in Camp Sanderson.

Considering two of them are only entering their second year with the programā€¦and the other has not even gotten here yet, I would say that would be an extremely ballsy move to basically plan on dumping any of Davis or Teske by the end of this upcoming season.

Saying they wonā€™t ever play much and basically forcing them out are two completely different animals.

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It seems like the staff really, really wants to redshirt Currie, in which case it makes sense to have Castleton. But that just makes the Currie reclassification really strange. I know when that decision was made Castleton was not even on Michiganā€™s radar, but still.

If we take Castleton, keep Currie, and stop there in 2018, we would have 4 players who would almost certainly be exclusively Centers. Thatā€™s not counting Wagner, who at this point we need to leave for the NBA whether he is ready or not. Thereā€™s potential for either Castleton or Currie to play some 4, but that would be down the road and they both would be better at C, imo.

We would then also only have 5 players I would consider Guards, and thatā€™s including Ibi who is borderline because we just havenā€™t seen much of him. Last year I think he played the 3?

I think youā€™re comparing Castletonā€™s high school highlight tapes to Teskeā€™s college results. In high school Teske showed a face up game with very good passing ability from the high postā€“indeed, espnā€™s scouting report stated ā€œWhen facing the basket, he has a great touch and range to 19 feet. His skill set offensively is one of his best assets right now.ā€ He certainly could not put the ball on the floor as Castleton appears to be able to do; then again, I havenā€™t seen Castletonā€™s passing ability on display in the highlights as much as I saw such ability in Teskeā€™s highlights. And as much as Castleton looks like a rim protector, heā€™s not 7ā€™1" as Teske is.

Donā€™t get me wrongā€“I like Castleton a lot and would be very happy to get him. I do think though that a lot of people are giving up very prematurely on Teske. After D.J. Wilson (and guys like John Oā€™Korn, Ty Issac, Pat Kugler, etc. in football), it seems clear that an inability to contribute early in oneā€™s career is not necessarily a death knell to contributions later on. Some guys are, in fact, overmatched at this level, but bigs, in particular, often take longer to adjust to the college game.

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Which is the same number we had last season and still had an open scholarship with two players on redshirt.

an interesting twist is that Teske might be a better fit than CC in the offense that underwood will run in Illinois, which put the center at the high post as the focal point of the offense. If CC sees him playing like Mo Wagner, he is coming here.

I am not giving up on Teske. But I think three 5ā€™s plus Currie (not sure heā€™s a straight 5) would be good. When Wagner leaves we are going to have to have three of these guys ready to roll offensively and defensively. We will have a better picture when this season get on going.

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I sense that Beilein is prioritizing CC ahead of Locke. Maybe he likes what he saw so far in Poole and Brooks that getting another shooter at the same position is less a need now than one month ago.

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I feel there is nothing wrong with having 2 centers from 2016 and 2 from 2018, especially since the center position has typically been a weakness of ours in the past (excluding mcgary, wagner, senior jmo). The doyle donnal year was not comfortable. This is essentially equivalent to having one each year, which seems to be the norm. Not to mention davis redshirt essentially makes him a 2017. If wagner leaves next year we have 4 centers just like last year. I think currie doesnt expect to play year 1 (redshirt or not) but having the extra early year on the bench should make his eventual impact that much quicker. If a talented 4 star shot blocker with a unique and diverse skill set wants to come how can you not take him? Perhaps they can get locke too if barrett doesnt work out.

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I think Locke is getting undersold a little here - yes, his skillset is similar to Poole, but heā€™s a shooter, in my opinion, at a level you only see in one or two guys every cycle. Add in that heā€™s diverse enough to run a ball-screen offense as the ball-handler some, and heā€™s a serious offensive weapon. To me, he honestly seems like a (shorter) Reggie Miller in terms of how heā€™s able to score.

Yes, a guy like Brooks may have the same skills, but not nearly as maxed out as Lockeā€™s. Heā€™s a special scorer, and we know how Beilein likes those.

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