Nunez is an interesting recruit and I have a hard time projecting his fit. His shot is absolutely beautiful. He has great all around athleticism. But I watched a video of him doing a dribbling drill and I thought to myself—wow—this kid has not played basketball for very long and later I found out that was true. I guess it cuts both ways. Give this kid a little time and with a little luck he is going to blossom. He looks like he has NBA shot but he seems way behind schedule with other skills, I think. My guess is that he is RS candidate but I think he has a very high ceiling. Nunez might have been a 5 star recruit if he would have started playing basketball earlier…Similarly Caris might have been a 5 Star recruit if he wasn’t such a late bloomer physically…
Is Ibi not an option or are you assuming something?
Ibi could be an option, but he’s yet to crack the rotation.
I just look at the backcourt next year and still see a lack of playmaking other than Matthews and Poole. DeJulius should bring some of that on paper, but any guards who can make shots or make something happen are a plus on next year’s roster.
You could be right about the RS, i believe Caris was a candidate as well but JB couldn’t keep him off the floor as I recall. Should be interesting to see him grow!
Definitely an interesting recruit! I am hoping he is a diamond in the rough like you suggested!
Nunez seems like a by-now typical diamond-in-the-rough Beilein recruit, of whom there are one or two on every squad, who more often than not prove to be great (sometimes niche) players, which provide his squads with an additional edge and make them overachieve relative to recruiting rank, etc. I fully expect Nunez to thrive in the program. But I would also love it if Beilein is finally reaching a place where he has so many great players that he could, if he wanted, RS such a player, especially since obtaining four really productive years from him–if he’s as dead eye as alleged–could be such a boon.
I also think Beilein, tangential to this, has really figured out that at Michigan he can have his cake and eat it too with offense and defense. Which is to say that to his great credit he is evolving. And maybe emphasizing d early gets him a few more upfront wins, as this year. Which is why I wonder to what degree he’s emphasizing offense down the stretch here and the team can further coalesce. In the second half last night very good things were happening on both sides of the ball.
We ll said…i think maybe MARR also fits the diamond theory. It’s never bad to have kids play 4 years. It’s like an investment for success. At the end of the day I think JB is mostly focused on team culture. Some buy in…maybe others don’t…but it is controlled from the beginning of a players commitment to the end!
Never been a big fan of redshirting in college basketball, except in case of injury. If a guy is any good at all, you get him out there right away and give him some game experience.
The notion of getting the best four years out of a player sounds good in theory, but how often does it actually work out that way in real life? How many non-injury freshman redshirts have we had under Belein that have gone on to do really well in years 2-5?
Jordan Morgan? Austin Davis could be another.
I agree with your point generally, but sometimes guys just aren’t ready, especially big men. If you don’t need to play them, why waste a year of eligibility for a few minutes of garbage time?
It can be good for the player too. If they don’t pan out, gives them the chance to transfer their 5th year and play elsewhere. Look at Dakich, without a RS year, he wouldn’t have been able to go elsewhere.
Seems to me you want to maximize his utility.
I also agree with you generally but I think Nunez might be a special case. There seems to be an unusually big gap between his strengths and his weaknesses. He is a gifted shooter and very good all around athlete who might need the extra year to work to eliminate his weaknesses.
Plus, we are going to be loaded with wing and guard talent.
Nunez looks like a high ceiling guy who is just on a different, and perhaps slower, schedule to reach his potential.
Well, we aren’t really loaded at the 2, it is probably our weakest spot. We have guys that can back up Poole at the 2, but they are more natural point guards or 3s. With Nunez size, it would be great if he could give us 5-8 minutes of quality time there next year.
I’m not worried about either guard position at all. Z, Poole, Dejulius, Brooks, even Matthews in a pinch. No worries.
And have the tremendous success he’s having at Ohio State! 
Couldn’t resist! Please don’t bash me for bringing up a debate that, thankfully, has long since passed. Generally, I think these decisions ought to be made depending on the needs of the team with input from the kid and the coach. In Dakich’s case (again sorry for bringing him up, and I know he was originally a walk on) the plan was for him to redshirt in 2015/16 then when Walton was injured they burned Dakich’s redhirt (needs of the team). He was able to redshirt in 2016/17 (needs of the kid) which enabled him to transfer for his fifth year. All of this was decided by Coach B and the Dakich family based on the needs of the team and the needs and desires of the kid. Pretty much a win/win.
totally agree. Under the current grad transfer rules, redshirt benefits the kids who are not able to contribute early in his career.
Guessing that in order for it to all work, Brooks, Matthews, maybe even Dejulius, who knows, will have to log some minutes at the ‘2’, even if it is not their ideal fit. Otherwise, yeah, someone would get squeezed out at the ‘3’ or ‘4’.
Also I am not trying to say MAAR will not be missed! He has been great for us and I am crossing my fingers that his game explodes down the stretch—like I believe it can!
Some guys are redshirted because they aren’t ready and won’t be in the rotation anyway. Why waste a year of eligibility for a few mop up minutes here and there? Injuries, roster attrition, player development, grad transfer possibility are all possible benefits of saving the year of eligibility.
Morgan is about the only one I can think of in all of Beilein’s tenure here. Davis doesn’t look nearly that good. He looks like the more common situation of the guy who isn’t good enough to play as a true freshman never being all that good and getting the handshake after his rs junior year.