2020-21 Roster Speculation

Yeah I definitely feel like Isaiah is going to enter the draft. I was miffed when Juwan offered Davis his 5th year while the season was still going on. Conversations had to have taken place and I feel like Isaiah gave Juwan a strong indication he was leaning towards entering the draft. Also I’m
Not 100% but isn’t Jace Howard going to be on scholarship? If that’s the case i feel fairly certain Isaiah would leave. If Nunez is staying, JC commits, and Jace is on scholarship odds are pretty high for Isaiah leaving. Still could have some other departures such as Castleton, DeJulius, or Bajema, so we’ll have to wait and see.

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If a player leaves that opens a spot up yes? Perhaps they already know one or two players who are likely leaving, and if isaiah has stated that he is likely leaving then that’s another spot. Thus, a spot for Nunez in theory that they didn’t have. If there is a scholarship issue then players do get forced out because they have to comply by that NCAA rule. If isaiah said he wants to likely stay then if one is going to get nudged towards the door then it would certainly Nunez getting the nudge over a fringe NBA guy.

I think most people if you go back through the forum or on other websites were guessing Nunez would be most likely to transfer out this offseason.

And said he had a dream the night before about hitting a big 3.

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I get that every roster decision is technically related to the other, but a lot of people are conflating things that aren’t necessarily related in this thread.

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I’m not saying it is the answer I’m just saying it may be. Speaking in hypotheticals. Nothing but to discuss this stuff at this point

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A coach in the Big 10 can encourage whomever the heck they want to leave. The Big 10 offers GUARANTEED 4 year scholarships to prevent this type of roster management like Alabama football has done for years. If the kid has a backbone , or no designs about a future in basketball beyond college, and the academic degree at at elite institution means more than minutes played at a school with appropriate talent levels, he has a right to tell said Big 10 coach to pound sand.

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A player leaving opens up a scholarship. Nunez already has a scholarship. Unless Nunez wanted to transfer (which has seemingly never been an option for him) he was going to be on the roster. I’m sure Juwan already had Nunez sticking around in mind in regards to the rest of roster composition. Look at the reason Nunez made his decision, he really values the degree. He was going to be on the team regardless. There is no link between Nunez staying and Livers leaving.

If you went back through forums to check for that you’d probably see people bringing up Nunez valuing the education every time transfer talk was brought up. You’ll see a lot of people saying that they wanted Nunez to be the one of the players transfer out, but very rarely that it was most likely. In fact if you look back you might see me speculating that Nunez wanting the degree (along with playing time) makes Bajema/Castleton much more likely transfer candidates.

A lot of kids value education. Doesn’t mean it’s wrong to make an educated guess that he’d be a safe bet to leave because in today’s time almost every kid leaves that is in that situation.

Nunez was definitely one I’d say if people were doing a poll most would/would’ve chose him. Not because he’s a bad kid or anything but just maximizing the team’s talent/ceiling I don’t see how he is a better option than any of the other returners on the team. But because he’s a good kid who hopefully is ok with being a positive influence on the bench and in practices he can raise the floor/ceiling in different ways. And maybe surprise people and positively contribute next year.

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This thread is titled “roster speculation” It’s ok to speculate and guess.

I’m curious as to who people think will leave.

For me I’m going to take a guess and say Livers (pro), Bajema, Dejulius and Castleton. Most likely of that group to stay is Dejulius imo.

I also am beginning to waver on Christopher coming to Michigan. If he doesn’t then Dejulius likely stays and Michigan definitely pursues a Grad transfer guard.

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It’s not wrong to make a guess, but all the available info was saying that Nunez really wanted the Michigan degree. To me Nunez’s decision to stay was just something that was always going to happen being made official.

I do agree that fans would choose him as the player they wanted to transfer out but I just don’t see that as the same thing as most likely. One other thing is that it will probably be beneficial to have someone at the end of the bench who is fine with being at the end of the bench. There isn’t a college basketball team (at least I don’t think) who rotates all 13 guys. Having 13 rotation quality players might end up being more of a headache than a help.

I guess I just don’t get how you don’t understand that Juwan Howard had a choice that Adrien Nuñez was going to be on this roster until he had his diploma if Adrien wanted to be. He inherited a player in a conference that offers 4 year guaranteed scholarships.

Juwan had a choice to offer Austin Davis a 5th year because Austin had a redshirt senior year of eligibility. Austin has his undergraduate degree and Michigan fulfilled their end of the deal. Juwan chose to offer Austin his 5th year on scholarship.

I am sure Adrien would win the fan poll by a mile, but things don’t work that way as a scholarship athlete in the Big 10

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I mentioned this before on a different thread and I got the feeling that this is a possibility. What if:

1: Jace Howard is moved into a walk-on spot.
2: Austin Davis is moved into an Academic Scholarship?

This will create some room, but still another one has to go to make room in case Christopher joins.

Edit: I guess I was wrong. Nobody has to go under the above scenario. 15 players with Christopher. minus 1 and 2 above on the athletic scholarships

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Coach’s can’t take scholarships forreal but they can do an awful lot towards pushing kids out. Not a good look but it happens. Again this a “roster speculation” thread. I’m speculating and making leaps because I’m bored and want to generate discussions. I’m aware of how scholarships work. I think Juwan knows who’s likely gone so if Nunez returns, which it appears to be the case, I think he had this in mind for awhile. The news is surely old to those in-house and I’m guessing there’s a decent possibility that things are already probably figured out internally.

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I think 1 is plausible although I’d still wager Jace will be on an athletic scholarship. 2 I don’t see happening but nothing is impossible.

The key on this, is that Howard knew a while back the scholarship situation, and I am sure he pretty much toyed with the idea of Jace going walk-on for a year. I am pretty sure Juwan can afford one’s year tuition for his son.

Also, in case nobody goes, I am sure he looked into the alternate financial support for other players, like Davis. He (Austin) is a pretty good student, academic all big 10, and he could possibly secure a graduate assistanship (RA or TA) or even Academic scholarship. Just saying…

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I could be wrong, but I believe once you’re on an athletic scholarship you can’t switch to an academic.

Many ways around it. NCAA guarantees 4 year scholarships. Austin is in his 5th year. Also, Jace has not signed his papers yet.

I am pretty sure we are speculating here, but rest assured that Juwan has a bunch of folks looking into all NCAA rules and how he can “bend” the rules without a violation.

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I’d feel that would be unprecedented for a player to take that in Davis’s situation? Not for certain but I believe Davis would’ve had a pretty decent list of potential suitors to choose from if he chose to do a Grad year elsewhere and play. To go from that to what you are theorizing would be wild.

Maybe yes. But Davis would give anything to stay at Michigan. We know that. And he does not have to pay out of his pocket any tuition anyway.

Look at it this way. A graduate program at UoM is at least 2 years. If he gets an athletic scholarship he is covered for only the one year he has eligibility. If he gets an academic scholarship, he can transition it to 2 years.

Show me an example of one guy who has switched to an academic scholarship in their grad year and I will believe it can be done.