Getting another year out of Smith would be too good to be true. But I’ll be very surprised if he isn’t earning a check playing professionally somewhere. We’re lucky to have had him for this season.
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I’m sure there’s a lot of ways to earn a paycheck playing basketball but how many good options are there for a 5’9” PG who has played one year of high level competition?
Europe will certainly be an option if he continues playing as he is.
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I could see Smith coming back. An Ivy League degree and a Master’s from U of M is really good. Why not get a free Master’s from U of M? He’d still be able to play in Europe as a 24 year old.
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Does Smith have another year of eligibility, I am totally confused about this conversation.
NCAA gave everyone an extra year of eligibility if they want it. It remains to be seen how many guys will use it though
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WOW, I totally missed that. not look forward to watching a Wisconsin team starting all 6th year seniors next season.
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You also missed Wisconsin’s players all say they’re coming back.
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I wonder if the NIL legislation will prompt some players to stick around? It’s going to be interesting to see what the first season with it will be like.
Michigan’s law doesn’t go into affect until December 2022
That’s true, but the NCAA can’t wait that long. Florida’s law goes into effect in 6 months.
Some of it will depend on administration letting them go over the scholarship limit. Some schools are allowing it and others are not. So, if admin says they can go over by 1 or 2 then it’s a no brainer to bring back Smith (for the program not necessarily for Smith), especially if he wants that master’s degree.
We won’t need to go over to bring him back
Smith would not count against the NCAA 13 scholarship limit, but some schools are supposedly not willing to spend on more than 13 scholarships in a year so it is over their own internal limit.
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I was just saying that there’s no way all of Franz, Nunez and Johns all come bank. That’s the only way we’d be over if Smith returned
Yep. I would operate on the assumption that Franz and Johns are gone. So we’ll have two scholarships to play with (and should use both).
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actually we would not be over in that situation. Mike Smith would not count against the 13 man limit. NCAA said any senior that wants to come back can play next season and not count against the 13 man limit.
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I’m hoping at least 2 of Brooks, Smith and Brown come back. That would really solidify the roster. Then you have Houstan and Diabate replace Wagner and Livers.
My assumption is Smith and Brown would be most likely since Brooks has already been here for 4 years and the other two haven’t really experienced Michigan in the same way since it is a pandemic. Brown also committed knowing that his waiver might be denied and he might need to be here 2 years anyway. Also, if Brooks leaves, then Brown would likely start next year and get a larger role.
I’d be surprised if any of those guys are back. But if one or two are, with Hunter and the freshman class, that would be a formula for a special season.
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