We’re probably going to be starting a freshman at the 5 next year and play a really young lineup a lot of the time. I don’t think it’s a negative at all that Coach Howard is bringing back a 5th year senior he can trust to blend in with all the youth.
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Hey, I’m a firm believer that 95% of bigs take longer to develop in college. And I think CCs ceiling is higher…but Davis has done some good things this year and is really an ideal bang em up big who now shows some ability to finish at the rim. So I’ll put my trust in the coaching staff who sees these kids working every day and has an idea of what they want the team to look like.
Plus, for all we know, CC may have brought up transferring and Juwan offered Davis in response. Or! CC may not even plan to transfer (and we’ll roll out a whole team of 4s and 5s next year!)
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One thing I’d point out about this, it is really important to have guys at the back of your 13 who are comfortable in a role. Davis would be a guy who has shown he’d probably be amenable and accepting of a spot outside the 8 or 9 rotation if the situation ended up that way. He’s also a guy who has proven he can be thrown into a 10 minute spell in a Big Ten game too.
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I think the timing makes sense here. It would be awkward to have Austin go through senior night with family & friends present where he’d basically tell them “Coach is waiting to see if they have a spot for me next year, so I’m not sure if this is my last game.” They want Austin back, so they made a commitment to him. Numbers always work themselves out one way or another.
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That’s fair. And it’s certainly possible, maybe even likely, that Colin has already intimated that he will be looking to transfer. That’d just be disconcerting to me because if Dickinson and Davis are our only 5s I don’t see a way we have a good defense much less an elite defense, and that would make being a national title contender basically impossible. Any stretch 5 is going to murder us next year. Please go to the NBA Garza
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Took the words out of my mouth. If Colin isn’t happy with a 10-15 minute role and isn’t super comfortable with the roster coming in, he might be inclined to transfer regardless of what happens with Davis. At that point, locking up Davis for a 5th year seems like a more reasonable choice. He’s earned it despite his limitations.
I might rather have Colin personally, but Colin might feel the opposite about Michigan.
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Dickinson is a bang em up big too. What they will be missing is a 5 who can defend perimeter guys like Teske. I realize they can go small with Johns and Todd, but Johns is undersized and Todd is skinnier than Castleton so they may struggle to defend inside against bigger bigs. So then they either get abused inside or outside depending on matchup without a guy who can do both.
Obviously if Castleton just wants to leave though, that’s his decision. Maybe he already told Juwan that. From my standpoint, I would rather have him though.
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Todd and Johns can play 5 (and are probably preferred agianst some teams)
love austin but this seems premature to announce and not sure his defensive liabilities warrant time on next years team
but i assume i just dont know enough/as much as coach
please bajema dont transfer, hoping colin sticks it out too
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I can’t say I agree that CC potentially transferring takes us out of national championship contention 
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Having a poor defense does though.
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I would love that, and I’d prefer that happen a lot next year but I have some doubts. Those lineups also are still likely to be not great defensively imo.
Honest question: Do you think Collin could make that sort of difference defensively though? Because in my opinion I don’t think he’s a game changer defensively. I expect regression in the defense next year but we will still have capable defenders on the roster next year, with or without CC. Capable enough to keep us in games and have a shot at a banner.
Not just stretch 5s…
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And any decent PnR offense 
If CC puts on some weight then yes I think he could be a really solid defender. He was an elite shot blocker at the EYBL level. If I recall he was the second leading shot blocker on the circuit. Right now he can’t show that because he gets pushed around too much, but if he adds some weight, I think you could see a real impact made defensively.
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I can agree with that for sure. He was a really good shot blocker before coming to campus. My main point is I don’t think our defense will be so terribly bad next year that we have no shot at competing for a national championship. Is CC a better defender than Davis and presumably Dickinson too? Sure, but I don’t think him transferring out would mean doom to our hopes of hanging another banner in Crisler.
This move doesn’t really guarantee that Castleton would transfer does it? There is still so much to be worked out between recruiting, NBA, transfers, etc. that it is tough to make an argument about the roster or rotation next year.
Davis returning to school does not necessarily mean Davis is starting or backup big man.
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That’s true. CC just seems like the most logical guy given the timing of this announcement. It’s true that another player could have told Juwan they intend to transfer, but I do think there’s no way Juwan could tell AD he has a 5th year right now before the season even ends unless he has an idea of where the scholarship is coming from. If he doesn’t know and wants to wait until the dust settles, you don’t guarantee AD a roster spot today.
I guess I just have a hard time seeing Austin Davis say “sure I’ll be the 3rd big” and Juwan deciding that a 3rd C is the best allocation of a scholarship when we have a couple capable small ball 5s and more Forwards than we could dream of. But who knows 
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