Whoever starts alongside Eli, the three of them would be a very good three guard rotation, and the experience in that backcourt would be outstanding. I guess I’m just a little higher on JCL than some. I’d like him to come to Michigan, and then we’ll see.
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Reminds me of Adrien Nunez playing like we all want him to!
He looks tall out there, and he can’t be worse than Nunez at defense. Maybe he could play a few rotation minutes at the 3.
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Would definitely help a lot. Hope we have a legit shot here. I still think smith and eli are the starting back court but Lands would be in line for a lot of minutes as well and would certainly be the sixth or seventh man on the team in terms of minutes.
With Coleman-Lands and Livers back we’d have a nice team. Lots of experience in the rotation even if its from different systems. We’d have 5 seniors or grad transfer in the top 8 of the rotation.
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I don’t know if folks just don’t want to get overly excited about a recruit after what is happening, or if they just don’t think he is as good as I do, but I think some are selling Coleman Lands a little short. I get the notion of not getting too excited and measuring our expectations. I feel the same way.
But if there are those who don’t see that this is a talented young man who can help us, let me offer this. Coleman-Lands was a high four star recruit coming out of high school, rated in the top 40, and with an excellent offer sheet including Michigan. He has now been out of high school for five years and would be coming in as a very mature player, not a young unproven freshman. And he’s been playing during that time in the B1G and the Big East. He’s played and started against high level competition.
If you don’t think the young man would compete for starter’s minutes or a starting position, then just take a look at his game this past season vs. Butler who was ranked number 5 at the time. Coleman-Lands played 34 minutes against a very high level team. He scored 20 points on 4-7, 3-5, 9-11. That sure sounds like a line that we could use. He also played 34 minutes against Iowa scoring 17 points on 5-11,4-8,3-5 with five assists to one turnover. Again, that s a line we could have used several times this past year.
Did Coleman-Lands play this well all year in every game? Of course not. He had some rather mediocre games and a few poor ones, too. During the second half of the season Depaul didn’t play very well as a team and Coleman-Lands struggled as well. But he would raise our floor and provide a talented, experienced guard to play in a rotation with Smith and Brooks. I think he would offer us a lot of flexibility with his size when combined with Smith and Brooks. And while he would raise our floor, I think his ceiling could actually be pretty high, too.
I don’t want to get too excited as, like everyone else, I feel a little burned by past excitement in this year’s recruiting process, but I think Coleman-Lands would be a very nice add. And if Livers comes back and Coleman-Lands comes we could be very good, with a nice rotation at the three/four and a nice rotation at the one/two.
So, yes, I DO want the kid. I’m not saying he would start, but he sure could. And yes, I’m pretty darn high on Mike Smith, too, and I don’t discount him. But think of that guard rotation. A quick little guard who can pass and shoot and with, what he believes, is a point to make with doubters, and who is a bright, intelligent fifth year grad transfer. A returning senior starter who will do anything Juwan asks him to do to win, and is capable of playing both the one and the two. He can shoot it and he is an outstanding defender and a true “glue guy,” in whom his returning teammates have confidence. And a talented 6’4 guard who has played, and started, at the high DI level and has played college ball at that level for FIVE years, and who may not have played his best college ball yet.
I don’t want to get too excited, but that sounds pretty good to me. As I said in a previous comment, if Coleman-Lands comes, I guess we’ll find out. For now, we wait and see.
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Blind player comparison: two players who transferred into big ten schools. Stats at their school(s) prior to the transfer, compared to Coleman-Lands. Any guesses?
Player A:
6’5” 195 lbs. 41% FG, 39% 3FG. 10.0 PPG, 2.0 APG, 1.2 TOPG. 20.9 USG, 16.3 PER
Player B:
6’3” 175 lbs. 43% FG, 41% 3FG. 14.1 PPG,
1.4 APG, 1.6 TOPG. 23.2 USG, 18.0 PER
Coleman-Lands:
6’4” 185 lbs. 38% FG, 36% 3FG. 9.7 PPG, 1.0 APG, 1.2 TOPG. 19.3 USG, 11.2 PER
JCL’s 2-point shooting numbers are horrific in comparison to these two and he’s just much less efficient in general, but I actually really like the comparison between him and Player B as a best case scenario.
Did players A and B play at high DI schools?
That’s odd that SportsReference has such different numbers than Torvik for USG. He has a career 17.7 USG on Torvik’s site
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Player A was a starter at a high major school before transferring and player B was the best player on a mid-major.
Both eventually became big ten starters as seniors after transferring
Player B is Bryn Forbes. Not really sure I agree on that being a good comp though.
I guess Jr year Forbes could be a best case
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I assume the other is Rasheed Sulaimon? Only other grad transfer guard I can really think of from a HM into the Big Ten.
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Yep Sulaimon and Forbes. I don’t think Sulaimon and JCL are similar at all, other than being highly rated recruits out of high school that became 4th-5th option types and four-year players.
@kturnup totally agree Forbes’ senior year is way ahead of what I view as JCL’s best case scenario, although playing alongside a NPOY facilitator probably helped his cause. 26 MPG, 8.5 PPG, 42% from three on a smaller # of attempts and lower usage seems possible in a 6th man catch and shoot role. And very similar physical profiles.
Yeah I mean that MSU offense was just insane. Forbes definitely benefited from Valentine, probably vice versa as well though.
Yeah those stats are attainable for JCL best case. He’d probably have higher USG than Forbes and thus maybe less efficient but I have confidence our offense can get him much better looks than he was getting.
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I’m with Silverblue here I must be higher on JCL as well. He was not a 4th: 5th option on a big east team. He was third in scoring and fg attempts. He’s a Very good free throw shooter. Better Ft% than anyone we have less Livers/Wagner. He’s a multi year double digit scorer from big ten and Big East. Absolute proven player. At the point where we are how could anyone not be excited about his possible inclusion. Bring him in!!! Would not be surprised at all if he would start for us. I have hope for Smith but cautious b/c league he’s coming from. JCL is proven!!! Come join us JCL!!! Proven Double digit scorer is welcome!
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I literally don’t think a single person has said they don’t want him?
Back-tracked through the thread: literally every post is in support of taking him.
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Did anyone say that someone said they don’t want him?
Back tracked. No one said that someone said they don’t want him.
I would guess that JCL has to project himself as a starter or to play starter’s minutes on the team he chooses. In Michigan’s case, the opportunity is there, but perhaps not as clear as with some of the other teams on his list. I don’t see JCL taking away many minutes from Brooks, so it comes down to a competition for minutes with Smith and Jackson. Our need for a PG who is a distributor probably tips the scale toward Smith as a starter. Even so, Michigan needs the guard depth and JCL should be confident in his ability to earn 20+ minutes a game. Is that enough to make Michigan the choice for a landing spot? Hard to say. Hopefully, he places a lot of importance on the coaching staff caliber and situational ability to showcase his skills.
Even if he is the third best guard, Mike Smith is going to need to start and play a lot because he’s the only person with a certain pretty important skill.
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Thanks for writing this book Silver. Great Read but you don’t have to convince me. I’m already on board! 
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More turnovers than assists in every season. The 25% 3pt shooting in year one at DePaul was a small sample size, but the 32% in year two was not. His 2pt shooting numbers are poor.
Beggars can’t be choosers. If no one better enters the portal, I’ll take him. I’m not excited about his possible addition to the team, however.