I was thinking that Davis might make an appearance vs. Minnesota as someone who could catch a bad entry pass and score over Mason. I’d fear for his life on the other end, though, especially against Murphy. He’s gotta be able to defend without fouling. It’s like a second freshman season for him, which is disappointing.
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Well, lots of things are possible in theory, but waiting around for someone to get injured is not a viable plan for trimming a scholarship.
As far as incoming freshmen, it’s a very good class, but there aren’t any one-and-done types who are going to automatically jump guys from this year for playing time. Some things may have to shake out, especially at point guard, but I don’t see that happening until after next season, after we’ve seen how the new guys fit into the picture.
100% agree that a lot of things are possible in theory and I would not hedge my basketball career around waiting for an injury. My only point is that the landscape of what the Michigan basketball team looks like in early February could be completely different than what it looks like at the end of April. Kids are going to make decisions more in late April than today about what they are going to do next season and beyond
Isn’t this about the time that Dylan jumps in and reminds us that these things usually have a way of working themselves out?
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We will definitely get down to 13 scholarships one way or another. That’s not remotely in dispute. The question is not whether someone will be leaving early, the question is who it will be, and how voluntary will their departure be.
The most obvious resolution to our oversigned situation has always been an early departure to the NBA by Wagner, something that most people took for granted at the start of the season, but which now seems a bit less clear. And as Mattski said that he is praying for Wagner to stay, that begs the question of who he and those like him would see gone as an alternative, and how they would envision that departure happening.
The bottom line is that someone will transfer, go pro or leave for some other reason. Speculating about it is just that. There’s just not much that can be gained from guessing who might want to leave and for what reason.
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Right on cue. Nicely done!
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Well, speculation and guessing are an awful lot of what happens on this board, and on all team chat boards. It advances no end, and it serves no purpose other than entertainment, but we do it all the time anyway.
I realize the prospect of pushing someone out the door involuntarily before their four years are up is something some people here are uncomfortable discussing, and I’m sure the coaches don’t relish the prospect either, but the cold, hard reality is that someone has to go. Hopefully it will happen without generating bad feelings, but there’s no guarantee of that at this point.
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Thank you, Dylan!
I can’t see eli leaving. He seems like a good kid and too smart and hard working to give up like that. He just doesn’t strike me as someone who runs from competition. Also as good as dejulius is and I’m very fond of his game, I can’t see him beating out Eli for the back up spot. Eli also has a combo guard written all over him to me despite his lack of height abd strength. He’s got a scorers mentality and a great shot even though he hasn’t shown it this year. I’m confident he wins the back up 2 and pg spot and he gets 15-22 minutes a game every game next year backing up z and Poole. That’s going to be a hell of a trio of guard the next three years. I don’t see him leaving that situation as essentially the program’s 6 man, particularly if we’re as good as I think (as most of us do) next year. I realky think with another year under his belt that eli will blow up and be a huge boost off the bench.
I think if Wagner ends up leaving that Davis will be a solid center back up the next three years. He’s still a frosh , worst case scenario he’s a back up hero s junior and senior year at his dream school …
Future is bright gentlemen
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I don’t see Eli Brooks leaving either. But I would not count out DeJulius making a strong case as back up point. Brooks will need to get much stronger and has to tighten up his handle and be able to attack the basket either by creating shots off the dribble, midrange or at the hoop. Right now he’s not even hitting open spot ups. His big jump on DeJulius is he knows the offense. You can almost bet he will see some run at the two guard spot. I am expecting him to make a huge jump next year. Important summer for him this year.
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I apologize. I was giving hypothetical situations and it was not my intention in trying to paint a picture of anyone specifically leaving the program. I was trying to illustrate that we dont know all the details of what is going on with these kids and we dont know what decisions that they are going to make. It is way too premature to try and predict what will happen.
“These things tend to work themselves out.” Dylan Burkardt - every other day
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I agree with you on Eli. I, too, think he’s a combo. I think he’ll shoot it much better next year than we have seen this year. I can see him in that Duncan sixth man role only at a different position. I think Dejulius is gonna be special! I really hope things work out for Austin. I know he loves Michigan and is a proud Wolverine, but I really hope Moe comes back! I’m also pretty high on Castleton. I appreciate your positivity! Go Blue!!!
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So who do you want to leave, if you want Mo and Davis to come back?
Wagner is gone.
He’s grown up this year. Physically he’s ready. He’s gone.
I have no inside info, but I’ll be shocked if he returns
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I’d be shocked if he left early to go play in Europe. Always possible though
I’d put this at:
25% chance Wagner decides to go to NBA or even play professionally in Europe
25% chance Matthews decides to play his odds and enter the draft and be a late 2nd round pick
50% chance one of Watson, Davis, Brooks transfers
I guess I don’t understand this thinking? Watson seems like a smart guy. He also doesn’t appear to have a pro career. He seems better suited to earn his degree at UM…if he doesn’t crack the rotation next season, maybe try to redshirt one of these next two seasons so he can Grad Transfer for a 5th season.
Eli Brooks signed on knowing the situation; Simpson was already in tow and UM was recruiting PGs for the Class of 2018. Don’t know why he’d leave when he entered with those expectations and has over-performed projections in his first season?
Michigan brought in Castelton explicitly to make sure it had 3 Centers on the roster. Even if Wagner were to surprisingly stay for 2018-19, have to believe Beilein would fight hard for Davis to stay so UM has 3 centers on the roster for 2019-20?
I know as Dylan says speculating is tough because it will work itself out. I guess I just don’t see a logic for any of the players on the roster to transfer? Past transfers have had a logical reason — even if the initial announcement seemed “to come out of left field” — that just doesn’t appear to be there with anyone? Most logical of the no logical answers (outside of Wagner leaving) is Castelton takes a Prep Year to get stronger and comes in as a member of the Class of 2019.
Players want to play. Ibi is the most likely of the bunch to transfer rather than sitting on the bench a third straight year.
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You’re right, it’s not a matter of logic, it’s a matter of necessity. Someone has to go whether it makes sense for them to or not. If it’s not Wagner, then it will be someone else, less voluntarily perhaps.
Watson is still a second tier bench player after his second year on the floor, and with the recruiting class coming in, his prospects for PT in the future look no better. Same with Davis. If Wagner stays, we’ll have him, Teske, Johns, Castleton and Livers as front court players. Not much of a prospect for Davis to be a factor there. As far as Brooks, I doubt very much whether he’ll be going anywhere after this season, but if DeJulius jumps him in the pecking order next year and he doesn’t find minutes at the two, he might think about it, while he still has two years to play somewhere else.
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