I was watching a little Iowa St. last night and the play of Monte Morris really stood out. I was trying to remember how the situation with Walton and Morris played out. Was their a preference on Michigan’s part or was it the first one to commit gets the spot? I know Demetrius Jackson was in the mix too. All three have turned out to be good players. We didn’t really get to see Walton at his best this year.
It will be interesting to see how he develops these next 2 years in comparison to Morris and Jackson. Morris seems to be a classic lead guard who is an excellent passer and Jackson is a very good shooter. I’m not sure how good of a distributor Walton is but he’s a great rebounder and good defender. Hopefully next year, he will really develop as an offensive player.
Morris got the first offer on June 15th and Michigan pushed really hard for a commit. Walton was offered later that evening…
They both played through July and Walton committed shortly after… I think Morris was a pit frustrated by U-M pushing so hard for a commit as he’s said afterward he wasn’t ready to pledge that early.
Morris got the first offer on June 15th and Michigan pushed really hard for a commit. Walton was offered later that evening...
They both played through July and Walton committed shortly after… I think Morris was a pit frustrated by U-M pushing so hard for a commit as he’s said afterward he wasn’t ready to pledge that early.
It sounds like Morris would’ve committed to UM in his “junior year” but Walton “beat him to it.”
Jackson was offered a couple weeks after June 15th, if I recall correctly. Pretty hard to argue with the results with Michigan getting the commitment from Walton when it did. I really like Morris too.
Morris got the first offer on June 15th and Michigan pushed really hard for a commit. Walton was offered later that evening...
They both played through July and Walton committed shortly after… I think Morris was a pit frustrated by U-M pushing so hard for a commit as he’s said afterward he wasn’t ready to pledge that early.
This was a recruitment that I followed very closely, and was very disappointed when Man-Man chose to wait and eventually picked ISU. The jury is still out on Derek, although when healthy he has shown intriguing potential.
Dylan, do you think pressing so HARD for an early commitment ( from 16 year old Sophs ) has had a tendency to turn some kids and their parents off? They’ve had little intense exposure to the recruiting process and some just want to experience the ride and the excitement before locking in with two years of HS left.
I sometimes get the feeling that we expect you to jump immediately upon offering, and when kids don’t, the initial “blush” inevitably fades as bigger suitors move in. I think it is presumptuous to not let kids go through the process and take some time to let it evolve and figure it out.
What’s your take?
I don’t necessarily see that from this staff. I’ve seen people make the opposite criticism w/r/t Seth Towns. Morris and Walton were a tough situation because they were both really good in-state kids and you couldn’t risk saying no to one of them.
But every recruitment is a bit different and I think the politics are only increased when you are dealing with two in-state recruitments.
Jury is definitely still out on Walton considering he played about 5 healthy games this season and was the starting PG on a team that went to the Elite Eight last season. I still expect big things from him next year.
It is a two way street. Schools have to fill their needs. If you have multiple options, you offer all of them and the first one to pull the trigger gets the spot. They both knew that the other guy had a UM offer, so you wait at your own risk.
It is a two way street. Schools have to fill their needs. If you have multiple options, you offer all of them and the first one to pull the trigger gets the spot. They both knew that the other guy had a UM offer, so you wait at your own risk.
Yes, I don’t think there really is anything else to it. The article is misleading as well given the above information. He apparently wanted to stay in the state of Michigan, he got the first offer, but got beat to the punch by Walton because he wasn’t ready to commit. If you wait, you could end up striking out.