A lot of undrafted prospects across college basketball, many of these are early entries (not all).
It’s not an “early entires only happen to us” crowd. It’s an “early entires don’t happen to MSU” crowd 
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Nick Ward? Deyonta Davis?
Yeah, all those guys he breaks down and builds back up for 4 years. Or so he tells them.
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In this draft alone Oregon, Syracuse, and UCLA each lost two guys early that were not drafted.
It’s true that other teams have this happen frequently as well. However, excepting those who are built on the one-and-done types, it has seemed to happen to Michigan more often than most others.
Has it really though? Was Amir Coffey an expected one-and-done guy? Lu Dort at Arizona State? Guys are going pro all over the place, it is just part of the climate.
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No, I agree, I just think it seems/feels to some of us like it happens more often to Michigan because it’s a harsh part of the game from a fan’s perspective.
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Can’t help but think that Battle would have been a first round pick had he played for Beilein.
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Undrafted early entrants. A lot of good players out there that didn’t get picked.
I agree and certainly better equipped in the PNR. I would also speculate a better defender since SU plays the 2-3. With Battle though I think he would have gone earlier with all the attention and success at UM…it seems like UM had more media exposure.
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When I see the long list of undrafted early entrants, it makes me even more impressed that both Poole and Brazdeikis were drafted.
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Man, I remember Dort getting a lot of attention as a potential lottery pick. I agree with the sentiment that there are a lot of good players who didnt get drafted this year… makes Poole and Iggy all the more impressive. Call it the Beilein factor - its a double edged sword
Agreed. I hope Detroit takes a look at him as an UDFA
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Recruiting is going to get more complicated when those undrafted players can return to school.
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Honestly, if you stay in the draft and are projected as a second round pick then you are ready to be a pro. I don’t think many undrafted guys would return to school right now.
A situation like Charles Matthews with the injury is a bit different but very rare.
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Right, with the current rules. But when you know going in that returning to school will be a possibility that changes things.
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But what’s the difference between going 57th and signing as an UDFA really?
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It certainly seems as if some guys would prefer to pick their own situation than to be drafted late in the 2nd round. It’s a bit anecdotal as I’ve just seen a couple of glimpses in the last 24-48 hours, but seems to have been the case with Van Vleet and seems to be the case with Lu Dort.
I guess it all depends on your goals.
Some guys plainly just want to be done with school, and start playing pro basketball. It’s certainly a tougher road to make the NBA as a second round pick, or as an undrafted free agent, but not impossible by any means.
Michigan has a really good track record when it comes to player development. Guys like Burke, Stauskas, Levert, Wilson, and Wagner stayed in school, and all improved their draft position significantly. (Some of these guys didn’t even have a draft position earlier in their careers). But it doesn’t work for everyone. Glenn Robinson probably would have been a first round pick, for example, if he left after his freshman year. Manny Harris came back as a junior, had an injury-plagued, average (for him) year, and didn’t get drafted.
Reaching first round pick status, of course, usually gets you more money, and a longer leash in the NBA if you’re not an impact player from the start. In any sport, teams invest the most (money, reputation) into their first-round picks, and want them to succeed.
Poole was obviously right about how the NBA viewed his talent. (An aside - I’m not surprised. I thought DJ Wilson was a better prospect than our fans were giving him credit for, too). Iggy? With another year, I think he could have turned himself into a late first round pick, in the 20s or so. But, maybe that wasn’t as important to him as turning pro now, especially since he’s on the older side. And there’s no guarantee, either - see Robinson.
As far as MSU, I think there have been two examples of guys where they were surefire lotto guys, but came back - Gary Harris and Miles Bridges. That never happens to us - I suppose maybe with Glenn Robinson, though I thought lotto talk for him after his freshman year was a bit crazy.
Also, a guy like Winston almost certainly would have been drafted in the second round last night. For our guys, that was good enough to go. For him, it wasn’t.
So I do think, on the whole, they’ve had more luck than us when it comes to players returning and waiting to enter the draft.
Finally, I didn’t quite get the Coffey argument - he played three years of college ball?