Absolutely. The timing of it really stings, but if Livers is back it’s not Todd that we’d miss on the court.
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Wondering what version of Todd’s recruitment people have chosen to embrace. For example why he didn’t sign in the beginning, how going over seas (in the midst of a pandemic) became a “no brainer” when it did, what’s been going on behind the scenes etc?
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not sure if he’s going overseas, seeing a lot of G-League rumors on twitter
Going overseas seems like a terrible idea because of the pandemic stuff. But if Australia will take him that’s a solid option. G League may be his best choice because of COVID and I just don’t think that will do him any favors.
But yeah if Michigan had Livers around it may not be a great situation either. He’s also not a guy I’ve seen mocked in the 1st round at all.
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I wonder if admissions pushed back on something from his record. If he was already on the fence about college vs professional, that certainly might push him to make the decision to go pro. Unless admissions said no to letting him sign the LOI last fall, I assume his mom pushed him to wait until the spring period.
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I am not saying a thing about Todd specifically because I won’t pretend to know anything. However, there are absolutely going to be kids who are left in a tough situation regarding admissions with the cancellation of the spring testing.
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I’ll bite.
1.) Taking Todd’s commitment was a no-brainer and smart. It gave Michigan momentum and I think helped with Dickerson and Williams. (I assume they are signing today, haven’t heard anything.) It isn’t like they had a bunch of others to take that slot if Todd never committed. Brown wasn’t coming here unless Shaka got fired, and even then it was no sure thing.
2.) I think a big part of the Todd camp decision to go overseas / G-League is they were worried that Todd would be behind Livers, Wagner and possibly Johns or at the very least wouldn’t be the obvious front court top dog. That would not be good for building Isaiah’s draft brand.
3.) Assuming Livers comes back with Wagner, Johns and Williams, UM will be just fine in the at the forward spot and will even have the capability of having Johns play some small ball 5.
4.) The key now is to quickly sort through any transfer prospects for this spring and get on to 2021 recruiting. Davis, Livers, Brooks, Smith plus 2 open scholarships means 2021 will be very important. Wagner going pro would be a 7th opening. Also need to consider 2022 class / openings, because if they fill 6 2021 slots, there may not be enough room for all the 2022’s UM wants to take. (Nunez/Johns are the only players graduating going into that cycle) UM needs 2-3 guards, 1 wing and 1 big in 2021. I would like to see UM take a couple of the 2021 in state guards.
As always, it should be interesting. I am looking forward to UM Hoops in 20-21 (Hoping there is a 20-21!!) and how the Howard era at UM turns out.
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When it comes to admissions, testing is just one aspect. Applicants must also have sufficient credits, from acceptable institutions, and grades to be admitted. If a candidate was marginal on the admission front before the virus shook things up, it has only complicated things further since.
And I’m going to leave it at that.
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Depends on where he goes and when. Some countries are doing a much better job of tracking the virus and containing it than others.
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Agree that for the time and place Michigan was in, taking the commitment was a no-brainer. It didn’t mean stopping the recruitment of anyone else, and created buzz. Probably Michigan is now in another time and place, however. Juwan has more time to build relationships now.
Hey guys just wondering but are there any notable basketball or football players UM has essentially turned down because of grades? I can’t remember any but I think there have been a couple if I’m not mistaken.
I always thought the immediate professional route is a little less conventional for bigs. Having to play post defense against 23-27 year old men with a 17 year old’s body has to be a challenge. Guards tend to have a bit more instant success.
Will never fault a guy for wanting to make some money, but I could see this one backfiring and turning Todd from a lottery pick into a 2nd round pick pretty easily. No ill will towards him.
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Interesting…
Five programs - Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, UCLA and Arizona - have signed 51% of the total 235 five-star basketball recruits over the last 10 classes (2011-20). That's crazy. The Big Ten has landed 14 total five-stars during that span, seven that signed with Indiana.
— Michael Spath (@MichaelSpathITH) April 15, 2020
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I am sure there are quite a few over the years. One’s academics are generally a private matter, so it doesn’t and shouldn’t be headline news.
The only ones I can think of are kids who had a checkered academic career (ie, lots of schools, not all completely accredited, many leaning on remote/e-learning). Demar Dorsey comes to mind (he had a significant “behavioral” issue in his past as well, but he also had gone to a school that had issued credits based on remote learning).
I tend to think that Michigan, as an institution itself doesn’t have standard significantly higher than most power conference schools - they want to make sure a kid has the requisite grade/test for admission, and that the grades are issued by real schools that teach classes. You could argue that there is perhaps less tolerance for kids who have not yet fully qualified themselves.
I DO think John Beilein, himself, had different standards than that, but I think that’s a Beilein issue, and not an institutional one at Michigan.
That said, John did recruit at least one kid from Findlay Prep, which was literally an school created to have a ringer basketball team (the school was made up only of kids who played Varsity basketball). Generally, thats the sort of situation I think Michigan has tried to avoid.
Don’t think Todd is really projected as a lottery pick by many people. Feels like a lot of the same risks either way as far as how he plays will dictate his draft stock. It is possible he plays his way into the first round or not in the G League or college.
He’ll get paid at least 125k (have heard the offers can go 3x, 4x past that) to do it though.
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Demar Dorsey couldn’t get in anywhere. For high school recruits, UM goes by the b1g minimums. They just make sure to educate their coaches that um is a tough school and be careful because some kids may not survive in the academic environment. They also discourage them from taking too many. UM coaches also generally quickly realize managing kids who dont play school at a school like um isn’t very fun. All of this naturally leads to um taking less minimum qualifiers than other schools. However, if a coach really wants a minimum qualifier um will let them in. I can point to several examples on the football side.
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Yeah that makes sense. Not saying that’s by any means what happened here. Just wondering because I could’ve sworn there were at least a couple football examples, but I can’t remember names and maybe I’m just mistaken.
Right - setting aside Dorsey’s past, it was highly questionable as to whether he had “graduated” high school in any meaningful way (ie, he was depending on remote/e-learning credits from questionably accredited institutions (the Michael Oher playbook).
I agree that I tend to think that the idea that we are demanding higher academic standards for recruits as an institution than any other school is a fairy-tale partisans like to reassure themselves with, but not actual truth (the standards once in school may be different).
As noted - I think Beilein may have personally held different standards.