Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman commits!

I can accept one of MARR or Dawkins because we need players now. But both make Zero sense. Basically say goodbye to getting a top 2 g in 2015 because of this. Which is a big strength at michigan. Wings want to come here and we could get one or two next year of we actually made offers to them. We offer Dawkins and Marr but not Eric Davis. Actually have to offer top talent to get a chance at them. Disgusted.

Gotta think one of these guys is a replacement for hatch who in all likelihood is a medical … Don’t have a problem at all taking both these guys if Dawkins commits seems we need depth and really this won’t really effect 2015 at all

Gotta think one of these guys is a replacement for hatch who in all likelihood is a medical .. Don't have a problem at all taking both these guys if Dawkins commits seems we need depth and really this won't really effect 2015 at all

So why did JB say Hatch will be on athletic?

Ben, I would agree if not for the fact that this is the late signing period and it's slim pickings at the moment. The big talents have already decided where they will be going and now it's the coaches' jobs to find the next diamond in the rough. I trust JB and believe that he knows what he is doing, but I think the coaching staff may be acting a bit frantic since NIk and Glenn announced for the draft. Personally, I am not the biggest proponent of either MAAR or Dawkins, but if I had to pick one, I'd definitely take the former. What has me a bit confused is that we have also offered Dawkins, which doesn't really make much sense in my opinion. We lost one 2/3 in Nik and now we may be replacing him with two players that serve the same role. In a world of unlimited scholarships, I would be fine with this move, but we don't have unlimited scholarships, which is why we have to be more conscientious as to who we are offering. If Dawkins does commit, we now have a logjam at the 2 for the next couple years and may alienate players who I consider more talented like Jalen Coleman and Eric Davis from committing. Hopefully Dawkins doesn't commit or if he does, he becomes an all B1G type player, because if neither of the aforementioned options occur, we may have some drop off at the SG position.

Slim pickings? Really, what about Huff and Harris? I am really disappointed here, but I was also disappointed when JB took LeVert and Spike a few years ago. Hopefully these guys are able to play at the caliber of LeVert and Spike.

I guess we just have to trust that JB and the coaches know much more than we know. Hopefully they know Mitch is staying and maybe they knew we weren’t going to get Huff or Harris. Those two things and the fact that they have turned LeVert and Spike into very good players is the only thing that is not making me depressed.

Ben, I would agree if not for the fact that this is the late signing period and it's slim pickings at the moment. The big talents have already decided where they will be going

This isn’t true.

The staff went conservative and didn’t want to go head to head w/ elite programs for Eron Harris, Sviat, Huff, Obi, etc.

The “every 3 star will turn into a lottery pick” meme has become nauseating and borderline delusional amongst some in the fanbase.

With that said, MAAR and Dawkins should be productive 4year role players.

Tell me who the elite programs are that we were competing with for Huff and Harris? I think Indiana was the biggest name school competing for Harris and Indiana isn’t the Indiana I grew up watching. And what is the elite school competing for Huff?

Huff and Harris can’t play next year for one. In Sam’s article with MAAR post commitment he said he would be a 1/2. Perhaps they didn’t like the fit of any transfers that you think they should go after. Maybe they couldn’t get them in school. There are a 100 different reasons they decided to go this route that nobody is privy to.

Ben, I would agree if not for the fact that this is the late signing period and it's slim pickings at the moment. The big talents have already decided where they will be going

This isn’t true.

The staff went conservative and didn’t want to go head to head w/ elite programs for Eron Harris, Sviat, Huff, Obi, etc.

The “every 3 star will turn into a lottery pick” meme has become nauseating and borderline delusional amongst some in the fanbase.

With that said, MAAR and Dawkins should be productive 4year role players.

Tell me who the elite programs are that we were competing with for Huff and Harris? I think Indiana was the biggest name school competing for Harris and Indiana isn’t the Indiana I grew up watching. And what is the elite school competing for Huff?

UCLA,USC for Huff
Harris can’t be contacted til the end of the year

And I still think saving a scholarship > taking both

Slim pickings? Really, what about Huff and Harris? I am really disappointed here, but I was also disappointed when JB took LeVert and Spike a few years ago. Hopefully these guys are able to play at the caliber of LeVert and Spike.

I guess we just have to trust that JB and the coaches know much more than we know. Hopefully they know Mitch is staying and maybe they knew we weren’t going to get Huff or Harris. Those two things and the fact that they have turned LeVert and Spike into very good players is the only thing that is not making me depressed.

You are referring to transfers. I would be all for adding Huff and/or Harris (particularly Huff because we need a combo forward more than we need a combo guard), but when I said “slim pickings,” I was talking about class of 2014 recruits, which in my opinion is pretty true.

Dave Rooney, a 1959 Allentown High graduate who was a college basketball coach for 20 years at schools including Slippery Rock and Buffalo State, has known Wolverines coach John Beilein for years.

Rooney is in the real estate business now but still knows his basketball. And when he talked, Beilein listened.

“Coach Beilein told us that this guy [Rooney] really doesn’t usually say good things about anybody,” said Dawub Abdur-Rahkman, Muhammad’s father. “So when [Rooney] had nothing but good things to say about Muhammad, that really got [Beilein] interested. That opened his eyes.”

Abdur-Rahkman’s high school coach:

“I just think the way Beilein coaches and the way Michigan plays will be right for Muhammad,” Csensits said. "Muhammad is a throwback in that he’s just a guard. He’s not really a point guard and he’s not really a two guard; he’s just a guard. And if you watch Michigan play, they run a lot of two guard type stuff with guys with very similar skill sets to Muhammad.

“So when he started taking a look at Muhammad, I think [Beilein] saw someone who would be a good fit for how they play.”

Csensits also said that Virginia Tech, Boston College, and Pitt had all expressed strong interest in Abdur-Rahkman late.

http://www.mcall.com/sports/varsity/mc-cchs-abdur-rahkman-michigan-20140419,0,41512.story

http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/hello-maar-mbb-commit

It’s certainly possible that they have screwed up–and the internet is the place for speculation–but I think we can safely assume that we have access to less of the big picture than our coaches. The notion that they shrank from “going head to head” with other programs is annoying, though–do we really want to make such a charge without evidence that’s the case? They certainly don’t shrink from it in scheduling, games, the tourney, etc. Among the things that they have excelled at which we are clueless about is players’ character; our team chemistry has been superb the last few years, and really helped us overachieve. . .

It's certainly possible that they have screwed up--and the internet is the place for speculation--but I think we can safely assume that we have access to less of the big picture than our coaches. The notion that they shrank from "going head to head" with other programs is annoying, though--do we really want to make such a charge without evidence that's the case? They certainly don't shrink from it in scheduling, games, the tourney, etc. Among the things that they have excelled at which we are clueless about is players' character; our team chemistry has been superb the last few years, and really helped us overachieve. . .

Well luckily this is a forum and people are entitled to their opinions.

I refuse to believe every highly touted guy is a chemistry killer.

Dawkins hasn’t committed and Mitch is still 50/50 so this is moot.

Jordan’s been quoted more than once in saying they’d rather take no one than take the wrong guy. If they shy away from a prospect, they obviously have their reasons. I don’t think they’re too worried about a bunch of nobodys complaining in a basketball forum.