Recruiting Roundup: Michigan evaluating late-rising 2019 big man

Probably just my Michigan partisanship, but each of these guys–Morgan, Wilson, Wagner, Teske seems unique in their skills and approach to the game, somewhat quirky. I think I remember a lot of doubt about Teske. . . Still find it a shame that we didn’t get to see McGary tear the roof off of the league in a junior or senior year; wonder if he’d be playing in the NBA now instead of bowling. (NTTAWWT)

You’re right though that in aggregate that’s a bunch of fine players, and probably more highly regarded than I was thinking.

Wagner’s issue was he was not playing HS ball in the US, which means most sites won’t rank him. They will rate but not rank. Iggy had the same issue. I, too, recall the opinion that Wagner was top 40/50ish if ranked among Americans (though, it’s worth noting, that may well have been well after his commitment and folks took a closer look as a result of Beilein’s track record).

Ok but seeing the guy live and what I saw with my eyes doesn’t exactly scream high end talent. I don’t think he’s super fluid or athletic. He shoots well but didn’t move great when I watched nor was he a major defensive presence. He played against Harlond Beverly and Lorne Bowman (Wisconsin commit) several times in the summer and didn’t really produce vs REACH. REACH had a 6’10 kid named Jalen Thomas who attends UD Jesuit, same school Jordan Morgan and Cassius Winston played at. I thought Thomas was a better player and he is committed to UMass. He had a Xavier offer but he was a major development guy and many thought Thomas wasn’t high major caliber.

We can all say that Wagner would have been a top 40 guy (and recruiting guys said that). But Beilein went and found him and offered him before anyone else was really recruiting him or saying that FWIW.

There are a bunch of wings who didn’t work out either (Brundidge, Christian, Watson, Chatman,etc.).

Recruiting is an inexact science. Michigan does a great job developing talent and skill work but development is still about the players more than anything. Most “hidden gems” are usually more of a case of evaluation blind spots (And Beilein not being afraid to look and watch and think for himself).

And evaluating Skogman has really nothing to do with any evaluations of the past.

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To be fair, many thought Wagner was going the pro route so he wasn’t super heavily pursued because of that. I think he had a decent amount of college interest from what I read but that isn’t exactly firsthand knowledge. Emoni Bates doesn’t exactly have college’s banging his door down like many of his 2022 classmates because they think he’s going pro (he is) if the NBA allows it. Not exactly comparable but my point is colleges aren’t bothering if they think he’s going pro. I read it several different times that Wagner would’ve been pretty highly ranked if he was in the US and would’ve had more suitors if he gave more clear indications he wasn’t going pro.

That’s fair I guess, Beilein’s connections to the club (Johannes Herber played there as well) obviously played an important part. I just think it is funny when certain publications say eh we wouldn’t rank him but definitely a top-40 kid. Basically “yeah, we’ve heard of him don’t want to say where he’d be ranked but he looks decent”… Top-40 is just the perfect level for that sort of assessment :wink:

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Am I jumping to conclusions to think now that they are looking into bigs as well that the staff thinks there is a chance that a couple of extra spots open up? Going to be an interesting April and have to think the staff has more recruits in their sites that we aren’t currently hearing about. Curious if Beverly gets a call or if the staff is looking for a different type of wing.

Quinones seems like a straight 2 - we see Bajema as a 2 as well, correct? I realize his height makes the 3 (or 4!) a possibility as well.

If I had to project both guys, I would say that longterm they are probably twos.

Quite often we’ll see a kid come in and play the three as a freshman (simple role: hunt shots) and then play the two later in their careers. Jordan Poole is on this plan … he played the 3 last year, 2 this year.

Poole is ranked 7th in the Big Ten in % of minutes played so depth is obviously a big concern at that spot. Especially if he were to leave for the NBA.

Guys who project as 2s can play together, like Nik and Caris, especially if they have good size, like Quinones and Bajema.

The 2 seems like a place they’d be looking to shore up or where immediate minutes might be available not only because of potential departures but also because Nunez didn’t necessarily come in with prototypical two-guard/playmaking skills.

Playing it safe so they can look like geniuses by putting him there and then if a player like that flops they can say “well hey, we had him unranked.” Lol I get what you mean.

Bingo. :rofl:

I can’t tell if I like him or not. Also he has an odd release at times, although it appears he shoots well.

I still can’t believe how bad Chatman busted out.k

Bad fit honestly. By his senior year he would have been a better match. His skill set was not what this team needed at the time

The only thing I’m bummed about is if we’re taking a 2019 big we should have full court pressed timme. I’m convinced he’s going to be a star and he would have been our new Wagner with slightly better passing.

Timeline just didn’t add up.