Does itIt is true that quality of education doesn't necessarily equal difficulty, but that is not the perception of the general public, which is my essential point. For instance, Harvard is generally considered a top 3 school by any publication or average Joe from x or y community, but does that inherently dictate that Harvard has a more challenging curriculum relative to Michigan or even UK? The answer to that would be no. That being said, name me one recruit or average Joe from any community that would think Michigan or UK has a more challenging curriculum relative to Harvard and I'll sell you my oceanfront property in Iowa. Key point - perception = reality to a large degree.And there is no recruit that I’ve ever seen that has said difficulty of academics was a detriment to that school. The perception might make a difference on the recruit’s initial thoughts on the school, but once they visit, they’re gonna get the 411 with academics and see that they get just as much support, if not more, at Michigan.
Maybe it makes a difference with 100% one and dones like Derrick Rose or John Wall, but we’re not gonna have a chance in hell with those guys unless they’re from Indiana, Ohio, or Michigan anyways so that doesn’t really take anything away from our pool of talent to pick from.
Does it really make a difference if a recruit explicitly states “the academics are too difficult” at x school? Point is that while a recruit may not make a public statement to that extent, reality is that challenging curriculum may play a role a certain prospects’ approach to choosing a school.
Have you ever heard a recruit explicitly say “I’m choosing x school because they are paying me thousands of dollars”? The answer is no, but we all know that pay for play happens on a daily basis. Doesn’t matter if a recruit makes his private thoughts/approach public, what matters is that difficult academics can be seen as a negative to certain prospects. A good portion of these kids have been coached to make politically correct statements and play things close to the vest.
I would argue that we MAY have a chance with the John Walls and Derrick Roses of the recruiting scene, as we have become a mini point guard U, where our PGs are going to the NBA. I would argue that our academics play a significant role in those type of scenarios involving 1 and dones as you mention above.
You’re arguing something that is not provable. What makes you say that the intimidation of Michigan academics hurts us in recruiting? There’s no evidence for it. If they’re intimidated by Michigan, then they’re intimidated by the rest of the BCS conferences.
You are correct, I can’t quantify or prove that Michigan academics compromise our ability to recruit, as no evidence exists for such a claim.
That being said, you can’t prove that Michigan academics DON’T hurt us in recruiting, as there is no evidence for that either.
Trying to draw a comparison between Michigan and the rest of the BCS conferences is not really a viable argument in my opinion. As mentioned above, in my estimation, it’s not the actual degree of difficulty of cirriculum at a given school that intimidates, rather the perception that a particular school is difficult, and the resulting stigma that intimidates.The gap in prestige between a UM degree and a UK degree, and many other schools for that matter, is pretty wide in my opinion, and I would venture to say that conventional wisdom among the masses echoes a similar sentiment. The truth of the matter is that Michigan is simply viewed as a “hard school” by the general public in my opinion.
Bacon - you bring some interesting thoughts and good arguments to the discussion in terms of what may or may not be hurting our recruting efforts. However, I think we’re both guilty of sidetracking, and even highjacking this thread that should be focused on Donte Grantham. I think we owe it to the rest of the board to concentrate our efforts, at least in this thread, on Mr. Grantham and his particular recruitment.
I hope Donte and his family find Michigan’s basketball program and academics to be top notch, as I would love for this yong man to be part of our program moving forward. I love his game, I think it is a perfect match for our needs as well as Donte’s.