Report: Michigan pursuing Columbia grad transfer Mike Smith

Recruiting
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Quotes from Smith here

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Your summary is the most logical thing I’ve seen posted. We’re all assuming Christopher comes and we have a healthy 4-person guard roster with possibly Bajema or Wagner moonlighting there if needed. If he doesn’t come
we have three guards - two undersized guys with modest upside and one true freshman that will need time.

Maybe Howard knows something about DDJ or Christopher
maybe he’s just covering his bases. Maybe there’s more attrition at other positions than we expect and Howard has enough forwards and centers so he wants a lead guard as insurance.

Frankly, I’d like to see just about everyone come back next year.

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The thing is, if that situation were to happen and we are now looking for another guard in addition to Brooks, DDJ, and Zeb, adding a Mike Smith type is just adding another undersized guy with modest upside. And while I’d give Aiken more upside than Smith for sure, he’s also undersized as much as Brooks and DDJ. A pure SG would make more sense to me than adding a PG if we were looking to fill Nunez and Bajema’s spots.

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I agree, if Christopher isn’t coming or of we are trying to fill in for Nunez or bajema leaving we dont need another undersized guard. We need 6ft2 to 6ft5 shooting guard type. Also good luck getting 3 experienced undersized guards(smith or Aiken ,dejulius, and brooks) who all view themselves as a starting pgs to stick around.

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What type of players are available that fit that mold though?

We might have to wait for the 2021 class for that and Howard might know that.

So it might be better off being undersized, but more talented for a year, then targeting guys that are the right fit in the 2021 class and beyond. As opposed to picking up a lower tier SG and tying up a scholarship slot for 4 years. Totally just theorizing here.

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Yeah, easier said than done. Legit SGs with size and high major talent don’t exactly fill up the grad transfer market. I am not aware of any right now that fit this mold. I think with grad transfers you can’t be too picky, especially because you’re projecting how they will do increasing the level of competition. You’d rather have an undersized PG who can be effective at the Big Ten level than just a 6’4 body who may not be good enough to play at the high major level. Michigan needs talented guards period, especially if one or two guards/wings are going to transfer. I’d take an undersized guard who can score over a late flyer or a mediocre guy who is bigger.

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I know we are recruiting 5-star guys, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Juwan deploys a PG by committee approach, at least for the first 1/3 of the season. That’s what I believe we witnessed whenever X sat for long periods of 1H during games. In addition, the positionless basketball vision is one of PG by committee anyway.

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Any film on him?

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Ant did a breakdown that had some film

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Not sure why people are super surprised at Michigan pursuing a PG. Eli played over 75% of minutes primarily at SG and is going to be there again. If Christopher doesn’t come you’re super shorthanded at guard, especially at point guard. With Aiken being pursued by MSU and others who he explicitly highlighted wanting to go to, Smith is a great option to pursue as well. Given how Juwan himself was in on him first and personally reached out, I think he’s doing well covering his bases.

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Four game highlight reels from some of his better games this past season.

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Looks like the rest of his team was absolutely terrible. So maybe the bump in competition will be mitigated a bit by a bump in teammates as well?

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I’m trying to compare his stats and profile to Jaaron to see if there are any hints there. Based on conference rankings the Ivy and the MAC are on similar levels. MAC a bit stronger but probably not a tier above.

Probably the stat that sticks out the most for Smith is the TO rate. Very impressive, especially with how he was basically his teams entire offense. Jaaron had much higher and perhaps alarming numbers there. Smith looks like the better shooter to me, although Jaaron’s 3 pt % is higher. I say that based on a couple things. 1. Film - Jaaron had an unorthodox shot and Smith’s looks much better. 2. Volume - Jaaron averaged fewer than 3PA per game his 2 years at Ohio while Smith has averaged over 5 3PA per game over his career. Smith is also the better FT shooter.

Other than that, not a ton to glean just from the stats - at least from my eye.

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One thing to keep in mind is that Beilein’s system was extremely complicated especially for a PG. He might’ve been effective in the Big Ten with a simpler offense.

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is there any reason to think this kid would actually be better than brooks or DDJ?

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How sure are you that both will be on the roster next year?

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I totally agree with this. I would expect Juwan and his staff are quite happy with how Eli played in his role as mostly a 3 and D guy this year. Helps to have a second ballhandler on the court against pressure and late in the game as a good foul shooter but I highly doubt Eli will be a high usage ball screen creator next year even with Simpson on the roster. In this case, Smith seems like a good option provided Christopher doesn’t come. Also gives Zeb a year to develop into a key rotation piece.

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He can be reunited with Faulds! :part_alternation_mark:

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Now that Aiken is likely off the board, Smith seems like the top grad target at this point and he could fill a big need at PG. He looks like a good fit too, so let’s hope he ends up in Ann Arbor.

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