How would Hunter compare with Colin as a starting Center next year for Michigan? How about a year later after both of them have successful Sanderson training for another year (ie 1st year for Hunter)?
Is Hunter’s 7’2” vs Colin’s 6’11” critically important?
What are Colin’s current and future (in 1 year) shortcomings that would leave him to believe that he would be behind Hunter in playing time a year from now? I assume that is a major reason why he is transferring.
I thought the major reason to transfer is that Castleton fell behind Austin Davis. His career trajectory was going in the wrong direction. Players that lose playing time are usually strong candidates to transfer.
Dickinson looks to have a relatively polished offensive game. Add some coaching from Juwan and I’d expect him to be ahead on that side of the floor right off the bat. I like Castleton more on defense, mostly on his potential.
Colin Castleton, god bless him, has not remotely established he can play five minutes
Of Big Ten caliber ball.
People are so quick to write off Castleton. I’d wager that wherever Castleton ends up, he will become a real player before he graduates. It still amazes me how many people act like everyone develops at the same rate when we have seen all kinds of evidence to the contrary right here at Michigan, let alone all of the other examples across the country. Big men notoriously take longer to develop, especially when they come in as bean poles. There is a reason he has had something like 40+ programs reach out to him since he entered the portal. There is a lot of untapped potential there that I’d be willing to bet he fulfills.
I like Castleton, but he is a stick. He literally needs hgh so he can hold his spot on the block. His shot blocking ability could shine if he was strong enough to not consistently be knocked off his defensive position.
I hope he gains the strength he needs to be successful wherever he ends up. Remains to be seen if he can.
I guess we’ll see!
But who are all these late blooming bigs in our recent history?
Teske was a very productive backup, Wagner was nearly a draft pick, McGary was a star, Jordan Morgan a quality starter…as sophomores.
I just think it’s more likely that Hunter shows himself to be a different order of talent (which scouts would seem to suggest is the case) than Castleton flips from “unplayable” to “solid contributor” during quarantine.
Wilson? Davis?
Sure - Wilson lost an entire year and was great in his second year of work.
Davis…great story, I think we hope for more from Hunter than “solid backup as a 5th year”.
I can literally not think of a single regular starter at Center since the fab five who wasn’t in the rotation as a sophomore.
Just my opinion, but I think Colin wanted to be more of a Moe Wagner clone. Juwan (and staff) wasn’t coaching him to be that type of player. I wonder if it’s really that simple?
Castelton’s skillset fits more in a Beilein system than the system it sounds like Howard wants to run. Sounds like Juwan wants more bigs who can bang in the low post. If Castelton transfers to a program that runs a more perimeter based system, I have little doubt at the next stop we’ll see more of the production Castelton showed the back stretch of his Freshman season. He’s not a bad player, just a mis-fit player for the system Howard and staff are looking to run
Honestly, all four of those guys bar Teske showed their serious potential as freshmen. Moe and Mitch were good and great in the postseason and Morgan was a starter with his highest career PPG average as a freshman.
Colin could certainly develop into a solid contributor though, don’t want to knock him at all. I’d think that developing a consistent jumper and bulking up are the top two priorities in his (assumed) redshirt year since he has some nice post moves.
You didn’t make a comment comparing Castleton to Dickinson. You simply knocked Castleton. I’m not saying I wouldn’t take Dickinson over him, but I do think Castleton can play. He was in a bad spot this year because although he was bigger than his freshman season, he still wasn’t big enough to compete with the gauntlet of bigs in the Big Ten this year. A player can only put on so much weight in one off-season of weight training.
And that’s disingenuous to say Wilson “in his second year of work.” He literally saw action in both of his first two seasons before injury and showed nothing that was REMOTELY an indication that he was about to be a first round NBA draft pick. His second year in the program he averaged 2 ppg. And he was another guy who added a lot of strength between his freshman and junior seasons, without having to deal with a coaching change.
My intent was to imply I didn’t see why we were seriously asking if a top 35 freshman will be better than a top 120 junior who hasn’t shown anything on the floor.
That’s harsh. I hope Colin does well wherever he goes - he seems like a charming kid. But I think it’s accurate.
I’m truly, honestly, perplexed why someone would wonder which is the more valuable commodity.
I really think we are going to be missing a center who can even remotely defend next year. With Todd gone, the small ball 5 lineup seems less likely too. Dickinson and Davis are going to be a nightmare defensively against pick and pop bigs and really any bigs who can operate anywhere more than 5 feet from the basket. I’m sure you’ll come back with “Castleton hasn’t shown any defense either blah blah blah” but he has way more potential on that end of the court. The guy was second in the entire EYBL in shot blocking. He just needs to add a little strength so he doesn’t get pushed around so easily and then he will be able to utilize his length and timing. No need to get much further into it since he wont be at Michigan next year, but I’ll definitely have an eye on him wherever he ends up.
Lol, I agree we will miss defense at the five, and you accurately assumed my response.
I hope Colin does well wherever he goes!
I hate nitpicking paragraphs but one of your points stands out to me. You mentioned that Castleton had potential on the defense end; especially if he put on strength. I think the same goes for Dickinson for that matter. Granted, we probably wont have camp Sanderson this summer, but if he puts on some weight, theoretically he only gets better on the defensive end. Castleton, for the most part, didnt really show anything, offensively or defensively, aside from the Rutgers game. So if were talking potential, I’ll take a top 35 freshman over a top 100 sophomore.
This somewhat reminds me of the argument put forth by some when Donnal was not invited back for senior season. Teske showed very little as freshman, Davis didn’t play at all, and yet indicators were Coach Beilein was fine with losing Donnal. Donnal could have helped as a senior, did provide some good moments as a junior, and went on to become a rotational player on a good Clemson team. I think Castleton could help next season, but his loss doesn’t move the needle much for me with Dickinson and Davis on the roster. As a bonus we have Faulds in the fold.
Offensively, in the low post, I think Dickinson will be an upgrade over both Teske and Castleton. The bar is low, and Dickinson’s ceiling is high.
Defensively, Dickinson won’t be able to defend the three point line, hopefully he won’t be asked to do so very often. Defend the rim and rebound is what I’m hoping for out of freshman Dickinson.
agreed. I think he will be a nice player.
Castleton’s defense both in the post and on the perimeter was important against Rutgers.