Another player in the "Offer Who Beilein Offers" file
From the Rivals discussion board, here's a link to an interesting ESPN piece on Larry Nance, Jr., a kid Beilein was recruiting from the 2011 class. Beilein was looking at him as a late offer and I think we ended up taking Beilfeldt instead. Turns out he's having quite a nice season, at Wyoming of all places. It's pretty clear that Beilein and Company are some of the best evaluators of talent in the country.
As a random aside, it makes me wonder why Ben Braun didn't succeed more at Cal given that he seemed to have a similar eye as Beilein.
January 9th, 2013 at 3:25 PM ^
Vagina Monster?
January 9th, 2013 at 2:09 PM ^
What the similarities are between Braun and Beilein? Not trying to be a smart ass but I draw a blank at this comparison.
January 9th, 2013 at 2:19 PM ^
Their last names start with B, their first names rhyme, and they've both coached in Washtenaw County.
January 9th, 2013 at 2:49 PM ^
Ben and John don't rhyme.
January 9th, 2013 at 2:52 PM ^
You don't pronounce Ben like Bawn?
Just kidding, you got me - Braun and John rhyme, I got confused.
January 9th, 2013 at 2:56 PM ^
Actually, come to think of it, Benjamin and Jonathan do sort of rhyme.
January 9th, 2013 at 5:05 PM ^
Which do you say: Ben Brahn or Jawn Beilein?
January 9th, 2013 at 2:13 PM ^
Sorry.
January 9th, 2013 at 2:25 PM ^
Braun, like Beilein, had a knack for identifying under-the-radar talent. Both coached at schools that were less than desirable in terms of attracting players, so they had to rely on scouting to get underrated players. Beilein's identification of guys like Gansy, Pittsnoggle, and Alexander, was impressive and reminds me of Braun's identification of players like Brian Tolbert, Earl Boykins, and Derrick Dial. Pretty impressive to three guys from one MAC team to the NBA (even though I don't think Tolbert made it out of rookie camp and Dial only played a few games for the Spurs).
January 9th, 2013 at 2:22 PM ^
wear the socks up like the old man did?
January 9th, 2013 at 2:25 PM ^
I went to look back at guys we were recruting and found this at http://www.umhoops.com/2011/02/21/recruiting-roundup-february-21st-2011/ its funny how recruting changes month to month.
McGary had 11 points and 12 rebounds for Brewster in the New Hampton Invitational. However, Michigan doesn’t appear to be among the talented post prospect’s favorites:
"I kind of have a top eight or nine," McGary said. "UConn, Florida, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Villanova, Wisconsin, Miami, Indiana, and Arizona."
January 9th, 2013 at 2:34 PM ^
I watched his live announcement on ESPN and was shocked that he picked Michigan.
January 9th, 2013 at 2:51 PM ^
By the time he announced, I'm pretty sure we were considered to be in the lead. I was surprised only in the sense that I had gotten used to losing out on guys like him.
January 9th, 2013 at 4:07 PM ^
I remember it being a toss up between us and duke, but it just goes to show a guy who didnt even have us in his top 9 commited to us 8 months later.
January 9th, 2013 at 3:09 PM ^
TIL who Ben Braun is.
January 9th, 2013 at 3:47 PM ^
I think Beilein's formula is fairly straightforward: trace the royal bloodlines.
January 9th, 2013 at 4:00 PM ^
Back of UM jerseys on the court could have been Robinson, Hardaway and Nance just to give the old codgers fodder for reminiscing.
Could Nance Jr do this?
January 9th, 2013 at 4:09 PM ^
All your 18 year old kids are belong to us.
January 9th, 2013 at 4:23 PM ^
Laramie Wyoming is a wonderful place!
January 9th, 2013 at 4:31 PM ^
I did a little digging and as you'd expect, Dylan's site has a bunch of info on Nance:
http://www.umhoops.com/recruits/larry-nance-jr/
His name popped up about the same time as Bielfeldt, which the OP correctly points out. I remember at the time really wanting to get Nance for a few reasons (even though I like Max and think he'll be a solid 4-year contributor)
- We were looking for an athletic PF and even today could use a back-up to GR3.
- He seemed like a guy with excellent fundamentals (NBA father) who had potential like most Beilein recruits.
- At the time we were recruiting him Michigan was still striving for good publicity and relevance as a program under Beilein. Being the home for NBA sons was one way we were getting some attention and Nance would have added to that. At the time we had Hardaway, Horford, and Dumars with GR3 already committed. Adding Nance to the list seemed like both a good fit and a way to continue that theme. Having former NBA stars attending your games is a nice way to get the attention of the media and future recruits.
Even now I still like the idea of signing the sons of NBA players and wish we had Nance and Glen Rice Jr.
January 9th, 2013 at 6:06 PM ^
January 9th, 2013 at 4:54 PM ^
lol does he have a great eye for talent or just offer every NBA stars offspring