It's Official - Moritz Wagner is a Wolverine
U-M announces that German forward Moritz Wagner has signed his LOI for the 2015-16 academic year.
— Joshua Henschke (@JoshuaHenschke) May 29, 2015
Also, a cool little tidbit
Michigan formally announces addition of Moritz Wagner, the first German player in program history http://t.co/KPTTpzJYg8
— Brendan F. Quinn (@BFQuinn) May 29, 2015
Here's the press release:
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan men's basketball head coach John Beilein announced today (Friday, May 29) the signing of 6-foot-10 German forward Moritz Wagner to a National Letter of Intent. Wagner will join the Wolverines for the 2015-16 academic year. "Moe is a long and versatile player," said Beilein. "He has a great understanding of the game with a tremendous upside. As a product of Germany, he has always played against men five to even 10 years older than him, which has only helped his growth as a player. As he continues in his development, Moe's skill and athleticism will allow him to eventually play multiple positions for us. He just turned 18 years old, so we are excited about his potential. Moe's engaging personality and passion for the game will make him a very valuable asset to our team now and in the years to come." A Berlin native, Wagner played 18 games in his second season with ALBA Berlin in 2014-15, averaging 16.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He recorded 15 games in double figures, including a career-best 25 against RSV Eintracht (Oct. 12, 2014) -- including going 9-for-13 from the field. He finished the season shooting 56.6 percent from the field and 72.5 percent on free throws. In the 2015 NBBL North Playoff, he helped Alba Berlin reach the semifinal. He played in the 2015 NBBL All-Star game, helping the North team to a 67-63 win, scoring 14 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Wagner was also part of the 2015 Belgrade adidas Next Generations Tournament, helping ALBA Berlin to a 3-2 record and a third-place finish. He played in all five games, averaging 9.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2.0 steals per game. In 2014, he helped guide ALBA Berlin to the NBBL German Championship after a 69-56 win over CYBEX Urspring.
May Moritz prove to be our own version of a Dirk Nowitski. If he's even half that good being maybe 4 inches shorter, then we got ourselves a serious German.
Is there any other kind of German?
Funnybot?
Willkommen an der Universität von Michigan junger Mann, und wünschen Ihnen viel Erfolg
Translation:
Welcome to the University of Michigan young man, and wish you much success
First player to come to Michigan from Europe since 1993-94.
Olivier Saint-Jean from Verailles, France was the last one.
Well then I'm glad the 1st to come here is some time was not Della Valle (hahahaha)
Wunderbar!!
"Ride of the Valkyries" when I see/read Wagner, which inevitably brings Apocalypse and Colonel Kilgore to mind. "My boys love it!"
Looking foward to BB and FB this year after a rough 2014. Welcome Moritiz!
I'm sitting on my helmet now.
In honor of the character Moritz from the musical Spring Awakening, we should dedicate this song to our opponents whenever Wagner hits a backbreaking shot.
https://youtu.be/GKaYOW9zMoY?t=1m16s
Dang, embedding disabled. Sitting on helmets is earlier in the clip, 0:45.
However, I have not yet listened to anyone say it. Sure I probably missed it somewhere, but what is the proper pronunciation?
MO-RITZ. One of my friends at our Fresing office has the same name. I'm assuming it's the same.
Would the W be pronounced as a V? How about the "a" as well? If he was American, I would just assume Wag-ner. Since he is German, I am thinking Vahg-ner, but that could be completely incorrect. Hence, the question for MGoBlog.
It is funny how you pronouce something in your head when you read it over and over, and not really think about it. Then one day you hear the actual pronunciation, and you had it wrong all those times you read it. Perfect example is the novel Dune. I read all 6 original books, and then watched the movie after. Boy was I way off on so many of the pronunciations.
Come on... how hard can it be to pronounce "Kwisatz Haderach"?
And you are assuming the movie pronounced it right. Not a safe assumption with all the things Lynch messed up in that movie.
Thats correct. In German W's sound like our V's.
Moritz - Der Vielfrass des Westens
Na, so fettleibig sieht er doch nicht aus!
/s
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There was some discussion about this. Since the German flag just has three stripes, it might not work that well in Michigan colors. Without the original colors, it's hard to tell that it's a German flag.
I propose we use the flag of Berlin instead:
This would look pretty awesome in maize and blue.
Seconded. A blue bear with maize stripes.
Seconded. A blue bear with maize stripes.
Does this mean he passed his TOEFL or whatever and actually been accepted into the University? Because that seemed to be the question surrounding him. Officially signing his LOI is nice, but as far as I know you can do that before you are accepted. But maybe things are different for international players.
I was curious about that too. He avoided answering if he'd taken and passed it, so maybe he was just waiting on the results when they did the interview a few days ago. Either way this is good news!
I found a freep article saying that he doesn't have to of passed the test to sign. We lost a recruit back in 08 because of him not passing, even though he had signed.
Looking the English tweets he puts out I dont think the test should be a problem for him.
...to the giant German flag floating in the Maize Rage.
Yes.
This is payback for Uwe Blab, Indiana.
Welcome, Moritz!
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Willkommen in Ann Arbor, Moritz!
Good news on a Friday evening and I am rather excited to see Wagner contribute to the Wolverines. My mother - German herself - was quite excited, to the point where she phoned me to tell me.
Could anyone post that handwritten "You're tall" note from a while ago?
Good Lord... Doyle looks like freaking Superman. https://instagram.com/p/3R6OqvPsYp/
Team is going to be stacked with the addition of Moritz and Duncan.
I talked to Ricky last night. He said he's now lifting as much as senior J-Mo did! He's super excited about next year. Excited about Wagner & DJ. I seriously doubt there's a nicer kid than Ricky Doyle anywhere.
Willkommen Moritz mit Block "M'!
Wilkommen Herr Wagner!!!!