Exit Brandon Johns
Via everybody Brandon Johns has entered the transfer portal to play his COVID year elsewhere.
Michigan F Brandon Johns Jr. is in the transfer portal, @InsideTexas has learned.@TheWolverineOn3 | @TiptonEdits | @mzenitz
— Joe Cook (@josephcook89) April 6, 2022
Though Michigan's still waiting on decisions from the rest of its frontcourt, Johns moving on is hardly surprising. Johns peaked in the 2021 playoffs as a moderately efficient, and reasonably athletic OREBbing big in injured Isaiah Livers's stead. Hopes that would lead to a breakout senior year flagged as Johns struggled as a starter then gave way to freshman Moussa Diabate at the four. His issues seemed mostly mental, and probably were not going to improve much in a sixth season. He was always easy to root for though, and Michigan fans will delight if he finds his confidence and devours mid-major competition next year.
Was he the last remaining Beilein recruit?
Yeah jerry.
Nunez too.
Unless by some huge act of God Nunez gets a roster spot (God help us all)...then yes.
The rest transferred or went to the NBA (2018/19).
Maybe not. Quite a few people on MGoBlog seem to think that the '20-'21 Elite Eight team was all "Beilein guys" and that things went to hell this year (before the tourney, anyway) with all the "Howard guys."
I haven’t seen anyone seriously make this claim on MGoBlog.
I was definitely exaggerating there, but plenty of people have blamed this season on a lack of "Beilein guys" when the only meaningful difference (not a small one) between the two rosters by that measure was Livers.
They weren't mostly "Beilein guys" but it is a fact that the majority of let's call them "player seasons" on the roster had been coached by coaches other than Howard.
Coming into the year (in order of minutes played):
Mike Smith: 4 at Columbia, 0 under Howard
Franz Wagner: 1 under Howard (with some professional experience in Germany)
Eli: 2 under Beilein, 1 under Howard
Livers: 2 under Beilein, 1 under Howard
Hunter Dickinson: none under anyone
Chaundee Brown: 4 at Wake Forest, 0 under Howard
Johns: 1 under Beilein, 1 under Howard
Davis: 3 under Beilein, 1 under Howard
So at the beginning of the season only 5 of 21 "player seasons" of experience amongst the top 8 guys had come under Howard and even by end of the season, a minority 13 of 29 "player seasons" amongst the top 8 guys had been played under Howard.
This season was the first in which a majority of the players college experience had come under Howard's staff.
No commentary on what it meant, just presenting. I don't think it was his fault, freshmen usually just aren't that good no matter who is coaching them. Beilein's freshmen were very rarely useful as well.
*not coached by Howard* is not the same as *Beilein guy*
Good post, but not really in line with mine. I was speaking to an idea that some people here seem to have. Troubles of the past season have been attributed to a lack of Beilein guys on the roster. People with this idea are ignoring that, as far as Beilein is concerned, Livers is the only difference between the two teams.
Brooks and Johns were still here. Dickinson, Smith, Brown, and Wagner weren't Beilein guys. Davis? He actually improved under Howard.
*not coached by Howard* is not the same as *Beilein guy*
Yeah, that's literally my first sentence that I wrote to point out that while the team wasn't largely made up of "Beilein guys" in 2021 they were mostly "not Juwan guys" so there was a small door open to whether he might have bought himself an extra Wile E. Coyote year with effective transfer management (something he does deserve credit for).
Any argument that it was "Beilein guys" specifically, in 2021 doesn't really hold water.
Troubles of the past season have been attributed to a lack of Beilein guys on the roster. People with this idea are ignoring that, as far as Beilein is concerned, Livers is the only difference between the two teams.
Is the "lack of Beilein guys" being referenced by those people a lack of players coached by Beilein (in which I agree, Livers was the only real difference), or a lack of Beilein-style players, regardless of whether or not they were holdovers from Beilein's teams. Because our lack of wings/shooters was a huge weakness this past year, and finding/developing those guys was a Beilein specialty.
I disagree that a lack of shooters was a huge weakness, per se, and we didn't even lack them so much as decide not the play them (Twill) in favor of more rebounding and size on the court (Moussa).
The weaknesses of this team were far moreso the lack of wing/perimeter guys that could stay in front of the abundance of slashers in the league, and also a lack of rim protection / help defense as a second line of defense.
But make no mistake, defense was the weakness this year. The offense was quite good at 22nd in kenpom which was better than Beilein's final two teams, both of which were top 10 teams overall because they had top 5 defenses.
This year's defense was an atrocious 74th. And that was it.
Hope he goes somewhere he can get a ton of run and play with confidence. Great dude, bummer it couldn’t all come together for him in Ann Arbor.
When he played with confidence he sometimes look like the best player on the court. Godspeed.
This is best for all parties involved.
Minor point but next year will be his 5th season in college basketball, not 6th.
I'm looking forward to hearing that he's blowing up. He had some great moments at Michigan but never got in rhythm for extended periods. Being the guy at a smaller school might give him the reps to break through.
bet he picks a team with a good grad school program for whatever he is studying.
Wish him all the best. Godspeed!
Not to take away from Brandon, but I would think he would stay if the other bigs were leaving. So, that means they're all coming back, right? Well, I can hope anyway.
I think even if Moussa and Hunter don’t come back, Juwan would do a number of things before he’d dedicate starter level minutes to Johns including: playing Houstan at the 4, Terrance at the 4, Tarris at the 5, bring in portal guys to play the 4 or 5. He’d have a tough time cracking big minutes in the rotation regardless of draft decisions for the bigs.
Johns best position is as a small ball five (likewise with Moussa). So yes, all the PF minutes should go to Jett/Twill/Houstan next year (more should have gone to Twill this year).
But if Moussa and Hunter leave there is a gaping hole at the 5.
Almost no way Reed would get starter level minutes over Johns there, had Johns stayed. Remember that Davis started over HD for about ten games last year. Reed is not HD.
Agree that Juwan would try to get a starter in the portal but big like that are not abundant. With Johns gone though, they'd have to get someone through the portal if both Moussa and Hunter leave.
Here's what Johns said, on or after Senior Night, according to the Detroit News:
“No matter what, whether it was positive, whether it was negative, whether I wasn’t doing so good or whether I was doing good, I feel like I really learned a lot from my coaches, my team and just a variety of different things that I never thought I would be able to say I learned. In my eyes, it was a really successful four years."
Whatever we may want as fans, students come to the University of Michigan to learn, and he did.
Thank you and good luck, Mr. Johns.
His issues seemed mostly mental
This strikes me as kind of weird—it's almost like saying he's got some sort of cognitive issue that prevents him from playing better. Maybe he's just not as talented as most of the other players on the roster.
I'd just say he'd reached the ceiling of his talent and abilities at Michigan and it was time to move on.
I'd just say he'd reached the ceiling of his talent and abilities at Michigan
But he rarely played at that ceiling outside the '21 tournament, and it seemed to be more due to confidence / decision-making / something in the vague bucket of "mental" rather than "physical" limits. E.g. seeming to pass up too many open looks despite being a reasonably good shooter.
Nobody is saying he was cognitively impaired, not sure where you're getting that.
Hoping a fresh environment gives Mr. Johns the opportunity to shine.
Right, it wasn't a cognitive issue at all, it was more of a competitiveness and confidence issue. Even in his early years at Michigan I remember mgoblog and even announcers mentioning that the program was trying to help him with his confidence.
Yeah, if anything his problem seemed to be overthinking, and not just trusting his instincts.
Mental =/=cognitive.
Johns spurned Izzo to come to us. He won a BIG ten championship and played in 3 NCAA tournaments (with one not happening due to Covid). I'll remember him as a solid rotation player for some pretty excellent M teams. Good luck with all that you do.
the kid has ability...but no consistency...
Not sure what one can do about the latter, but he still has a lot of potential. Hopefully he finds a team/staff that can help him to unlock that on a consistent basis.
Good Luck to BJJ
Michigan- Where the "We might need you/ Plan B" players are always first to leave, followed closely by the "Welp there goes the Plan A" players.
Watching him play, things didn't seem to slow down that much for him. He did manage to stop traveling on his first step, he understood what to do on offense and defense and he became a little less hesitant to launch those threes.
This season had a few too many trillion-esque perfomances, but I like to think that Nebraska game in December showed what we wanted him to be: 20 points on 6/9 shooting, 2/3 from three, 6/7 from the line, 5 boards in only 21 minutes. Maybe he can be that guy somewhere else.
Good luck, Brandon! Looking forward to seeing where you land and following your game! You gave us some good memories here, glad you went blue! You got this! 😀
“He was always easy to root for though”
Speak for yourself. Wish johns all the best but the man made me want to pull my hair up quite often.
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