Unverified Voracity Has A Busy Week Comment Count

Brian

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Star-Trib

Hey: tournaments. Softball making the postseason is a given, and even the CWS is kind of expected when they're having a good year. Baseball not so much, but they played themselves in off the bubble. So here we are with an unusually busy late May sports weekend.

Softball's opener is against Alabama on Thursday at 8 PM Eastern on ESPN2. Alabama's 47-13, the #6 overall seed, and one of five(!) SEC teams to make it. All eight national seeds made it to the CWS because softball is way more predictable than baseball. if they win that they will play on Friday at 10:30; if they lose they'll be in an elimination game on Saturday at 3:30.

Baseball kicks off its regional against two-seed Bradley at 2 on Friday. That game is only available on ESPN3; Louisville is the top seed and host. Let's find out about Bradley!

"We don't know anything about Bradley, so we are going in with a blindfold on," Cronenworth said.

Nevermind!

Let's have a DB transfer key party. Just days after the Moncrief kerfuffle, Blake Countess announces he'll spend his final year at Auburn. Excellent pickup if you're going to play a lot of zone, but this is the important part.

So they've got that going for them.

Holy pants. Remember a few days ago when I compared the Big Ten's DOA freshman ineligibility plan to Nationwide Your Kid Just Died? They may have literally been created by the same people.

The Big Ten floated the “year of readiness” plan mostly as a ploy to get people focused on discussing more academic and student-welfare issues, or what Glass called “less controversial and more doable” reforms.

Aaaaand

Nationwide ran an ad during the Super Bowl that started a fierce conversation. The sole purpose of this message was to start a conversation, not sell insurance.

Unfortunately, Jim Delany isn't accountable to anyone. Jim Delany could walk around pooping big scarlet Rs on Big Ten fans and it wouldn't impact his job security. He could jump on the hood of a car and fire 17 scarlet Rs at unarmed passengers and get acquitted. Nationwide bro got future endeavored.

“Matt accomplished a great deal during his time at Nationwide and we wish him the very best in his future endeavors,” Nationwide spokesman Joe Case said.

No such luck for the Big Ten's partisans.

Camp Sanderson yoke up of the year. Can't be summer on a Michigan blog without a picture of a basketball player who has put on an impressive amount of muscle. Memorial Day has just passed, so:

That is a big leap, one that should help him a lot as he gets drafted into playing some center this year.

To rein people in, stop reining them in. Via Get The Picture, GT coach Paul Johnson has a way to fix all the offer-not-offer stuff going on in college football currently:

Once you start your senior year of high school, you should be able to sign at any time,” Johnson said. “The schools have their 85 scholarships, and you can sign no more than 25 in a year. When you sign your limit, you’re through. If you sign a kid and he doesn’t qualify, you lose it for that year. We put the onus back on the kids with better grades and better students, and we stop all the craziness of the hat shows, soft commits, decommits and all that.”

You can't stop a hat show, but he's right on about that. My blue sky version of that goes slightly farther:

  • players can sign a non-binding LOI whenever they want
  • this LOI commits the school to offering a slot in their class
  • the kid can withdraw it at any time until Signing Day
  • he can only visit the school he committed to, he has unlimited contact with that school, and other coaches can't call him

It's a bad idea to lock people into commitments before the coaching carousel stops moving in mid-January, but that system gives both schools and players incentives to be up front with each other. Johnson:

“If a kid said he was committed, you hand him the papers. If he didn’t sign, you knew he wasn’t committed. The same thing on the schools. If the kid went in, and they said, ‘You’ve got an offer,’ and the kid wants to sign, (he’d) call their bluff as well."

As GTP says, hard to argue with that logic.

A bit on Hibbitts. I wonder if Michigan went with preferred walk-on Brent Hibbitts over Max Bielfeldt with their last scholarship this year. Once they missed on Jaylen Brown it seemed like they had a spot to keep a guy who is drawing interest from Nebraska and Indiana. Bielfeldt told reporters he would like to stay but that wasn't happening. Illogical, captain.

But then Michigan gets a 6'8" stretch four with mid-major offers. If Michigan thinks they could develop Hibbitts into a player given some time—and their track record is impressive in that department—and they need a carrot, guaranteeing him a scholarship for his first year isn't a bad one.

Etc.: John Calipari has goals man. Harbaugh regret in San Francisco. There are more quarterbacks now. Excellent outside zone primer from James Light. Highly recommend the first comment. Stauskas comes back for the summer. Dawkins and Donnal evaluated.

Comments

mgoblue0970

May 26th, 2015 at 1:05 PM ^

Just wondering... how is proposing signing a non-binding LOI better than the current verbal commit?  Both are non-binding and doesn't fix the problems the GT coach is talking about.

mgobaran

May 26th, 2015 at 1:19 PM ^

By the other rules of a LOI that would still apply. That student athlete would no longer be allowed to be contacted by any other school. The only thing the non-binding LOI allows, is for that student to switch schools if they get screwed over. Promises broken, position coach leaves, etc.

It also protects the student athlete from being screwed out of a spot, or forced to greyshirt last minute.

Wolverine In Exile

May 26th, 2015 at 1:29 PM ^

Even with the non-binding LOI, the school has some assurance because:

a) with the non-binding part on the student's side, the school has to be pretty damn sure they want him, thereby reducing some of the loopholes for oversigning; i.e. they can't send out 100+ "committable offers"

b) the recruit can't take visits to other schools (and take unlimited visits to the signed school), decreasing the chance of snake oil flips. If the student does take another official visit to a different school, then the original school is off the hook of the LOI.

c) If the socialization on the students part is to realize that once they sign the LOI, they're locked in, that will reduce by 42% the amount of drama queen signing day hat ceremonies. There still will be some, but right now the default is to have drama because it's allowed. By having the LOI's, then there's downward social pressure to NOT extend the recruiting process when it doesn't need to be for 60-70% of the recruits. Hence Paul Johnson's "the students will call their (the coaches') bluff if there's an offer extended".

mgoblue0970

May 26th, 2015 at 5:04 PM ^

The socialization should be is don't sign a LOI.  You can still get aid in kind without one.

I wasn't trying to be flip in my op; rather I was asking that seriously.  I still like the GT's proposals as he's tired of all the games students play.  To be fair students are tired of getting hosed by the school.  It's a really broken system all the way around.

jbeck224

May 26th, 2015 at 2:43 PM ^

Since Hibbitts has been reported by everyone to be a Preferred Walk-on, seems like this scenario is "You're a walk-on and may have the opportunity for a scholarship any year that one is left over from the scholarship players.  This year it's very likely we will have one for you."  

The negative way would be "You're a scholarship player!" then two years later... "No you're not any more."

UMAmaizinBlue

May 26th, 2015 at 3:13 PM ^

About the extra throwballin' we get to watch. I am, however, disappointed in Brian for not going on a mini-rant about why the Big Ten baseball conference tournament shouldn't be played in MLB stadiums. Target Field looked very empty.

bsand2053

May 26th, 2015 at 1:26 PM ^

The comment section of the Harbaugh SB nation article is intense.  Reminds me of post RichRod firing comment sections around here with partisans on both sides out for blood.  

JCass

May 26th, 2015 at 1:28 PM ^

That is a big leap, one that should help him a lot as he gets drafted into playing some center this year.

Can we refrain from using the word "drafted" when discussing any underclass basketball player? I nearly had a heart-attack.

 

 

Blue Noise

May 26th, 2015 at 1:52 PM ^

Confused about the Hibbits bit. Is the staff guaranteeing him a scholarship down the line if it opens up? Preferred walk-on only means guaranteed roster spot but without the scholly, no?




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Wolverine In Exile

May 26th, 2015 at 2:02 PM ^

And since scholarships are still (for the most part) a yr-by-yr award, theoretically, Hibbits could get a scholarship right before the school year starts once rosters are fully known and then not have one the next year. Such is the life of a preferred walk-on-- your coach can tell you if a schollie opens up, they'll give it to you / consider you, but they're under no obligation to continue to do that. Most guys who get preferred walk-on status understand the deal and make due-- but usually expect to be on scholarship for at least 1 or 2 years during their 4-5 years on campus.

alum96

May 26th, 2015 at 3:46 PM ^

Actually they are not theoretically year by year.  In the Big 10 if you offer a scholarship it is for 4 years.  Full stop.

Now there may be some gray area with offering a preferred walk on a 1 year scholarship but I dont know how that goes.  I assume it wont lock him in for 4 years on scholarship but for normal players it does. 

If the scholarship does go ununused it just would be one of those very strange things - one of the few of the Beilein era I don't get. 

And speaking the 4, I dont think Wilson is getting drafted there this year - I think that's his home for this 1 year.   If you believe Dawkins, Chatman, and Mo from Germany are all 4s (I have Irvin and Robinson as 3s) that doesnt leave much time for Wilson there - even if that is his eventual home after some attrition down the road.

Space Coyote

May 26th, 2015 at 3:47 PM ^

Walk-ons can be given scholarships year-by-year if there are extra scholarships available. They can also be "put on scholarship" which essentially means they are like a recruited player. Rarely do coaches do the latter because it only binds them. But walk-ons do not play under the same rules as others.

champswest

May 26th, 2015 at 1:57 PM ^

baseball game (against Oklahoma St., I think) the announcer said, "Watch out for Michigan in the Big Ten Tourney, they are playing really well right now." Nailed it.

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May 26th, 2015 at 4:08 PM ^

 

 
 
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BeenBlueSince82

May 26th, 2015 at 4:31 PM ^

is one of the best things that I have seen written on this site.

Congratulations to you Brian on having the courage and dignity to write that sentence.  Well done sir.

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