2015 4* SG Matt McQuaid Commits to MSU
Rated as the #71 player in the country to Rivals. Should make for some fun storylines over the next few years since McQuaid was being recruited pretty heavily by Michigan for a while. There seemed to be significant mutual interest, however, Beilein cooled on him for some reason (before Duncan Robinson was on the radar) and other schools, including MSU, came into the picture. McQuaid had previously decommitted from SMU.
McQuaid's dad, Rob, grew up in Midland and played ball at CMU, so the family has strong Michigan ties.
September 25th, 2014 at 9:22 AM ^
or does the loss of a player that the BB team wanted feel like much less of a big deal than if it was the football team?
September 25th, 2014 at 9:26 AM ^
Kinda - which is weird because Hoke actually recruits better than Beilein from a "star rankings" perspective. It's just that Beilein actually develops his players once they get here.
September 25th, 2014 at 9:37 AM ^
It's talent identification too. Burke, Hardaway, and Stauskas all showed up already way ahead of where they were advertised.
September 25th, 2014 at 9:49 AM ^
I have to agree that talent identification is much better with the basketball program. It seems like with the football program if a player has a high star rating we recruit him.
September 25th, 2014 at 10:43 AM ^
To be fair with Burke, Beilein basically fell into him when they missed on (I believe) Shannon Scott to OSU. It is true that Burke has been getting the most out of his players, but he's also been a bit lucky.
September 25th, 2014 at 11:41 AM ^
I believe that year, Beilein wanted to take one point guard, and planned on taking the first one of two offers that committed. Those two point guard offers were Trey Burke and Kevin Pangos, who ended up committing to Gonzaga, and has played pretty well. For sure Beilein got lucky, but getting Pangos wouldn't have been a terrible alternative. Plus who knows what Beilein could've done with him.
September 25th, 2014 at 1:47 PM ^
I wish Hoke could do what Beilein does... Oregon kinda reminds me of UM BBall except in football because they just recruit to their system and develop guys who may be small and fast into successful college players... You never see Oregon up there in the recruiting rankings like the Bamas and Texass of the world.
September 25th, 2014 at 9:28 AM ^
September 25th, 2014 at 9:32 AM ^
Both you and Ypsitucky hit on where my head was on that...Beilein doesn't care about the rankings but will turn a kid into a solid player regardless. The only think I hate seeing/hearing/reading is the "we cooled on him" reasoning. We poke fun at other coaches for that rhetoric (Read: Urban Meyer), so its one that I'd rater us not use. Just me though...
September 25th, 2014 at 9:37 AM ^
We actually did in McQuaid's case, though. Not sure why, but we basically cancelled his visit. He struggled a bit early in the summer evaluation period so maybe that had something to do with it. Or maybe Beilein just didn't think he'd be the right fit.
September 25th, 2014 at 9:39 AM ^
but I guess I'd just rather us say, "Oh well...too bad for us. Another guy will be along aaannnytime now..." Again, just me. It is rather telling though that the visit was cancelled. That portrays the message I'd rather us be sending anyway.
September 25th, 2014 at 11:08 AM ^
I think the "we cooled on him" thing is only offputting when it's untrue (e.g., the OSU claims that OSU cooled on Da'Shawn Hand when they obviously would have giddily accepted his commitment). In this case, it's just what happened. That cooling seemed to happen when McQuaid was reported to be struggling in summer ball, so there was also a reasonable explanation for why Beilein might have looked elsewhere.
It'd be obnoxious to say that we cooled on Austin Grandstaff (OSU) or Luke Kennard (Duke) or someone. I don't remember anyone around here saying that, though.
September 25th, 2014 at 9:40 AM ^
GoWings2008 - Coaches can't comment on recruits. So when have we ever poked fun of a coach for saying they cooled on him?
September 25th, 2014 at 9:49 AM ^
usually comes from the fans, so yeah...not necessarily the coach's comments.
September 25th, 2014 at 9:38 AM ^
Once they got Duncan Robinson UM pretty much stopped recruiting SG's for 2015. So I don't know if it is actually a "loss". Maybe that's why it doesn't feel like a big deal. I think if we lost Derryck Thorton Jr. we would all feel a little worse!
September 25th, 2014 at 9:52 AM ^
Half true, PJ Dozier is still out there.
September 25th, 2014 at 10:44 AM ^
We are recruiting Dozier as a PG exclusively, which may give us an advantage over other suitors. Think of the football recruit that is an athlete but wants to play QB, except that Dozier will be a really good NBA level PG prospect.
September 25th, 2014 at 10:47 AM ^
September 25th, 2014 at 11:05 AM ^
However, it's probably true that talent evaluation is all around easier for basketball. Plus NBA scouts will look at kids when they're like 16, so I imagine Rivals, 247, etc. just go along with their opinions.
Fortunately for us though, none of this really matters. Coach Beilein and his staff will turn three star/unranked players into Naismith winners and lottery picks.
September 25th, 2014 at 12:48 PM ^
are a bit more accurate because of AAU basketball. You see elite kids competing against elite kids so you have more of a comparison of how well they're playing in a big time competition.
September 25th, 2014 at 9:23 AM ^
little brother
September 25th, 2014 at 9:26 AM ^
CMU legacy who goes from SMU to MSU. Sounds like we never had a chance - not enough initials in the name.
September 25th, 2014 at 9:44 AM ^
September 25th, 2014 at 10:20 AM ^
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September 25th, 2014 at 12:09 PM ^
but Texas A&M - Corpus Christi does. TAMUCC has got to be enticing
September 25th, 2014 at 12:12 PM ^
for a few years. It is quite enticing. Had a lot of fun there...
September 25th, 2014 at 9:42 AM ^
I think loses don't feel as bad in basketball because we have 3-4 person recruiting classes, so it's easy to recruit multiple 4/5* kids at every position. Add to that the flexibility of the guys Beilein recruits. If we miss out on a 2-3 guard, we might pick up a 3-4 forward instead. In either case, the 3 spot is taken care of.
September 25th, 2014 at 11:51 AM ^
He may turn out to be a very good player, but we stopped recruiting not only him, but a much higher rated player in Jalen Coleman. The only players left on our board are 5 stars. MSU is taking players we've looked at closely, but decided not to offer; Bess, Ahrens and now McQuaid.That's a significant change from just a few years ago.
September 25th, 2014 at 10:50 AM ^
I thought that when they got Byrd too. And when we got Vogrich, but that also didn't work out so well. Time will tell
September 25th, 2014 at 10:16 AM ^
IIRC, he seemed like a smallish perimeter guy. I can't think of a typical Izzo player ( eg, banger or a dribble-driver with a decent stroke) fitting this profile. Mo Peterson, maybe??
September 25th, 2014 at 11:02 AM ^
is 6'7". Charlie Bell might be a better comparison. Either way him being an odd fit for what Izzo likes to do is well taken. Maybe he was recruited to lead their "weird" guys lineup.
September 25th, 2014 at 10:28 AM ^
Izzo hasn't developed a white boy into a legit threat in about the last 10 years... Not since like AJ Granger...
September 25th, 2014 at 11:15 AM ^
September 25th, 2014 at 12:46 PM ^
I think he peaked his Sophmore year, never lived up to his recruiting hype.
September 25th, 2014 at 10:27 AM ^
That's fine. If he wants to lose to us every year, let him go there.
Oh wait. That's what Sparty and OSU fans say when a kid commits to our team. My bad.
September 25th, 2014 at 10:49 AM ^
I am in no way a good source of talent evaluation, however McQuaid reminds me a lot of Vogrich. Their measurables are similar as well as their game. Beilein has made a concerted effort to get bigger across the board. I believe McQuaid is 6'4" and Robinson is 6'7", which may not seem like a huge difference but in the end it gives more versatility in a very versatile offensive system.
September 25th, 2014 at 1:02 PM ^
McQuaid is 6'5'' and can catch lobs. He is more THJR than Vogrich.
September 25th, 2014 at 11:07 AM ^
Would've been great to have him, but on to the next one.
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September 25th, 2014 at 11:34 AM ^
Weird situations with Montae Nicholson and now this guy; both players who were high on us and then at some point in the recruitment we just gave up on.
September 25th, 2014 at 5:32 PM ^
Nicholson was a top notch athlete at a position of huge need for us. McQuaid seems pretty replaceable.
September 25th, 2014 at 1:14 PM ^
This is just the kind of player who thiives at MSU: one who can easily be turned into a Michigan hater. As soon as the LOI is signed and he is on the campus, Izzo will start with the "Michigan didn't think you were good enough for them" line for motivation.
September 25th, 2014 at 1:28 PM ^
of MSU having an entire roster to which Izzo can say that.
September 25th, 2014 at 1:29 PM ^
Izzo is going to do that with all his players anyway.
September 25th, 2014 at 1:28 PM ^
However,why hasn't Izzo been able to recurit elite pg? They've got tons of wings but where's the Lucas or Cleave type thats needed to command team during tough times/tourney?
September 25th, 2014 at 4:40 PM ^