Basketball Commit Moritz Wagner about to arrive

Submitted by EastCoast Esq. on

I know some people were wondering why it was taking our German recruit so long to officially become a Wolverine. Well, whatever the problem was, it appears to have been resolved.

 

Moritz Wagner tells MLive he will arrive at Michigan in late June and enroll in summer half-term http://t.co/M9FoNR1IHY

— Brendan F. Quinn (@BFQuinn) May 27, 2015

EDIT: As a poster below noted, Moritz Wagner still has to pass the TOEFL. I didn't mention that because I think of that as a formality (he seems to know english), but I could be wrong.

BlueRy

May 27th, 2015 at 4:12 PM ^

I work a lot with university-level international students. You're correct that many students coming directly from Asia can be very hesitant to speak English regardless of their TOEFL score. However, the average college-age German or Scandinavian student speaks English near fluently. I doubt that Moritz passing the TOEFL is anything more than a formality. He'll be fine.

DingoBlue

May 27th, 2015 at 2:53 PM ^

"Wagner's enrollment at Michigan will require him to pass the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Asked by MLive if he's taken and passed the test, Wagner omitted the question from his series of answers"

EDIT: I don't say this to stoke rumors of Wagner not making it in when he expects, but to be truthful to the content of the post as I read it.

LSAClassOf2000

May 27th, 2015 at 3:48 PM ^

Sollten wir mit der Begeisterung für die Menschheit unbekannt Deutsch sprechen?

That might be a logical followup question now that Wagner is on his way. I hope I didn't eff up the word order on that. 

Lanknows

May 27th, 2015 at 3:57 PM ^

I don't care how good of a shooter he is, it's hard to make jump shots all the way from Germany.  This is good news for Michigan because a shot from campus is much more manageable.

sadeto

May 27th, 2015 at 4:56 PM ^

UM has an ESL institute and there are at least 2 private ones near campus with TOEFL test prep, he doesn't have to pass before he gets on the plane, he can take a crash course if needed. Plenty of international students have done that, having been admitted pending passing the TOEFL. 

wahooverine

May 27th, 2015 at 5:06 PM ^

Most young Germans who attended secondary school these days speak excellent English.  Think Dirk Nowitzski.  Even when he was starting out in the NBA he spoke english with confidence and proficiency (even decent accent).

ThirdVanGundy

May 27th, 2015 at 6:13 PM ^

Of him speaking English I think he'll be fine. Germans seem to pickup and speak english really well. If you listen to Dirk Nowitzki talk you can barely tell he has an accent.

BlueMk1690

May 27th, 2015 at 8:13 PM ^

Does anyone really think a standardized test that there's a gazillion practice courses and books for and which you can retake as many times as you want would stop a highly prized recruit from joining the team?

Let's face it, passing the TOEFL can't be extremely challenging. There's plenty of international students out there who can barely order a sandwich in English and somehow passed that test.