bball recruiting gets a bit of love
After understandable disappointment when Zeigler picked his Dad at CMU over the maize and blue, it appears that our incoming recruiting class might be fairly well received anyway.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/basketball/mens/news/story?id…
They don't even include Colton Christian...although it's debatable that his inclusion would have bumped us up any further. While it would have been great to land TZ, we're still in (as far as certain ratings go) very respectable territory. Fingers crossed for one of the big-man targets next year.
baskeball talent the state of Ohio is putting out now compared to say 20 years ago or so is pretty impressive. Matta doesn't have to travel far to lock down great classes, it seems.
It's disappointing that very little of that Ohio talent has come north to play beyond a couple guys here and there who've played for Izzo.
While I agree Ohio’s talent pool has increased; I still feel the state of Michigan has more talent to draw from in terms of basketball. JB shouldn’t have to go any farther than Matta does. While it’s disappointing to not pluck a top level recruit from one of our neighboring states, especially Ohio, I think in terms of basketball…MSU is our biggest obstacle in recruiting and locking down the state of Michigan, but most importantly the PSL. I attribute Matta’s success more so to capitalizing on the state of Indiana and the lack of success IU has had of late, coupled with the Schottenstein.
It's interesting to compare the major colleges in the two states:
OSU, Cincy, Xavier, Dayton, Akron, Ohio, Miami, Toledo, Wright St., Cleveland St, Bowling Green, Kent State, Youngstown St.
M, MSU, WMU, CMU, EMU, Detroit, Oakland.
That's a pretty definitive edge to Ohio as far as basketball goes.
Tom from AA;
Are you implying Ohio has a better talent pool to fill the needs of all the Ohio schools listed or are you implying OSU has an easier time pulling in the home grown talent b/c of the schools you listed?
I guess I'm implying it is tougher to go down into Ohio for recruits when they have so many quality options right in their back yard.
If I'm an Ohio recruit I have basketball powers OSU and Xavier and Cincinnatti to consider. Then I have Ohio, Miami, Akron, and Kent State in the MAC and all decent bball schools. Not to mention a top-25 Dayton program and a couple Horizon league teams to fill out the board.
Lots of options in my back yard. And the only equivalents north of the border don't really provide a big jump upwards as far as basketball prestige goes, other than Michigan State (currently).
Without regard to geography, I think OSU dwells in the type of recruiting that we aren't looking for. Izzo has done very well to pick up top talent without getting dirty, but many programs reaching for the one-and-done kids are paying, in some manner, throughout the recruiting process. I've been told by a coach/recruiter at a high level program that many of those (top 20) kids have family/friends/reps who demand things like, "$1000 if you want my nephew to open your letter", "$2000 if you want him to return your phone call", "$2000 for him to consider a visit", etc. The dollars aren't staggering but it's still (to me) a bit shocking that this still goes on. Michigan's response to such requests are of the "no fucking chance" variety.
A side concern for recruiting battles, in the future, might just be U of D. The pickup of Ray Jr. is going to elevate their future recruiting. I don't believe it will ever happen, but I'd love to see a UofM game at Calihan Hall.
Dahblue;
Not really posing any arguments to your post, more so just putting some thoughts down. While I agree OSU stands to look more favorably on the (1) and done recruits and maybe way’$ of attaining them, Matta does very well with recruiting a team and not just a player. This reduces his exposure to the rebuilding process most college coaches encounter when focused on the (1) and done players . This differs from the likes of say…Calipari or Roy Williams who I feel without the yearly influx of (2) or (3) Five Star recruits would achieve the success OSU has seen. I’m sure there’s someone I’m forgetting but outside (1) and done Oden and Conley I think it could be argued recruits such as Turner, Diebler, Lighty, and Buford are the reason OSU is where they are today. I know you’re not stating we should cater to the $1000 here or $2000 there and I completely agree, but ironically what led me to becoming a Michigan fan wasn’t Bo or Desmond, but Jalen and Juwan. Neither here nor there, but outside of the Fab Five scandal what I enjoyed most about college basketball was that it was fopa to leave college any earlier than your junior year…unless you’re Webber. This allowed fans to identify with their team and its players. We can still do this in college with Football, but not so much with Basketball. All in all this is why I’m excited JB is our coach and not a Calipari or a Williams. Granted it will probably benefit the Calipari’s and Williams more so, but here’s to the NBA mandating an older age limit for draft entry to better NCAA round ball in all facets.
Yeah, I'm a fan of college ball as well, so I'm probably selfish in wanting kids to stick around longer than one year. I think, however, that early exists have been going on for a long time. Didn't Isiah leave after two yeas? Daryl Dawkins skipped college (I think). But, overall, yeah, this one-and-done thing is not my favorite.
I may have misspoken, however, in that it isn't just the one-and-done kids (or their "people") looking for money. It's the majority of the top twenty recruits (no matter how long they stay). I'm happy that we aren't paying kids (note: we didn't pay any of the Fab Five...which Pat Caputo recently got wrong) and have trust in Beilein. As to OSU, I've got nothing good to say. A coach like Matta who pumps his fist at opposing players falls squarely in the piece-of-shit category. They have had some talented kids come in recently, but it's only a matter of time before they become the next UConn.
It isn't ironic that Jalen and Juwan led you to become a Michigan fan. It would be ironic if Chris Webber or Tractor Trailor led you to become a Michigan fan.
I think Horford will turn out to be the most crucial player in this class. He can give Michigan an inside presence who not only has height, but can move fast enough that he doesn't have to worry about pigeons dumping on him. Hopefully, he is one of those big guys who can contribute right away.
You may be right about Horford in the long run, but physically he's unlikely to be ready play right away next year. He'll probably end up redshirting. Colton Christian seems a more likely candidate to make a contribution next year.
I'm just glad we got a guy that can create off the dribble in Tim Hardaway Jr. Last year we had problems because we had a team of spot up shooters that couldn't shoot.
Remember him?
The author's grade range in the article ranges from an A+ to a C, with the C going to Northwestern who picked up one player who was not in the ESPN100. Kinda devalues the point of a "B+". I, by no means am discrediting our recruits, but I also think the writer of that ESPN article wants to make sure everyone got a passing grade. I wish I had more professors like that.