September 17th, 2020 at 5:00 PM ^
Things should start leaking out soon then. Man, I hope we land this one and get off the 5 star snide.
September 17th, 2020 at 5:09 PM ^
Just spoke with a well-connected source on the Michigan side and Ingram has not indicated to Michigan that he is coming.
I also received word just now from a reliable source, exclusive of the Michigan source, that Stanford is the choice.
Looks like the curse will continue.
September 17th, 2020 at 5:13 PM ^
It's those Stanford bitcoinmen.
September 17th, 2020 at 5:15 PM ^
Who else is left in the wing category that Michigan is recruiting? I know they are after a center obviously. I've looked through the top 100 and I dont see much left from the wings honestly. Get a center and then go hard after kids that end up in the portal I guess.
September 17th, 2020 at 5:34 PM ^
#1 on my list would be Wesley Cardet out of Florida. He's big enough to play the wing at 6'6. You may remember him from my guard wish list back in May as a random "who dat" that I predicted to blow up
https://mgoblog.com/content/hoops-recruiting-wants-make-wish
He's now a top 50 prospect in America with a lengthy offer list. He's not deciding until Spring so that gives us a shot.
September 17th, 2020 at 5:52 PM ^
Thanks, hopefully they will get on him sooner than later. Sucks to lose out on a player that wants academics to play a big part in the equation like Ingram though.
September 17th, 2020 at 5:19 PM ^
This feels like when Jaylen Brown went to Cal. Like, cool academics are important, but uh, so are sports presumably to a five star future NBA player? And, uh, there’s this giant flashing maize and blue sign over here that says you actually can have both.
September 17th, 2020 at 6:38 PM ^
Yes because things have gone so poorly for jaylen brown
September 17th, 2020 at 7:33 PM ^
Okay, but in his one year at Cal, they made the tournament...and lost to Hawaii in the first round.
September 17th, 2020 at 10:17 PM ^
And that's still killing Jaylen, so much that he's considering a return to Cal.
September 17th, 2020 at 5:22 PM ^
Getting beat out by Stanford and FSU for 5 stars wings/gurads is peak um 5 star wings/guards recruiting curse.
September 17th, 2020 at 6:51 PM ^
I do not know why it keeps being repeated that its terrible UM misses out on a 5Star to Florida State. I've made this comment a bunch of times now, but FSU has won a crap-ton of games the last 3-4 years, have Sweet 16 and Elite 8's in there, won the ACC last season, were ranked in the Top-5 last year, have been sending a lot of guys to the NBA lately, and the player gets to live in Florida. FSU should be and is recruiting well and is a good program right now, not one for UM fans to be high-and-mighty about.
September 17th, 2020 at 10:10 PM ^
Player gets to live in Tallahassee FL may have a nice ring to it but the reality is not very exciting. Not the worst place but certainly not the best. A2 is so much better.
September 17th, 2020 at 10:20 PM ^
I'd take the A2 of my youth over Tally, but nowadays. . . not so sure. With three uni's, the state capitol, and a much nicer climate/physical beauty. . . no winters. And FSU's now a top 20 public u. M's the better school, by far, but the idea that FSU's garbage needs to be jettisoned. They get great crowds for every ACC match, too.
September 17th, 2020 at 5:23 PM ^
First loser, again.
September 17th, 2020 at 6:31 PM ^
Not long ago you had a source who said it was a Michigan-Purdue battle. What do you think changed for Stanford to surge back ahead at the end?
September 17th, 2020 at 6:40 PM ^
Their zero Elite 8 appearances since 2001 or their zero Sweet 16 appearances since 2014. Zero tournament appearances since 2014.
September 17th, 2020 at 6:47 PM ^
Almost forgot their zero conference championships since 2004.
September 17th, 2020 at 6:55 PM ^
I know most people probably take it with a grain of salt when I say it, but I'll reiterate.......objective on-court factors (Including winning) just don't mean all that much in recruiting. High school prospects don't really care about college all that much in most cases, it is simply a pit stop to the NBA in their minds. Their decision making process is going to align with the place that sells them on having the ball in their hands, regardless of winning, in an effort to position themselves to get drafted.
September 17th, 2020 at 7:27 PM ^
This is exactly why I hope the G League takes off and they start taking the majority of the 5-star one and dones. It'll be good for the G League and college will have players who really care about winning.
September 17th, 2020 at 7:43 PM ^
On that front Stanford has had one player drafted in the 1st round (#29) this decade. They havent had a player drafted in the Lottery since the Lopez brothers in 2008. Stanford hasnt consistently put players in the NBA since the mid 00's. Dwight Powell is the only non Lopez Cardinal alum to be playing any minutes in the NBA.
Oh and California isnt exactly doing great right now. Seems like a really odd time for a 5* prospect to get on board with Stanford basketball.
September 17th, 2020 at 6:44 PM ^
Not Matt but I will throw this in there because it has been stated that his Mom was a big Stanford lean.
September 17th, 2020 at 6:52 PM ^
In a word, Mom.
September 17th, 2020 at 8:04 PM ^
Nooooooooo.
I really thought this was the perfect recruit for us with academics and a shot of going very deep in the NCAA's.
Ugh.
September 17th, 2020 at 9:08 PM ^
I don't get it. Their academics are only slightly better than Michigan and that's assuming he is pursuing a serious degree and not planning to go pro in a couple years. Stanford has been a flat out BAD program for a decade and besides getting to hog the ball since their team isn't very good, I don't see how this makes basketball sense.
Very strange. Purdue would have been a better choice, let alone Michigan. I wonder how much he was scared off the large and talented recruiting class.
September 18th, 2020 at 9:50 AM ^
Team success just doesn't mean much unless you are Duke/Kentucky and to a lesser extent UNC and perhaps Kansas. It's all about the ability to sell prospects that you'll let them be "the man"........really all there is to it. Most elite HS prospects are so confident (far too confident) in their ability to get to the NBA that historical team success/draft picks are almost irrelevant.
When it gets right down to it, alums and CBB fans care about college basketball MUCH more than HS prospects and even college players. These kids grow up idolizing NBA players and NBA money. College is viewed as nothing more than a temporary pit stop for the most part.
September 17th, 2020 at 7:06 PM ^
Matt, this may be kind of a vague question but what does Howard and his staff need to do to break this mold with 5 stars opting elsewhere? Is there something they can do to overcome whatever it is that keeps them right there at the end, but just not good enough to land them?
September 17th, 2020 at 7:30 PM ^
I would say Wagner blowing up this year and going top 20 and maybe even Livers working his way to early 2nd rnd. Gotta put guys in league to get those younger ones.
September 17th, 2020 at 7:44 PM ^
Penny Hardaway has signed 3 five stars in his first few years so it isnt all about putting kids in the league or head coaching experience. There are always other factors. Apparently Ingram wanted academics and being the focal point of the offense for example. I just wonder what can get the staff over the hump with the top 30 kids?
September 17th, 2020 at 8:57 PM ^
Penny used his AAU relationships plus bagmen to pull in guys to Memphis. Juwan's failure to bring in 5 stars against other programs who we should be beating for these guys makes me think we are still recruiting at least somewhat cleanly
September 17th, 2020 at 9:20 PM ^
I don't forsee Juwan majorly cheating. He did things the right way when he was with the Fab 5. Im thinking Michigan is just one of those primarily 50-150 type recruiting schools. Juwan does things differently than Beilein and may resonate more with players and coaches but i still think we have a recruiting cap. Time will tell obviously, hes still very early in his tenure.
September 17th, 2020 at 8:38 PM ^
247 has him CB’d to Stanford. Can’t be upset for losing a guy to that school.
September 17th, 2020 at 9:26 PM ^
Sure you can. Their basketball program is trash.
September 18th, 2020 at 1:02 AM ^
this matt guy better get some new sources. word is late tonight he going to michigan
September 18th, 2020 at 9:46 AM ^
I would love nothing more than for my sources to be wrong on this one! I'll gladly eat some "Matt EM was wrong" noodles if Michigan is the choice!
September 18th, 2020 at 11:30 AM ^
We do lemons around here, not noodles!
September 18th, 2020 at 12:37 PM ^
Friday Midday Update - my source that informed me Stanford was the choice yesterday, doubled-down on that again today. A different source also told me it is Stanford as of 20 minutes ago.
September 18th, 2020 at 1:11 PM ^
So everyone is saying "no one knows" but you think both of your sources actually know or are guessing?
September 18th, 2020 at 1:24 PM ^
My source has been very reliable (remember I essentially broke news that Ingram had Michigan at, or near the top of the list, prior to any mainstreams), so I do have a certain level of confidence, since this source was the root of that info.
Subsequently, I broke news that Jett Howard might be an obstacle (you and many others questioned, along with myself to be candid), and the mainstreams followed a few days later.
This source says Stanford and I have no reason to believe he’s guessing.
Hopefully the source received bad intel and Michigan is the pick.
September 18th, 2020 at 1:27 PM ^
Brian Snow said on the UNC board a few hours ago he's being told it's not going to be Stanford.