BBall Recruiting - New 2020 Target/EM 4* Silas Mason
Got word last night that the staff will be in to see 2020 Forward Silas Mason today.
Mason is a 6'7 forward out of Greensboro, NC that plays with Team Felton on the Under Armour circuit.
Currently holds offers from Kansas State, Florida, Oklahoma State, DePaul, Texas among others
Silas is a playmaking wing/forward with a nice handle and good upside. Shooting is the thing holding him back from really blowing up. Will likely be ranked in the 75-125 range when my rankings are released later this Spring.
Reminds me a bit of a kid I worked with in Tray Jackson that is signed with Missouri.
No offense, but “shooting is the thing holding him back” is the last thing I want to see in a recruiting profile.
Depends. Shooting is one skill that can be improved - particularly under JB. Now, if his shooting is like Simpson's and has a very low ceiling in terms of improvement, I'm a little more hesitant to take that recruit. But if he's in a class surrounded by other shooters, it lessens the need. Our offense was better last season because we had shooters at SG-PF-C, and pretty good ones too. This year, only Livers and Iggyshot well consistently throughout the season, so our offense got bogged down a bit by not being able to spread the floor as much.
April 22nd, 2019 at 12:31 PM ^
It's an important skill to izzo. Better shooting skills translates to fewer eye witnesses.
I'm by no means a recruitnik (I read most of these posts for general knowledge) ...but have no inkling what EM stands for in the title? It is "target" backslash "EM" so synonymous maybe? I can barely come up with two words that start with E,M, that relate to recruiting. Early Manball? Everybody Murders? Inquiring minds?
Endless Motor - http://endlessmotor.net/
Should we be a little concerned with all this (seemingly) frantic activity? Does this mean that some of the other top targets are no longer likely? — (not that Quinones ((sp?)) was ever a strong possibility)
it seems to me that Wagner is the only “sure-thing” and even that is only IF he decides to do the NCAA route.
Take it with a grain of salt since I've never seen Wagner live, but I'd caution everyone to perhaps not expect Franz to be an instant impact type should he decide to come aboard. He's a limited athlete that doesn't have the ability to create shots off the dribble. At 6'8 that screams a stretch 4 role, but with a logjam at that position I don't see how Wagner would overtake Livers/Johns/Wilson. I think the more likely route is the path his brother took, token minutes as a freshman and then rotational player in year 2.
April 22nd, 2019 at 10:14 AM ^
matty D I’ve said the same thing about Franz here and a few other places and boy did I get hammered with hate. He is kind of the opposite of what Michigan needs at this moment, but would be very valuable in a couple of years. I’m glad your professional eye and opinion means I’m not off base.
April 22nd, 2019 at 10:30 AM ^
Webb saw him play last year and before watching him had some of the same preconceived notions but came away with a totally different opinion after seeing him live. Sounds like he'd play the 2 and the 3 here and if 247 ranked international prospects he would be well inside the top 50 and close to 5 star status. I'm paraphrasing what Sam has said on his radio show.
April 22nd, 2019 at 11:08 AM ^
I agree 100 % heard Sam saying it as well
April 22nd, 2019 at 12:27 PM ^
Yeah, I disagree with Matt here as well. Wagner definitely seems like more of a 3 or a large 2. He's not crazy athletic, but is a smooth athlete, can put the ball on the floor and finish with either hand, and has a quick trigger. I think him playing with pros right now will translate well to college in terms of passing and willingness to defend
April 22nd, 2019 at 12:55 PM ^
To be candid, I'd be absolutely shocked if Wagner ever played the 2 at any college, let alone Michigan. His handle is high and loose, he doesn't show the ability to change direction or speed and lacks the acceleration to get separation in a straight line against pressure defense in the half court.
I'd fully expect him to be a stretch 4, and perhaps develop into a 3 at some point.
This recent film of his 37 point game resembles an almost identical handle to his brother, which isn't indicative of a 2 in any form.
The 3 and 4 are literally the same position in Beilein's offense it's just a matter of who stands in what corner. The responsibilities change on defense, you are who you can guard as Beilein likes to say. Also I'm just relaying what Webb said who saw the kid live a year ago.
Absolutely agree that the 3 and 4 are interchangeable to a certain extent within the specific context of a John Beilein Michigan team. That said, Wagner has the appearance of a stretch 4 in a general context, meaning less ballhandling, primarily a catch and shoot type that occasionally attacks a closeout. Again, I'd tend to take Sam's word on this, as he's evaluated Wagner live. I think Franz has the potential to be a really nice piece down the road, but instant impact as a freshman isn't something I'd anticipate based on my minimal exposure.
April 22nd, 2019 at 10:19 AM ^
Matt D,
It seems Wagner is fairing pretty well against grown men in Germany, will that not translate to college?
I assumed he would be pretty ready for college ball if we was already performing solidly against older professional competition.
April 22nd, 2019 at 10:38 AM ^
Guess it depends on the subjective definition of performing well. Wagner shoots 36.8% on the aggregate from distance, which is solid, but certainly not elite by any means. He essentially has the identical scouting report to his older brother (limited athlete, good shooter, solid skill, plays against pros), but it took his brother a year to be a rotational player and 2 years before he was a real impact player. Franz is a bit smaller at 6'8, so I think the upside is lower and he'll likely take a year or two before he's an impact type of guy.
Again, caveats because I haven't viewed the younger Wagner live.
April 22nd, 2019 at 10:59 AM ^
Thanks for the response, everything I had been reading/hearing(mostly Sam) is that the younger Wagner was ahead of his older brother developmentally at this stage
April 22nd, 2019 at 11:03 AM ^
Frankly, I'd probably go with Sam's take on this, as he's done a live evaluation. That is certainly much better than anything I can glean from the sparse film available.
Someone on UMHoops found stats that show Franz has played far more minutes than Mo did with Alba's top team team.
Franz might get a few more minutes the Mo but their stat lines are similar in that they barely had any. Franz barely scored and didn’t really impact the games at all at least judging by statistics l
April 22nd, 2019 at 11:52 AM ^
Question: Does the German pro league use the NBA 3-point line, or something close to it? If so, Wagner's shooting % from deep should be able to improve with the closer college line.
April 22nd, 2019 at 12:29 PM ^
I think they use the international 3 point line which is between the college and NBA length. But don't quote me on that
April 22nd, 2019 at 12:34 PM ^
I'd guess they use the FIBA line which is closer than the NBA line but longer than college.
- NBA: 23ft 9in (22ft in corner)
- FIBA: 22ft 2in (22ft in corner)
- NCAA: 20ft 9in (all the way around)
Is he really “fairing pretty well against grown men” when he plays limited minutes and doesn’t really do anything that shows up in the stat sheet. He doesn’t score and doesn’t impact the game much at all judging by his stats with the big club.
Isn't that basically the Luca doncic scounting report lat year though? ? I kid I kid...kind of
Well, this guy is a 2020 so that's different than Quinones or Wagner who are 2019s. And Pierce is a one year guy so he wouldn't affect a 2020 recruit.
I don't think there is reason to be concerned nor do I think the level of activity to be frantic. Unfortunately this is a slightly uncomfortable limbo period where there's nothing to do but sit back and see what happens!
I assume finding someone who can play the 5 would be a top priority for 2020.
April 22nd, 2019 at 12:30 PM ^
Yep, we'll have Castleton and that's it
We will also have Jaron Faulds eligible next year as well. I assume he was a s scholarship transfer from Columbia. He was 6'10 225 as a transfer so I would assume he would add some weight in a year
From the WTKA Roundtable, it seemed to most of they guys that it was still unclear what is role will be and whether he will get any minutes. At the moment, I think he's a walk on
This kid could
give us some minutes
Forgot about Faulds, He did have 2 tackles for the Holt football team in 2013, so he could be "the enforcer".
April 22nd, 2019 at 10:22 AM ^
No more project shooters !!!!! Only elite shooters please
April 22nd, 2019 at 10:22 AM ^
No more project shooters !!!!! Only elite shooters please
April 22nd, 2019 at 12:44 PM ^
One time in Greensboro, fairly drunk after a Hurricanes game (they played in Greensboro before the arena in Raleigh was ready), my buddy and I walked into a massage parlor thinking it was a strip club. I figured it out about the same time a little Asian woman was tossing my buddy out because he didn't have enough money. Nothing to do with this story. It's just something I recall every time I see a reference to Greensboro.
How did Michigan not even get a sniff from Matthew Hurt? Hes a top 10 player from Minnesota of all places. I can understand when it's a geographic proximity to a school or a feeder school, but Michigan has been really successful lately and Duke lands the kid without Michigan getting so much as a sniff apparently.
This kid with a jumper would be dangerous.