Cole Huff Terminated Recruitment Due to Excess Wings in UM's Future
Quinn at Mlive is reporting Huff was the one who decided not to come to UM, not a breakup from our side. Reasons make sense - an influx of guys at his position(s). But worth posting due to the speculation of "cooling" and such. Sounds like we wanted him, but he wanted an easier path to playing time. Happy trails.
"Ultimately, my family and I just felt -- and I'm not one to shy away from competition -- but going to Michigan was just such high risk with all the guys they have coming in," Huff told MLive, adding, "It was a really hard thing to do to; to turn away Michigan. We had gotten pretty far in the process."
As for Michigan, Huff said a roster backlogged on the wings with 10 scholarship players between 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-9 was too much to ignore. Having played power forward at Nevada, Huff wants to be utilized at the small forward spot at his next school and hopes to "step in right away and be a true contributor.""This is my last go around and I don't want to me unhappy," Huff said of his next destination. "Michigan was a high risk, high reward type of thing."
LINK.
"Cole Huff Terminated..."
Oh my...
but I'm going to shy away from competition.
There is a difference between not shying away from a normal amount of competition, and shying away from too much competition. The world is not black and white, as a Huff, a teenager, tried to explain.
Yeah, kind of a weird thing to say and then highlight how the team was full of guys. I get that he didn't want to lose playing time, but it was a weird thing to say.
Except for the fact that he did shy away from competition. Best of luck to the guy anyway.
Just a ton of moving parts he'd have to consider here versus the other schools.
The 2, 3, and 4 all affect him.
- If Caris and Irvin don't leave then X - that is 65 minutes a night taken up (btw 2 and 3) that would roadblock him at the 3 with Irvin as it would not allow Irvin to slide down to 2.
- If Caris leaves and Irvin doesn't then Y - that could push Irvin to the 2 but still leaves Dawkins / Chatman / Wilson / maybe a little Donnal / Max in the 3/4 spots.
- If Caris and Irvin both leave then Z - Chatman probably goes to 2 or Dawkins slides down there a bit and a lot more playing time
But then... who is the 'super 2015' recruit ... if he is a 2... then you are back to Y situation. If he is a 3/4 - even worse for playing time as 'super recruit' you expect to play freshman Irvin like minutes at minimum in 2015-2016.
So he is probably comparing that to "go to Iowa / Creighton... with zilch early entries, know exactly what will be there in 1 year, and compete for X playing time."
Right now UM basketball is so variable from year to year with all the moving parts you can understand the uncertainty for someone who has only 2 years to make an impact on Europe/ NBA - different than a new recruit.
Nearly all kids consider roster make up, and all should. It doesn't mean they're scared or aren't competitive/confident. I have no problem with his comments or decision. He was smart.
You're not being fair. Even if he did "win" the competition, what was he going to play, 15 minutes a game off the bench, with so many other players needing to get on the court too? Expressly not wanting to go through the transfer process again is a pretty mature decision. It would be one thing if he were a point guard and we only had one other point guard. He's looking at a roster where the vast majority of it is players like him and he has a shorter window than everyone else because he's both not a freshman but coming in fresh anyway. That's not "running away".
I agree, and as he says expressly, this is his "last go-around", which I took to mean that he is looking for a place where he can play serious minutes and possibly play out his remaining eligibility as happy as possible. Given where we would probably have used him, the roster and the incoming class, in my opinion, it is entirely possible that Michigan would not be such a place no matter how well he would have fit into the system Beilein employs. This is a rather well-reasoned decision on Huff's part based on that, and I don't fault him one bit. Best of luck to him in his future.
Not being fair? This coming from the guy who thought the McGary suspension was warranted because you would have received a similar punishment in your ROTC program. I agree with your point here, but I think you've lost any credibility around here in declaring what's fair or not.
is not something that's gained or lost based on past performance, not on this blog (at least, that's what everyone keeps saying). It was a good point, so commenting on what he's lost is immaterial.
Oh, I didn't realize I had to check with Kermit the Keeper of Credibility before I made any arguments. Did you decide that yourself or was that voted on?
one vote.
and then there's a possible logjam. Plus he wants to play the 3 and he was likely to be a 4 at Michigan. A frank and reasonable assessment from a young man who doesn't want to make a(nother) mistake.
Buffalo Vile Wings. No thanks. I prefer to keep my colon working properly today.
Come on Duke! That's what them veggies are for!
Besides, if you order them hot enough those wings will take the express lane out of your colon
maybe he could be the next Doug McDermott? Huffy McBuckets, or something.
Smart on his part. We needs a true PF/C. If he wants to be a wing at Michigan he'd have to beat out some quality players. His high risk high reward comment is spot on...
is even killing us in basketball recruiting.
There is no such thing as "excessive wings"
"bleu cheese" dressing of coaches.
with wings or....(4:15 mark for relevant stuff, NSFW audio)
but sounds like hes afraid of competition..looking for a easier path...prob not the type of player we need
I don't think he is necessarily afraid of competition. It just seems that he wants to be completely sure wherever he goes that he will have a chance to get significant PT from day one. He very well could start at UM in 2015 but it would be far from a certainty while Iowa and Creighton do not have the logjam of talent on the wings that UM does and both offer a much lower risk of not getting PT.
I appreciate his honesty, and he's doing exactly what he should be doing if he wants playing time at a particular position. I just wonder if this was something the Creighton or Iowa coaches were telling him.
and I don't have a problem with that. I also expect (hope) we point out similar opportunities to recruits. That is much different than bad-mouthing another program, speculating on caoaches leaving etc.
yes, every fan bases favorite. Never has any coaching staff including ours lost on a recruit ;) it's always that darn cooling.
He was a luxury for us, and would have been a good get and fits the long wings we like. But truly if MAAR and Dawkins are more than bit players we are looking at 10 man type rotations (if not 11) in the following 2 years, even with a LeVert departure.
- Spike/Walton at 1
- Donnal/Doyle at 5
- Everyone else on campus at 2/3/4
- ....+ some 2015 recruits sprinkled in
We have very uneven classes right now with 6 (!) first year players this year (since Donnal RS)... and 7 (!!) inclusive of Hatch.
It' amazing how young the roster has stayed in the past couple of years. Will Michigan always be one of the youngest teams in the country so long as Coach Beilein is here? I'm beginning to wonder.
Even though I think he could win a job here, we are fairly loaded in the 2-3 positions. I don't think any of us would want to uproot ourselves from a situation we weren't happy with so we could go ride the bench elsewhere. The kid just wants to play basketball at the position he's best suited for. Not surprised that Iowa or Creighton look a little more appealing in that respect
Anyway, transfers have the potential to upset leadership chemistry. I'll take a talented 2015 freshman instead.
but I agree with you that kids with certain personality are more likely to transfer.
Has anyone pointed out yet that, for a guy not afraid of competition, he sure seems afraid of competition? Because I was going to say he seems a bit scared of competition, especially for a guy who isn't afraid of competition.
and include himself to reach the conclusion that we have 10 scholarship wings. His main competition would've been Wilson and Chatman and he does not feel good about his chance. He makes me feel good about the future of Chatman and Wilson.
... but never too many subs!
...it gives you wings!
I really liked what Huff brought to the table and was hoping we could bring him in. The 4 in Michigan's offense is a wing anyway. We start and play 3 wings for the majority of our games. Huff has a better, and immensely more proven, long range shot than any of our incoming freshman.
If I'm wearing my maize & blue glasses, I'm a little ticked Huff isn't coming here, and might be tempted to question his willingness to compete. But if I look at it from his side, I see a kid who's already spent one year of eligibility, and will have to waste another as a cost of transferring, so will only have two left. If I were him, would I want spend those two years banging my head against the logjam at my natural position of the 3? Or spend it out of position at the 4, and thus not be able to showcase my talents to NBA scouts? No thanks. There's no point in transferring when there's a big problem waiting for you when you get there.
Sorry he's not coming here, but you can't blame the kid for being able to read the handwriting on the wall.