The good news of the day....MAAR signs LOI
Didnt see this posted yet.
A beam of bright light, on a dark and gloomy day. Here's to the future of Michigan Basketball!
http://forum.umhoops.com/discussion/741/muhammad-ali-abdur-rahkman-signed-his-loi-today
I'd say it's more like a candle during a total solar eclipse.
But a candle in a black hole during a solar eclipse.
But a candle in a Big Crunch during a solar eclipse
But a candle in the middle of the ocean in a Big Crunch during a solar eclipse.
1 player Rivals Top 150 missed was Muhammad Ali Abdur-Rahkman/6'4 guard from Allentown Central Cathwas late pick up by Michigan/Great SrYr
— Steve Keller (@SteveKellerNRR) April 24, 2014If someone plays Happy by Pharell they are getting punched right in the face.
You would.
You knew someone was going to after Bruce Lee said that.
Congratulations to him! I'm not comparing them as players, but a story I read about him not sgining with any early schools that recruited him and deciding to wait for a big school to call reminded me of a story I read about Zack Novak doing the same thing. I'm glad Coach B found them both.
know he has that much confidence in himself. Hopefully another Bielien diamond in the rough.
In a day that has not been known for its "up" moments until now, yeah, I would say that this helps a little. At least for me, the more I heard about this kid, the more it sounded as if he would fit into what Beilein does and that he would be a valuable part of this team at some point. Glad to have him on board officially now. The future of Michigan basketball definitely is trending in the right direction, I would say.
We've won more B1G games than anybody over the last three seasons and over the last two no team in the country has won more NCAA tourney games (only Louisville has as many, with 8 wins).
We're there. Now we're just trying to stay put, and getting MAAR (and Dawkins/Huff) to round out the bench looks like it will help us do that.
IBIT
[In Beilein I Trust]
Seems like the only positive story of the week.
Though I cannot stand how its all about the "kids" and such.... Hoke and Mattison talk as if the players are grandchildren....... Bo never did that..... Bo treated them like men......though I do think that you gotta give Hoke this year to fairly judge.
Guys like Funchess and Gardner and Lewan..... Bo wouldve ripped them a new one and surely it would've led them to play better, and not drop balls, or do stupid videos, or even give out the 98 jersey first before the guy won a Big Ten Title first. THIS is where Hoke is erring.... this players coach thing... lets see if it works, but you gotta give him this year.
On 17 November 2006, Michigan was 11-0 on the eve of the game with 11-0 Ohio State, the teams being ranked #2 & #1 respectively. Also on that day, Bo schembechler died. Despite having a perfect "win one for Bo" emotional back-drop, the Wolverines couldn't cash in, losing 41-38 in a classic. The game was so thrilling, there was talk of a rematch in the NC game, but the BCS chose to pit 11-1 SEC Champion Florida instead of 11-1 B1G runner-up Michigan against OSU. Michigan went to the Rose Bowl (BTW, the last time Michigan has been to the Rose Bowl, as a "consolation prize" for not making the NC game). Both Michigan and OSU laid big, fat eggs before national audiences, USC torching Michigan 32-18 (and it wasn't even as close as the lop-sided score suggested), and Florida running the Buckeyes of the field 41-14. The era of the ESS-EEE-SEE idolatry commenced, and believe it or not, this would be the head and shoulders best football season Michigan would experience for the next eight years (and counting).
In the fall of 2007, "the Horror" (the Appalachia State upset, which set off rejoicing in every Midwestern community outside of Ann Arbor) followed by a substantially lack-luster loss to Oregon, at home, started off the season. Lloyd Carr announced his retirement at the end of the season. Although the rest of the season went pretty well, Michigan lost to OSU, again (as Brent Mushmouth loved to point out, that meant in the last five seasons, Lloyd was 0-5 against Ohio State and 0-4 in Bowl games). The Wolverines did score a very satisfying win over the Urban Meyer/Tim Tebow led Florida team (slumming with Michigan in between two National Championship seasons) to send Carr off with ONE FLIPPIN' WIN in the last 10 tries against OSU or in a Bowl game. Believe it or not, that was arguably the best win in football Michigan would have for the next 7 years (and counting).
The next three seasons, Rich Rodriguez happened. I won't delve into the details, let me just summarize with this thought. RichRod was a highly regarded coach who had done great things with West Virginia. However, at Michigan he was epically, inexeplicably awful at everything. Michigan had losing records and failed to go to a Bowl game two out of three of his seasons, and he was the only coach in Michigan football history who coached for more than one season and had a career losing record. Also, he landed Michigan football on probation with the NCAA for the only time in its history, and attrition of his players was so bad that in his last season, Michigan was also on probation for a low graduation rate. Oh yeah, 0-3 vs Michigan State, 0-3 vs. Ohio State, and 0-1 in Bowl games (and an unsightly butt-kicking at the hands of that SEC juggernaugh, Mississippi State).
Meanwhile, the basketball team was a dumpster fire, going on ten seasons of futility after the payola scandal involving the Fab Five and the only two teams following them who showed any sign of a pulse.
Why do we fans feel so betrayed by the regression shown under Brady Hoke? Because his first season was such a tonic to all the trauma that had gone before. For the first time in literally over a decade, Michigan beat OSU and won a Bowl game to end the season. (And for only the second time in over a decade, Michigan won a Bowl game at all). His second season wasn't as good, but we were OK with that because at least we were competitive (2-2 in games vs. MSU and OSU), and big gets in recruiting suggested better times were coming.
Meanwhile in basketball, we had the improbably fun run to the NC game. Following this, we lost 3 of the starting 5 players (two to early entry to the NBA, one to back injury), and after the next season we lost the other 2 to early entry to the NBA (and the dude who was injured for the whole season. Even worse, the NCAA forced him out for a trangression that to our biased eyes seems far less serious than the actual payment of benefits to Ohio State and Miami players, who did not get even half as long of a suspension), and the inexplicable transfer of a fifth-year senior big man who was in line for large chunks of playing time under any forseeable circumstances.
Then (CURSE YOU RED BARRON!) the second half of 2013 happened. Embarassed by OSU, MSU and in the Bowl game; other embarassing lossing to inferior teams. Epic number of defections of committed players, or players who were thought to be all but committed, to SEC schools, who we suspected of offering major payola to these defecting players, but they have never been caught (and we suspect would draw Miami level punishment if they were).
If everyone on this site is freaking out, it's because we have POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER FROM THE LAST FLIPPIN' DECADE! A simple year of slightly below average luck would feel like paradise to us. Regression to the mean is the biggest friend we have going forward.
Thanks for "breaking that down".
April 25th, 2014 at 11:36 PM ^
Local news article on the signing includes brief video, plus some interesting quotes:
"It's kind of surreal because I never would have imagined I'd be going to Michigan," Abdur-Rahkman, who grew up a Duke fan, said. "But God works in mysterious ways."
. . .
"I still don't believe that it happened, but I'm just glad that it happened," Abdur-Rahkman said. "Michigan is a great place and I'm happy to be going there. I definitely knew as soon as I got there and met the people that it was the place for me. Coach Beilein is a straight shooter. He cares about his players on and off the court."
Not sure how him signing is a bright spot today. Some of us care more about the well-being of the program than a good feeling story.