Grad Transfer Bryce Aiken - Announcing Tomorrow
https://twitter.com/NYPost_Brazille/status/1247914918902366208
Wouldn't get my hopes up here. Likely to stay closer to home
Matt, any idea what changed with DDJ regarding transfer vs. what you heard before?
Should we be concerned at guard? If JC doesn't come, were down to 2 guards....
Thanks as always!
Bummer. If they somehow miss on Christopher that would seriously dampen my expectations for next season.
If Michigan misses out on Aiken and Christopher I wonder if DDJ would consider coming back.
Only if Juwan said pretty please.
Is this serious?
Yes. You don't think he'd be interested in returning to a program that he already knows well where he'd step into a probable starting role?
If he's transferring there's a reason. Whether it's that Christopher is a done deal or that he and Juwan didn't mesh or something else. Very rare that a guy changes his mind and comes back after announcing he's transferring. The decision to transfer is usually pretty well thought out and discussed with the staff before the move is officially made. Very doubtful he just woke up one day, called the UM sports information office and said he wanted to put out a press release that he was leaving.
Sure. I'm not saying it's likely that DDJ would come back, merely speculating what might happen if Christopher commits elsewhere and Michigan strikes out on the grad transfer market. It's possible that part of DDJ's decision to leave was the expectation that Michigan would add a Guard to the roster, so if that doesn't happen and suddenly he's looking at the opportunity for an increased role with little competition, maybe he would reconsider.
I guess he has considered peacing out before this time. So it was probably a matter of when and not if with DDJ.
“You will be 1 of 3 guards on this roster with the second most experience”
DDJ- “I’m going to leave for a lesser program with probably more guards”
Here’s my wild speculation: DDJ wants to be Derrick Walton. He thinks he can do it with hard work and guard-focused coaching. After a surprise move by the guard-focused coach who recruited him and a year under a former NBA power forward coach, DDJ believes he would be better served in a different program. So he’ll transfer to a program famous for developing guards. The immediate one that came to mind for me is Villanova. I have no idea what Villanova’s situation is next year, so there’s no need to respond by telling me they’re stacked and he’d never play there. My point is a program like that. This has been wild speculation corner.
DDJ showed some good things in spots just as Walton did as a sophomore and am surprised he is leaving.
Is the Brown kid still in play?
No need to be racist.
I'm not sure which Brown kid you're talking about. If it's Greg Brown, I believe he announces tomorrow, but it is highly unlikely he commits to us over Kentucky, Texas, or Memphis. Plus, Brown is a forward and wouldn't really help the guard situation.
Michigan really needs Christopher to commit. Getting Aiken in addition to Christopher would be icing on the cake...But a back-court of Brooks, Christopher, and Jackson probably suffices.
Are we sure we even want this kid? He's a 35% three point shooter who only averages 2.7 assists per game against Ivy League competition.
For context, Derrick Walton put up 40% and 3.9 assists against much stiffer competition. I have a hard time seeing Aiken playing any more of a role on our team than Jaaron Simmons did.
Yes we want this kid....look at our guard position as it stands right now.
We have Eli Brooks and Zeb Jackson signed for next year and that's it. If we don't get Christopher, then this transfer is even more important. He may not be the best player in the world, but we need guards.
EDIT: I'm also not considering preferred walk-on Brandon Wade a legit option in the rotation next year either.
Brice Aiken isn't a normal Ivy Level recruit. He is a former top 100 recruit that Michigan recruited out of high school that happened to go to Harvard.
Quit being a box score fan.
The big difference in 3pt% is that 44.9% of Walton's attempts were assisted, compared to just 15.4% for Aiken. Walton had a lot of help, Aiken had to create everything himself and still managed to put up decent numbers.
Here he is dropping 30 on Maryland:
Actually, that is not true. Aikens' classmate Chris Lewis -- son of Mo Lewis -- was ranked higher as a recruit.
Their recruiting class, which also featured Seth Towns, and Christian Juzang -- Johnny Juzang's brother -- was ranked No. 10 in the nation, NCAA Division I Basketball.