jmblue

August 1st, 2011 at 7:24 PM ^

Well, let's not get too carried away.  MSU's senior class has been to two Final Fours.  Ours hasn't yet gotten past the round of 32.  But we are gaining ground on them.  Three years ago we were in this situation with Draymond Green and Izzo swooped in at the last minute and got him.  That's not happening anymore.

PurpleStuff

August 1st, 2011 at 7:33 PM ^

No one said they haven't had a great (probably historic) run or that we haven't been down in the dumps for a long time.  The fact remains that right now, at this moment, the stronger program is in Ann Arbor and the current talent on the respective rosters and this recent recruiting haul makes it all the more likely that that will continue. 

Franz Schubert

August 1st, 2011 at 7:50 PM ^

Right now, UM has a better basketball team than MSU. Its funny how many want to refer to previous seasons as if thats relevent to this seasons results. No one is saying UM has been in MSU class for the last decade or more, but last season and right now UM is better. Thats not pumping chests thats facts based off on court results.

PurpleStuff

August 1st, 2011 at 9:00 PM ^

So I haven't spoken or listened to a State fan/grad say anything in years (they don't exist anywhere else).  If they had said they had the better football team in the spring of 2008 they would have been right (and no one who remembers the spring game on the high school field could honestly argue with them).  If they said it now they would be wrong (in both cases well before results confirm/confirmed the respective state of the two programs).  Either way, nothing any juggalo has to say could ever alter my digestion or my opinion of my alma mater.

ryanoe0610

August 1st, 2011 at 7:12 PM ^

D. Morris getting drafted will most defintely affect this season's team, but man the recruiting benefits that we have gotten because of it makes it more than ok.

ken725

August 1st, 2011 at 7:12 PM ^

Now its time for a blue chip big man to join in on the fun this team is going to have in the coming years.  I'm looking at you Mcgary.

Blue boy johnson

August 1st, 2011 at 7:23 PM ^

I am not familiar with Chandler Park Academy, will this recruit keep the PSL snobs happy?

I would be willing to bet at least 50 of us on this blog have played golf at Chandler Park

Raoul

August 1st, 2011 at 8:10 PM ^

Not sure about the PSL snobs, but out of the three 2013 point guards Beilein offered, I preferred Walton not only because he might very well be the best of the three but also because he's from the Detroit area. I'm still hoping Beilein can land Sherron Dorsey-Walker, which would both make the PSL snobs happy and add another sharpshooter to the roster—and you can't have too many of those in Beilein's system.

marco dane

August 1st, 2011 at 7:35 PM ^

...are falling are simply falling into our laps...welcome to the Michigan Family DWalton...GO BLUE!

Now call Mcgary up and tell him to pull the trigger...

Bb011

August 1st, 2011 at 8:05 PM ^

Holy shit. Our recruiting is turning out to be pretty amazing, if we could somehow sway mcgary we really would have a dominant team for the next few years....

lhglrkwg

August 1st, 2011 at 9:06 PM ^

john beilein rules. his recruiting is nuts. he doesn't even really have to out-recruit people because he already wins the guys over before anyone else figures out what they've been missing out on

althegreat23

August 1st, 2011 at 9:54 PM ^

I think we should let Beilein worry about the numbers. I was skeptical of him at first, but he's he's proven he knows what he's doing. It's an exciting time to be a Michigan fan for all our sports.

HAIL-YEA

August 1st, 2011 at 9:57 PM ^

to myself for a while now that ever since Hoke got hired, alot of UofM sports have had some good fortune. I know this is all Belein and im excited about the talent he has been getting. But i cant get out of my head how the MBB team was struggling badly early..then Hoke gets hired(I bitch and moan while watching that we are ND video over and over) then the bball team sweeps state..hockey team almost wins a NC..recruiting is going better then I would ever have beleived in both sports.  Hoke really does poop gold..

I'm really happy for Belein though, he took over a program that was pretty much the dumpster of the B1G.  It was a rough few years but his hard work is starting to pay off.

Tater

August 1st, 2011 at 10:14 PM ^

Tom Izzo had it too easy for ten years, and it is biting him in the ass now.  The bottom line: John Beilein is outworking Tom Izzo.  

cigol

August 1st, 2011 at 10:25 PM ^

I don't really follow basketball too closely, so this is a legitimate question and not meant to be "flamebait": Why don't we recruit big people? We had 6'4" guys playing down low last season, so I figured that was just a freak thing that occurred and we would be loading up with 6'10" monster beasts.

bacon1431

August 1st, 2011 at 10:39 PM ^

You can look at our roster as a reason why: Morgan, McClimans, Horford, Smotrycz, Christian- all will be sophomores. Bielfeldt is an incoming freshman. We've got Donnal in 2013. And we're recruiting McGary for 2012.

And I imagine we're going to add two bigs in the 2014 class. Just speculation on my part though.

mikecoupon

August 2nd, 2011 at 6:32 AM ^

First and foremost, let me say I'm really happy with the Walton pickup and the strides Coach B is making towards getting the program back to Big Ten and National prominence.

At the same time, let's be realistic.  We are bashing Izzo for his recruiting shortcomings?  Walton was never a Plan A recruit for Izzo.  He has been focused on the likes of Gary Harris, Jabari Parker, James Young, Tyus Jones, and Drake Harris- elite level talent that is top-25 in the nation.  So it's not like we stole this guy from MSU.

I think, to establish superiority in the state of Michigan, the next step is to win a heads-up recruiting battle for an elite national talent with Izzo and MSU (and of course continue the on-court success).  I don't want guys like Gary Harris dismissing UM for MSU just because its Sparty, you know?

Trader Jack

August 2nd, 2011 at 12:18 PM ^

Walton might not have been a "Plan A" recruit for Izzo, but he already took one visit to MSU, was getting pressed hard to take another one (where he more than likely would've received a scholarship offer), & was considered an MSU lock by most recruiting sites. & while he may not be a top 25 guy like those other players you mentioned, he is in the top 100 for Rivals, Scout, & ESPN. So let's not pretend this is someone Izzo wasn't pursuing or didn't care about landing. It's a significant pickup for UM.

Bb011

August 2nd, 2011 at 12:34 PM ^

I beg to differ. While they are going for those guys they also were recruiting Walton. Drake Harris, Tyus jones  are for '14. Not to mention none of gary harris, jabari parker, james young, and drake harris play the point. The only pg that you listed is Tyus Jones and he's not even in the class of 2013. This is most certainly a heads up win. He's a top 100 talent that could end up higher than he already is. According to most sparty's and analysts Walton was spartans #1 pg option this year.

go_blue2013

August 6th, 2011 at 9:14 AM ^

Hey if Walton wasn't Izzo plan A or whateva u r talking about then why did he spend almost the whole entire season coming to Walton high school games. Ok lets be real here like you said, All MSU fans are mad write now because the top elite PG out of MI chose to GO BLUE!!!!!. I really want to know if your kids is are elite players while you downing other people kids because you mad. HAHAHAHa.

GoBlogSparty

August 2nd, 2011 at 1:17 PM ^

Very good get by the UM Coaching staff. Izzo may be kicking himself for not offering early on in the process.

We still have time to land a PG in this class. These kids just completed their sophmore year and probably don't even have their driver's license yet.

Raoul

August 2nd, 2011 at 1:49 PM ^

Your take seems at odds with that of other MSU fans posting on other sites. They're claiming MSU doesn't need to take a 2013 PG, and so Walton isn't an MSU loss.

I agree with your comment on Izzo. If Walton was a player Izzo truly wanted, then his recruiting strategy in this case was an utter failure.

What about Monte Morris? I remember Sam Webb saying he grew up a big MSU fan.

GoBlogSparty

August 2nd, 2011 at 2:16 PM ^

To a certain extent, they may be right.  Right now in the PG pipe, MSU has Wood (Senior), Appling (Soph), Trice (Frosh) and Valentine ('12). I know that Izzo has offered Tyus Jones of 2014, who is an allegedly a long-time state fan. I would be nervous to put all of my eggs in the Tyus Jones basket, so a solid 2013 pickup at PG, such as Walton, could've been great. The staff may ultimately not end up going after any 2013 guards.