MBB: 2016 5-star PF T.J. Leaf no longer considering Michigan
T.J. Leaf released a final eight of Kentucky, Kansas, UCLA, Texas, Cal, San Diego State, Gonzaga, and Indiana.
http://www.scout.com/college/basketball/recruiting/story/1572223-five-s…
Here are some red pandas if you're feeling bad about this:
August 10th, 2015 at 9:58 AM ^
August 10th, 2015 at 10:39 AM ^
San Diego State is in there?? What the flying fuck?
August 10th, 2015 at 11:31 AM ^
I heard their coach has a history of his players accepting impermissible benefits.
August 10th, 2015 at 3:47 PM ^
too soon.
August 10th, 2015 at 12:07 PM ^
They are in there because it's close to home.
August 10th, 2015 at 12:26 PM ^
might be close to home, but that doesn't mean I'd ever go to that shithole... /s
Guess I wasn't super aware of this guy before - just saw the SDSU as an outlier and freaked out. I'll quit drinking and go back to bed.
August 10th, 2015 at 11:10 AM ^
Meh at least we have cute firefoxes to comfort us. Thanks OP!
August 10th, 2015 at 1:05 PM ^
He is considering playing in Israel this year. My guess is that it's a de facto "bidding war" between an Israel pro team, UK, UCLA and Kansas. Kids who are considering going overseaas to play professionally aren't going to play for a clean program.
I am so fucking tired of the current shamateurism model in the NCAA.
August 10th, 2015 at 10:01 AM ^
Bummer
August 10th, 2015 at 11:21 AM ^
Yeah, as I would have sworn those were red raccoons. Nevertheless, they are un-bear-ably cute.
August 10th, 2015 at 10:02 AM ^
Well that was quick.
August 10th, 2015 at 10:02 AM ^
This is disappointing but he was a long shot at best. Losing out on Brown, Battle, and Langford were much more dissappointing because it sounds like we were the leaders at some point depending on who you believe. Either way, I'm on football mode now. I'm hoping we get some practice reports soon.
August 10th, 2015 at 12:14 PM ^
Or at least MIchigan was firmly in his top 2-3. Michigan put in some effort on Leaf and prioritized him very early on. The sudden commit to Arizona was probably a bigger surprise than Brown - who always felt like a longshot until the very end and who Michigan only pursued much later in the '15 cycle.
As this point though, it's not a big deal because Michigan added Wagner instead. Beyond that, depth seems to have solidified with Robinson, Chatman, and Wilson all developing and Bridges is at least on the table as a possible option.
Adding Leaf at this point, with guard need being so heavy doesn't make sense.
August 10th, 2015 at 10:03 AM ^
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August 10th, 2015 at 10:06 AM ^
I thought we always finished 2nd
August 10th, 2015 at 10:21 AM ^
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August 10th, 2015 at 1:20 PM ^
August 10th, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^
I can understand choosing to play basketball at schools like Kentucky, and Kansas over Michigan, but what does Indiana provide that Michigan can't?
August 10th, 2015 at 10:29 AM ^
Maybe their chicks are hotter as well. I don't know.
August 10th, 2015 at 10:40 AM ^
is on his list. Crean is an absolute creep who makes Calipari look like Mr. Wonderful. Why would someone who could pick any school he wants go there and play for him? Whatever. We long since had no chance getting him here. I just hope he picks one of the other non-IU schools.
August 10th, 2015 at 5:00 PM ^
My..ah...didas
August 10th, 2015 at 11:59 AM ^
Michigan isn't far from Kentucky, but Indiana has it beat by many many miles.
August 10th, 2015 at 10:23 AM ^
Apparently, Beilein or someone from Michigan expressed to the Leaf family that they were going in a different direction. That tidbit comes from a basketball recruiting round up on Rivals. I imagine that means that they aren't recruiting for the PF position, and/or they aren't interested in getting involved with a guy who has already decommitted once. It's also possible that they inquired about his timeline and didn't like the sound of it.
August 10th, 2015 at 10:38 AM ^
Yep. Plus, with regard to roster composition, the 4 isn't really a position of need right now. Outside of the obvious need at PG, Michigan needs an elite scorer who can play the 2 and the 3.
August 10th, 2015 at 11:44 AM ^
To add to what you said. According to Rivals, Beilein is getting tired of spending time recruiting these highly recruited kids only to be "burned" by them in the end.
August 10th, 2015 at 10:47 AM ^
but seemed a longshot. Beilein will prevail.
August 10th, 2015 at 11:41 AM ^
It sounds like UCLA is the heavy favorite. No surprise here.
August 10th, 2015 at 11:56 AM ^
But they are wrong. There absolutely is not an animal more adorable than a Red Panda. That's just a fact. You can throw out some other adorable animals, that's fine, but it won't surpass the Red Panda.
August 10th, 2015 at 12:00 PM ^
August 10th, 2015 at 12:06 PM ^
He supposedly had a good rapport with the staff.
August 10th, 2015 at 12:06 PM ^
August 10th, 2015 at 1:14 PM ^
So the "Beilein not interested" rumor may be true.
However, I saw an article about T.J. Leaf very recently where he talked about wanting to go somewhere where the coach just lets the players play.
John Beilein is a system coach. It's a very good system, but you have to play within the system to do well. That is why Nik excelled -- the system emphasizes three-point shooting, being a good ball handler, and being a good passer. Nik was obviously great at the first while being pretty good at the latter two.
If Leaf wants a more open-style, that's not Michigan.
August 10th, 2015 at 2:12 PM ^
Beilein's style isn't hard to sell for a guard but for Forward's it can be. The good thing is that Beilein absolutely WILL want his forwards to shoot 3s if they're able. If you're a taller forward who doesn't want to be banging in the post all day and instead would rather play more like a wing -- Beilein's system may appeal to you. If you want post touches - probably best to look elsewhere.
August 10th, 2015 at 2:53 PM ^
August 10th, 2015 at 4:32 PM ^
Lovely
August 10th, 2015 at 6:27 PM ^
It's all about securing a 3 and 1(/2). It's a bummer we didn't land any media momentum, but the actual roster needs are still open for the 5/4-star leans.