MBB Recruiting: 2015 3* C Levi Cook
Per Chris Balas of TheWolverine.com on Twitter, Michigan may be close to making a very surpirsing offer to 2015 3* center Levi Cook, a 6'10" 300 pounder out of Huntington Prep. Apparently Michigan has asked for his transcripts and he thinks an offer is on its way assuming his grades look good.
He is a very big boy, but he has great feet and soft hands. Taking a peek at his highlight video, he can get off the floor pretty well for a guy his size, too. With his quick feet and wide frame, I think he'd be a good feature in the high pick and roll game.
I think some fans may wonder why (assuming an offer comes through) Beilein would offer a 2015 center with Donnal and Doyle both with 3 years left after this year? I think there are three possibilities: (1) Beilein is viewing Donnal as a 4 year guy regardless of redshirt, (2) Beilein would like to play Donnal more at the 4 in the future, or (3) there is a transfer coming from one of the bigs (Donnal/Doyle/Wilson).
And just in case anyone was wondering - Oliver Miller (6'9", 315 pounds), who played for the Pistons in the mid-90's, was playing professional basketball up until 2010!!
January 27th, 2015 at 11:58 AM ^
I'm no basketball guru, but I think this is a good thing. Let's face it: we have no one on our roster right now that is a natural center. We have undersized power forwards trying to play center. In a conference as physical as the Big Ten, that's not a recipe for success. And the result has been obvious: getting absolutely mauled on the boards. Giving away a lot of second chance points.
Again, I'm no expert. But if I'm Beilein, after what I've seen over the past couple months as far as our inside game goes, I don't want to wait around another year watching us get out-muscled every night. I know we've got Teske in the fold, but its a long time until he shows up on campus.
I'll happily take a 6'10, 300 lb kid right now, if Beilein thinks he'd be a good fit. We need a force inside.
January 27th, 2015 at 12:00 PM ^
John Beilein has been successful BECAUSE he has gone with different personnel, not in spite of it. He has - very intentionally - valued speed and shooting and passing over size at every position. But it seems like people here mostly want us to look like MSU or a 1990s NBA team. I don't get it.
To me it's like an OSU fan arguing that urban meyer needs to grab a pro-style QB who can sit in the pocket.
January 27th, 2015 at 12:09 PM ^
This is one of the most interesting offers I can remember. There are a number of possible explanation ranging from "well yeah" to "OMG this is crazy."
The simplest is this: Donnal is not good and they view him as a Bielfeldt/McLimans end-of-the-bench role player.
The next level concern: Wilson is not showing enough in practice and/or his injury is more serious than we expected and they aren't counting on him anymore.
Transfer: Seems like a weird time for it, but maybe there are off-court issues we don't know about.
Change in philosophy: Maybe they're tired of trying to be faster and more-skilled than their opposition and feel ready to go toe-to-toe with the rest of the conference. Go with Wilson/Donnal at the 4, Chatman/Dawkins at the 3, etc. This would be an alarming change in course for the program. I'm not going to buy into this concept until we see it. So far Beilein has perfered playing small at every turn, even when he had a wealth of bigs (McGary, Horford, Morgan) he preferred keeping them on the bench in favor of playing freshman and defensive-liability shooters.
January 27th, 2015 at 12:13 PM ^
It's just a realization that having a sound big man in the middle is critical for this team to employ it's 4 out / 1 in strategy. There is nothing wrong with taking a true big or one who can slide their in a pinch in every class. Doyle-Cook-Teske make sense in consecutive classes, especially if you supplement with some hybrid 4/5s like Wilson.
I do think they see the writing on the wall with Donnal. As the OP said, he may not be back for year 5, though obviously it is far too early to say.
January 27th, 2015 at 1:18 PM ^
This offer doesn’t surprise me at all and shouldn’t be read into at all. Wilson is a 4. Let’s not get things twisted, he was only playing the 5 this year because we have no quality options with experience. Wilson is not even close to being a 5. Even though he is 6’9, he is rail thin and the best parts of his game are not close to the basket. If you go back to his hello post, it says he is the perfect stretch 4 for Beilien’s system. Also in the future I see Donnal as being a 4/5 combo guy. Meaning a guy that can play either position depending on the needs of the team and possibly the matchups that are presented.
Next year Beilfeldt is gone which just leaves Doyle as the only “true” center in my eyes. So if there is some foul problems and/or injury situation next year then that would put us in a real big bind. Why not get another center into add some depth and allow Wilson to concentrate on his Natural position? Even with Teske coming in 2016, this is a smart move. 3 true centers is really not that many. Think about the last 2 years, we had 3 true centers in Mcgary, Horford, and Morgan. That depth was great because it gave McGary time to develop his freshman year, and then his sophomore year he got hurt and we still went to the Elite 8 due to the depth we had.
January 27th, 2015 at 1:18 PM ^
This offer doesn’t surprise me at all and shouldn’t be read into at all. Wilson is a 4. Let’s not get things twisted, he was only playing the 5 this year because we have no quality options with experience. Wilson is not even close to being a 5. Even though he is 6’9, he is rail thin and the best parts of his game are not close to the basket. If you go back to his hello post, it says he is the perfect stretch 4 for Beilien’s system. Also in the future I see Donnal as being a 4/5 combo guy. Meaning a guy that can play either position depending on the needs of the team and possibly the matchups that are presented.
Next year Beilfeldt is gone which just leaves Doyle as the only “true” center in my eyes. So if there is some foul problems and/or injury situation next year then that would put us in a real big bind. Why not get another center into add some depth and allow Wilson to concentrate on his Natural position? Even with Teske coming in 2016, this is a smart move. 3 true centers is really not that many. Think about the last 2 years, we had 3 true centers in Mcgary, Horford, and Morgan. That depth was great because it gave McGary time to develop his freshman year, and then his sophomore year he got hurt and we still went to the Elite 8 due to the depth we had.
January 27th, 2015 at 3:48 PM ^
Our options at the 5 (Donnal, Doyle, Bielfeldt) are better than our options at the 4 (Chatman, Dawkins), unless you lump Irvin there. We have no idea if Wilson has played the 4 and Beilein has indicated that he can not, at least so far. And if you DO include Irvin there then you have to acknowledge that Wilson doesn't bring anything close to that skillset.
Morgan, McGary, Horford -- these guys aren't "true" centers either. They are all power forwards. Wilson's size is comparable to Horfords at the same age.
We didn't make the elite 8 because of depth, we made it because of elite talent and a small-ball lineup that created matchup problems for conventional teams and could also hang with small teams on skill.
January 27th, 2015 at 12:46 PM ^
January 27th, 2015 at 2:09 PM ^
Not unless it is to a 1-AA school. He already used his redshirt, transferring would give him only one more year of basketball.
January 28th, 2015 at 1:09 AM ^
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January 27th, 2015 at 12:51 PM ^
Don't over think this. It doesn't say anything about the current guys. There will be plenty of room for Teske, too.
January 27th, 2015 at 12:52 PM ^
January 27th, 2015 at 1:48 PM ^
Are we talking Robert Traylor or Maurice Taylor with 60 extra pounds?
Wait, those are probably the same thing.
Let me try again...
Are we talkng Robert Traylor but taller, or Mitch McGary with 40 extra pounds?
January 27th, 2015 at 2:11 PM ^
Maybe Beilein just doesn't want to find himself in the same position as this year with only one true center and having to use two other guys that he recruited as 4s to play center. With Cook, we would have 3 true centers that are a year apart. Plus you still have Wilson and Donnal that can fill in for a few minutes if needed.
We could have lineups next year with Doyle/Wilson/Chatman and/or Cook/Donnal/Robinson. That is some serious height and still offers good outside shooting.