MBB Recruiting: 2015 Wing Nicola Akele
The usual basketball roster juggling act will begin in a few weeks and it looks like Beilein is out scrounging for more under-the-radar talent should Caris LeVert decide to make the jump to the NBA. As reported by Chris Balas at TheWolverine.com, Beilein recently went to see 2015 Italian wing Nicola Akele. The 6'7" international is currently playing at IMG Academy under former Beilein assistant John Mahoney. Hard to tell much about Akele's game from the limited video, but he's apparently a good shooter and looks decently athletic. He's got freshman-year Caris LeVert size, though, so he'll need to eat like an American for a year or two to pack on some pounds. Video here.
There will be at least one open roster spot even if Caris doesn't leave due to the departure of Max Beilfeldt, and there may be a second if Austin Hatch is medicaled (although that doesn't seem like it's in the works and I hope it's not...I'd like to see Austin keep playing). So, there could be up to three open spots for 2015, plus any unexpected attrition. However, the staff seems intent on banking at least a spot or two in hopes of making a massive haul in the 2016 class (4* Cassius Winston, 5* Tyus Battle, 5* Josh Langford, and current commit and 3/4* Jon Teske).
February 20th, 2015 at 9:12 AM ^
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February 20th, 2015 at 9:15 AM ^
Not an NCAA violation to eat for free since when you're eating at Olive Garden, you're family.
Also, I used to work at the Olive Garden near campus. Not gonna lie, I love the chicken scampi with unlimited salad and breadsticks.
February 20th, 2015 at 9:53 AM ^
If you have kids and they like shrimp, go to Olive Garden. The kids meal shrimp plate is massive and cheap.
THE MORE YOU KNOW
February 20th, 2015 at 10:13 AM ^
Somebody tell my dad and get me a time machine, stat!
February 20th, 2015 at 11:04 AM ^
I liked Katy Perry's halftime show too. :)
February 20th, 2015 at 10:36 AM ^
the olive garden on state street is always hoppin', man. i don't get it. i mean, it's ok food, but i feel like any time i've tried to go there it's like at least an hour wait.
February 20th, 2015 at 11:51 AM ^
People who love olive garden, and you
February 20th, 2015 at 9:17 AM ^
Do we know what's up with Seth Towns (2016 SF)? For awhile it seemed like his addition was inevitable, though I'm not sure if the OSU offer changed that (Towns is from Columbus). Suddenly, Towns is really highly rated... #56 in the country to ESPN and #60 in the country according to the 247 Composite.
February 20th, 2015 at 9:21 AM ^
He likes OSU alot. It's a battle b/w us and them. The longer it goes on, the better for us IMO.
February 20th, 2015 at 9:35 AM ^
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February 20th, 2015 at 9:46 AM ^
Sure it does. Any college athlete that is giving serious consideration to Harvard places some sort of premium on academics. The longer a diehard fan of any school goes without pledging the better. Look at how many "diehard" Michigan fans are playing football for someone else.
February 20th, 2015 at 10:09 AM ^
I've never been a big fan of Towns, but I should probably change my mind on that. He's putting up some big numbers this season and Northland plays some good competition, too. He reminds me a bit of Trevon Bluiett - won't wow you athletically and not great at any one thing but pretty good at almost all facets of the game. Both of them have a mature, old man game to me. Bluiett has had a solid freshman year at Xavier and I could see Towns doing the same.
February 20th, 2015 at 9:29 AM ^
He's not a player that would help right away IMO. If you could guarantee we get a couple of Battle/Langford type guys, then I'd take him because we'll need support players for those guys. Looks like he's just a shooter to me. I'd like another guy that can penetrate if we're gonna take a 2015 recruit, especially if Caris leaves. We get bogged down because MAAR and Walton are the only guys that can consistently get past the defensive perimeter. And because of that, less open shots for our shooters.
February 20th, 2015 at 9:40 AM ^
We need a big man. A true center/ PF. No one right now fits that Doyle might be able to turn into that but We have a million wings.
February 20th, 2015 at 9:54 AM ^
February 20th, 2015 at 9:56 AM ^
I'm with you. Are there not any italians who are 6'9 who jump out of the gym with a freshman body more like Gavin Shilling and less like DJ Wilson? We need an athletic 5/4 who is ready to come in and protect the rim immediately. And block shots. And rebound. I dont care if he shoots 10%.
February 20th, 2015 at 12:09 PM ^
MSU had a slew of those guys
February 20th, 2015 at 9:57 AM ^
Problem is that true big men don't grow on trees. There is not alot of good big men coaching at the high school/AAU level, so they almost all come in raw and needing lots of skill development. The elite ones get snatched up by the blue bloods. If we want a big man, we better go for a 5th year transfer over a recruit at this stage. The remaining top big men are all top 30/40 players that we have next to no shot at - Thon Maker, Diamond Stone, Stephen Zimmerman, Caleb Swanigan and Thomas Bryant.
February 20th, 2015 at 10:30 AM ^
February 20th, 2015 at 10:40 AM ^
We have DWJr for 2 more years, and Rawk, who looks like a solid contributor, for 3 more years. Plus, they're gunning for Cassius Winston in 2016 and I think there's a good chance they get him. PG is not a position of need.
Neither is C. There's a log-jam at the 5 right now and they're all young guys who will presumably improve. After next year, once playing time shakes out into a reasonably predictable pattern, I'd expect to see some attrition from the guy(s) who aren't getting much run.
What this team really needs is a dynamic scorer at the 2, 3, or 4 position, someone who can put the ball on the floor and punish a team for overplaying on D on the outside. LeVert can do that, but it'd be great to get someone else who can do it as well. I think Jaylen Brown would kill it in that role, but that's got like a .01% chance of happening. I think the staff realizes this and that's why they're going so hard after Langford and Battle because those two can also play that role.
February 20th, 2015 at 11:43 AM ^
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February 20th, 2015 at 11:20 AM ^
Where did I say I'd take a raw wing over a big man? By your initial comment, I assumed you wanted to take a big so they could contribute immediately, which is not going to happen unless it's a 5th year. We've got Doyle, who is going to be pretty good IMO. Donnal is someone I'm on the fence on. Wilson could be ok, but we really have no idea since he hasn't played at all. Teske is coming in 2016 and he's going to take a year or two. I'm not opposed to taking a big man in 2015 at all. But if we take one, he's probably gonna be of the RS variety, not a "true big man" that can come in right away and contribute significantly. Courtney Sims is the only big we've taken in the last 15 years that has been able to come in and play right away, and that was really only on the defensive end. Well, Mitch too.
February 20th, 2015 at 11:55 AM ^
February 20th, 2015 at 12:42 PM ^
JB must land one of those stud point guards he's in on for 2016. that is job #1. walton will be a SR. next, is one of those combo scorers, especially if he can play above the rim.
February 20th, 2015 at 12:10 PM ^
February 20th, 2015 at 9:49 AM ^
what does it mean to have Austin medicaled? Is that a medical redshirt? Sorry, I'm not familiar with what the process is. Are there pros/cons?
February 20th, 2015 at 9:59 AM ^
Basically Austin gets to keep his scholarship but his scholarship doesn't count against the team scholarship limit and he can't play any more. You see it more in football where guys like Saban have half a dozen kids medicaled every year to create attrition to make roster room after the oversign.
February 20th, 2015 at 9:57 AM ^
Medicaled is referring to having players take a medical hardship, i.e., they can no longer play, and their scholarship is available to another player. Like the dozen of OSU players who have received medicial hardships since Meyer took over.
The upside is another scholarship opens up, the downside is the player like Hatch cannot play basketball again for Michigan.
February 20th, 2015 at 10:05 AM ^
February 20th, 2015 at 10:26 AM ^
February 20th, 2015 at 12:08 PM ^
It's hard to perform at a D1 level in the first place. Expecting him to continue his exponential recovery would indeed be a miracle. So this is the most likely scenario, in my opinion.
February 20th, 2015 at 12:44 PM ^
i think he has 2015 to see if he can improve. if not, i see a medical. he can help the team out like ben cronin did a few years back.
February 20th, 2015 at 10:00 AM ^
http://gu.com/p/46xea/stw
February 20th, 2015 at 10:13 AM ^
February 20th, 2015 at 10:43 AM ^
February 20th, 2015 at 11:01 AM ^
I am guessing the whole I won't offer you until you come to campus is a problem for European players.
February 20th, 2015 at 11:27 AM ^
February 20th, 2015 at 12:47 PM ^
there may be academic issues as well. he tried to get that german kid (benzig), but UM/NCAA said he didn't qualify academically.
February 20th, 2015 at 1:28 PM ^
February 20th, 2015 at 2:44 PM ^
We've seen enough of that kind of play this year. The team needs athletic freaks that are mean as hell.
February 20th, 2015 at 11:54 AM ^
February 20th, 2015 at 12:32 PM ^
I don't understand this at all. Why does it seem like Beilien waits until the end of the season to recruit lately. Is he now adverse to taking Top 100 guys? I'll give Beilien all the credit in the world for being able to coach up guys like this into servicable role players. That said, he's not winning the B1G or making a deep run into the tournament (or maybe not even making the tournament) with these guys that no one else wants that we pick up late. I really don't get this. We were just in the Final F-ing Game TWO SEASONS ago and all he get out of recruiting is guys like this??? I honestly want John to work out for Michigan but basketball requires serious recruits. We made our run in the tournament with Top 100 guys like Trey Burke and Mitch McGarry and GRIII. Those guys may not have been McDonalds All-Americans but they also were not these late signee types. I want JB to work out for us because I do believe he's a great coach but if he doesn't pick up the recruiting I don't see this ending well.
February 20th, 2015 at 12:40 PM ^
JB was recruiting 2015 guys like Swanigan, Ahrens, McQuiad and others as recently as the late fall.
At the beginning of the year, it looked like we would bank any 15 schollies available for the 16 class, in which we looked good on for a few top prospects. Now the season went fairly horribly and maybe JB has a better idea of what he wants from the 15 class. Trouble is, it's too late to get in on the top guys. So we're gonna have to go under the radar. So I doubt that JB only just started talking to 2015 recruits. But because we're going after guys off the national radar, not many recruitniks are going to pick up on who we are going after.
And for all the clamoring about recruiting better players, Walton, Irvin and Donnal were all top 150 guys. Chatman was a top 30 recruit, Wilson was a top 150 guys as well. We went after other top rated guys as well. We were the favorites for Booker and Bluiett, but they opted elsewhere. In 15, we were believed to be one of the probable landing spots for Kennard until the blue bloods popped in late. We look good for some top 16 kids, and getting Jaylen Brown in is a big deal, even if we have miniscule chance of landing him.
February 20th, 2015 at 12:54 PM ^
I'm with ya man, which is why I don't understand why everyone is so sure we'll be ok. This is how recruiting is going for us lately and this year has shown that, no matter how good of a coach we have, we won't make the tournament if he doesn't bring in the talent.
February 20th, 2015 at 1:09 PM ^
It isnt like this roster is talent deprived. But look what we lost from last season. Im not even going to discuss Stauskas & GRIII as most of us believed they were gone. McGary and Horford were much bigger surprises. So all of our front court experience is gone to start the season. Then our two best current players have been hurt. Walton was injured and struggling through it the entire season before getting shut down. Caris barely saw B1G action. This season has been the perfect storm of bad luck. Even then, this team is still playing tough against a lot more experienced squads.
It just seems people are so down on M hoops and the talent level. I think the future looks bright with the way all of these kids are playing. Call me an optimist but I happen to think Caris doesnt want to leave college like this. A healthy comeback year could most certainly elevate his draft stock for '16 as well. Beilein will hit on a big recruit or two in '16 and likely find another guy he develops into a solid player.
Michigan basketball is fine.
February 20th, 2015 at 1:34 PM ^
I wish I had your optimism. The only unexpected loss IMO was Horford. Everyone knew Stauskas was gone, and GR3 and McGary were seriously considering the NBA after the freshmen years so it always seemed unlikely they would stick around past their sophomore years.
Frankly, 7 of the team's 13 losses came with a complete lineup. Sure Walton may have been playing through injury for the majority of the year but that still doesn't explain losing to teams like NJIT and Eastern, and they should've also beaten SMU at home. So I don't see how that equates to this "high ceiling" that everyone is referring to for next year. Our prized recruit has been nothing short of abysmal, our 2nd highest recruit has been injured and also looked completely lost when he was on the court. MAAR and Dawkins are solid but they were unrated recruits for a reason and I'd be shocked if they amounted to anything more than good role players.
And as far as recruiting, the "hitting on a big recruit or two in '16" is what has me concerned. Beilein has such a limited track record of hitting on those recruits, especially this past year when he should've been reaping the rewards of his NCG and Elite 8 runs. The recruiting and player development have taken a huge step back this year.
February 20th, 2015 at 3:55 PM ^
The high ceiling may not even be for next year. But these kids are all freshman. None of them are likely going to the NBA early. Three of them have shown an array of tools to work with as true freshman thrust into action. I have no doubts that MAAR and Dawkins will be more than role players as upper classmen; same with Doyle. Wllson has been hurt and Chatman has underperformed, but they have a LOT of time to right that ship.
Im really not too overly concerned with recruiting. Everyone around here seems to forget the amount of top 100 talent Beilein has brought in. We arent going to get a lot of 1 and dones and that is fine. Wisconsin, for example, isnt reloading with McD's All Americans every year. I think Sam Dekker might be the only player on their roster rated with more than 3 stars. Beilein will get kids who fit this system well. Hell hit the occassional homerun with a high 4* low 5* type player to balance out the kids he coaches up.
No, we arent going 27-0 anytime soon. But man, it isnt like the program is dieing. Were one of the absolute youngest squads in the country. It is Spike, Irvin plus freshman out there and for the most part we have still been competitive. Beilein has gotten it done in past years with less talent than we currently have now. The sky is not falling. A couple kids who can play will commit here in 16. The kids we have now will get older, bigger, faster, better. Outside of the Buckeyes no one else in the B1G is killing it on the recruiting trail anyway; so were far from being left in the dust.
But seriously man, were going to be fine. If anyones expectations were Elite 8 or further every season they needed to be tempered anyway. Because that isnt happening. That doesnt even happen to the 'elite' schools who bring in 5* year in year out. Quick wave to the kings of early tourney bust outs the Duke Blue Devils. Looking crosstown from them at the Tarheels who bring in top level talent every year and have had middling success recently.
February 20th, 2015 at 4:53 PM ^
picture wisconsin w/o kaminski and dekker this year. those guys were projected into similar draft slots as stauskus and mcgary this past year.
w/o those two guys wisky is in a similar spot as us right now; two guys unexpectedly jumping to the nba. you can't start recruiting elite guys in Feb/Mar once you think you may get early departures. we aren't kentucky banking on 4-5 guys jumping.
chatman and wilson (both top 100) guys were recruited to replace GRIII and McGary; the guys thought to be leaving early. doyle was recruited to replace morgan.
but then stauskus and horford left JB in a bit of a bind; hence the last minute signings of dawkins and maar. nobody on the planet thought stauskus was a flight risk until maybe feb/mar.