McGary Confirms U-M Official Visit, Other Visits

Submitted by Raoul on

In his first Mitch's Memos blog post for ESPNHS, Mitch McGary outlined his schedule of school visits, including an official visit to Michigan:

At the beginning of September, I’m taking an official to Michigan. After I get back from there, I’ll take an unofficial visit to Kentucky, then Sept. 6-7 I’ll take an official visit to North Carolina. After that I’ll head over to Duke from Sept. 8-10 for an official. I’m gonna watch Duke play Stanford on the football field. Then I’ll head to school on Sept. 11.

McGary just finished up an unofficial visit to Florida:

My visit to Florida went really well. I had them in my top six because of the way Coach [Billy] Donovan develops big men. He did a great job with guys like Joakim Noah, Al Horford, David Lee and Marresse Speights. I researched those guys and they did a lot of things that I do.

I know that Coach Donovan would use me in the same way. I had fun talking with him about basketball and fishing. That’s just another thing we had in common so that was pretty cool.

One note about his visits to UNC and Duke. The Twitter feed for Clint Jackson, an ACC recruiting analyst for Rivals, includes a couple items on McGary, including one indicating that his family will accompany him on both of those visits. Jackson also tweeted this:

Some additional McGary intel -- Marcus Paige is really recruiting him hard for UNC. And it's my opinion that Michigan is doing well here too

Raoul

August 16th, 2011 at 10:21 AM ^

Labor Day isn't until September 5 this year, so it's not that late a start. Plus he goes to a prep school--maybe that has something to do with the start date.

By the way, here in Michigan the travel industry several years ago helped push through a law saying that school can't start until after Labor Day, so none of the public schools start in late August anymore.

triangle_M

August 16th, 2011 at 10:17 AM ^

to pull this guy out of the ACC black hole.  I don't think UNC has another dominant big man after Henson and Zelller leave.  Duke still has the Plumlees and I don't think they are going anywhere.  To me UNC seems like the logical choice.

triangle_M

August 16th, 2011 at 12:09 PM ^

I live in Raleigh and have heard of this guy for months now, I don't know how I missed that.  McAdoo is a one and done by most accounts.  He was debating whether to skip his Sr. year of HS.  Who knows though, they got Marshall to stay for another year - but that had more to do with Kendall's parents than the staff at UNC.

Never

August 16th, 2011 at 12:50 PM ^

I'm assuming you mean "they got Barnes to stay for another year." Barnes is one of those different individuals who is concerned about cementing his legacy; the lure of the NBA wasn't overwhelming for him.

Marshall was never a threat to leave after his freshman year; he didn't start until Drew suddenly left.

I don't think McAdoo is "one and done by most accounts." He was considering reclassifying to enroll at UNC a year earlier, then ultimately decided against it. Most think he needs at least 2 years, considering his size/skillset.

Tarczewski is, from most insiders, leaning HEAVILY towards Kansas, with Arizona apparently making a very impressive push. UNC also just landed 2013 PF Isaiah Hicks last week; they could definitely use McGary. They are probably looking for two bigs out of 2012, with an offer out to Johnson, Woodbury, Tarc, and McGary presently.

At any rate, most scouts continue to mention Michigan's chances here - even scouts that regularly post on UNC's boards - so I hope Michigan fans don't sell themselves short on where they currently sit.

Desmonlon Edwoodson

August 16th, 2011 at 10:16 AM ^

This is hopeful news.  When Beilein was hired, I thought Beilein's schtick was doing more with less.  Now he has Michigan in the running for the elite of the elite.  I guess the sky really IS the limit.

Tater

August 16th, 2011 at 10:36 AM ^

A professional wrestling character is "schitck."  Beilein uses a "method," or any of many words you can find in your thesaurus.  

A lot of Beilein's early critics saw him do more with less because that was all he had to work with and actually turned it into a negative.  That opinion still affects people's image of Beilein. Beilein had a lot of rebuilding to do when he got to Ann Arbor.  It is a credit to him that Michigan is now hitting the final list of elite recruits.

I still contend that we owe a huge debt of gratitude to Manny Harris.  He could have gone anywhere and went to Michigan.  He was the "icebreaker" for this era of Michigan basketball that made elite recruits start to take Michigan seriously again.  

Desmonlon Edwoodson

August 16th, 2011 at 10:56 AM ^

Hoke's schtick is clearly "This is Michigan".  dantonio's is ignoring criminal behavior.  izzo's is being small and angry.  tressel's was cars and cash.  RR's schtick was obviously the spread.  I suppose I would have gone with the word "niche" if I knew Sr. Elizabeth was packing her ruler today...

Blue in Seattle

August 16th, 2011 at 2:10 PM ^

that you don't understand that schtik has negative connotations no matter what recognized definition you are thinking about.  Tagline is a more neutral descriptive to use, just as method is, and I think that is what the reply to your post meant, but here is what the internet dictionaries say about schtik, and it is a negative description of Coach Beilein.  Especially the fourth definition.  On a side note it's interesting to me that this comes from Yiddish for "a little", but thinking about it, it's logical that it's come into mainstream usage from the realm of the comedic performer.

Noun 1. schtik - (Yiddish) a little; a piece; "give him a shtik cake"; "he's a shtik crazy"; "he played a shtik Beethoven"
Yiddish - a dialect of High German including some Hebrew and other words; spoken in Europe as a vernacular by many Jews; written in the Hebrew script
small indefinite amount, small indefinite quantity - an indefinite quantity that is below average size or magnitude
schtickl, schtikl, shtickl, shtikl - a really little shtik; "have a shtikl cake"
  2. schtik - (Yiddish) a contrived and often used bit of business that a performer uses to steal attention; "play it straight with no shtik"
byplay, stage business, business - incidental activity performed by an actor for dramatic effect; "his business with the cane was hilarious"
Yiddish - a dialect of High German including some Hebrew and other words; spoken in Europe as a vernacular by many Jews; written in the Hebrew script
  3. schtik - (Yiddish) a prank or piece of clowning; "his shtik made us laugh"
buffoonery, clowning, harlequinade, japery, prank, frivolity - acting like a clown or buffoon
Yiddish - a dialect of High German including some Hebrew and other words; spoken in Europe as a vernacular by many Jews; written in the Hebrew script
  4. schtik - (Yiddish) a devious trick; a bit of cheating; "how did you ever fall for a shtik like that?"
fast one, trick - a cunning or deceitful action or device; "he played a trick on me"; "he pulled a fast one and got away with it"
Yiddish - a dialect of High German including some Hebrew and other words; spoken in Europe as a vernacular by many Jews; written in the Hebrew script

 

Desmonlon Edwoodson

August 17th, 2011 at 12:31 AM ^

from wikipedia:

In common usage, the word schtick has also come to mean any talent, style, habit, or other eccentricity for which a person is particularly well-known, even if not intended for comedic purposes 

 

also from wikipedia:

pretentious (comparative more pretentious, superlative most pretentious)

  1.  Marked by an unwarranted claim to importance or distinction.

Noleverine

August 16th, 2011 at 11:23 AM ^

any time recently hearing Michigan highly praised in a top group of that caliber. Kid would be a huge "get" and will open the door to a long stint at the top of the Big Ten.

True Blue Grit

August 16th, 2011 at 11:42 AM ^

It sounds as if McGary may be looking to make his decision sooner rather than later  - given how he's fitting in a lot of these visits in a short amount of time.  I would think it will come down to NC, Duke, or Michigan, although after reading the above I may not have given Florida enough credit.  If being closer to where his parents live so they can watch more of his games and academics are big for him, we stand a much better chance.  Certainly, having Novak and Robinson III as friends can't hurt our chances either.  Getting McGary would be the final piece of the puzzle to putting together a championship-calibre team. 

Raoul

August 16th, 2011 at 12:40 PM ^

From what I've read, the visit schedule was deliberately set up so that McGary would be finished with them before he returns to Brewster Academy on September 11. He's given no indication of how quickly he'll make his decision after the visits are done, only that he'll decide before his team's basketball season starts.

McGary has been quoted as saying that "location doesn't matter." I'm sure Michigan will point out the distance from Ann Arbor to his hometown compared to that of the other schools, but I'm very doubtful that will be a deciding factor.

mackbru

August 16th, 2011 at 3:47 PM ^

To land such a great prospect would be great for the program's profile. But he's projected as a likely one-and-done player. The latter is a little worrisome, no? Michigan doesn't want to play the one-and-done game too often, I'm sure. Leave that to Kentucky, OSU, and the other sleazeball "schools."

Raoul

August 16th, 2011 at 7:08 PM ^

The possibility he's a one-and-done player is one reason why I've been skeptical of McGary's recruitment all along. The fact that he'll enter college as a 20-year-old freshman (because he reclassified from the class of 2011 to 2012) just makes him leaving after only a year that much more likely.

But I don't think Beilein has any intention of routinely recruiting one-and-doners. This is from a Flint Journal article from about a year ago:

One and dones: Beilein said he would recruit a one-and-done player under certain circumstances.

“If there is a young man out there that has dreamed of wearing the Maize and Blue his whole life, he's a Michigan guy, he wants to come in and run through those doors to go to Michigan and play,” Beilein said.

“But I don't think we're going to run the race with those guys, unless they really want Michigan.”

M2 in A2

August 16th, 2011 at 4:27 PM ^

As happy as I would be to see McGary come to Michigan I am not a huge fan of players project as one-and-dones. To me this does not do anything to build team chemistry and I hope that he would stick around a little longer.

Raoul

August 17th, 2011 at 7:09 PM ^

Interesting twist on McGary: In an Indiana Rivals item, McGary's AAU coach says it's possible McGary will go straight to the NBA after this school year:

"At this time, we're not going to close the door on any opportunity," his AAU coach, Wayne Brumm said. "That is such a moving target. If you go in the draft and you're wrong, then you lose your NCAA eligibility. It's a very, very tricky and delicate situation. We can't rule it out, but I know it's a very delicate situation."

McGary would be eligible for the 2012 NBA Draft under the current rules because he'll be one year removed from his high school graduation and he'll be at least 19 (he'll actually be 20) at the time of the draft. But a new NBA collective bargaining agreement could change these rules.

Also, instead of making an unofficial visit to Kentucky in early September, McGary plans to make an official visit there in late September.

Blue boy johnson

August 17th, 2011 at 7:18 PM ^

I don't know Wayne Brumm, he may have more integrity than Lloyd Carr, but when I hear an AAU coach say, "We're not going to close the door on an opportunity", regarding a HS player he is coaching, red flags go up.

Raoul

August 17th, 2011 at 7:45 PM ^

I missed that sort of reading of what he said, and I can see your point. But isn't it possible he's using "we" because he's serving as one of McGary's advisers, meaning he feels it's his duty to explore the NBA angle simply as an opportunity for McGary--not directly for himself?

I certainly hope there's nothing fishy going on with Brumm. He's also Glenn Robinson III's AAU coach.

Blue boy johnson

August 17th, 2011 at 8:09 PM ^

Let's hope so, but I have my doubts. McGary's parents seem to be heavily involved, so there's that. I have heard of too many AAU coaches chasing their own dream using kids either directly or indirectly.