Michigan BBall looking at Transfer Guard Daron “Fatts” Russell
He’s a 5’ 11” 165lb Guard at Rhode Island and was a preseason Naismith Award watch list. Averaged 14.7 PPG, 4.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.9 steals per game.
Not necessarily that Michigan will land him but notable to see who Michigan is looking at in the transfer portal and how the roster is shaping up to be next year. May indicate who is likely to come back and who is likely to move on.
March 18th, 2021 at 12:35 PM ^
Anyone named Fatts is a highest priority recruit
March 18th, 2021 at 12:46 PM ^
I'd like to first see how he stacks up against Snacks, the Jackson State manager from a year or two ago, that guy was fire.
Should be for Minnesota at least.
March 18th, 2021 at 12:37 PM ^
Might be indicative of Smith's plans. I'd rather have Smith back, frankly, although this guy could be seen as a replacement for Brooks.
March 18th, 2021 at 12:47 PM ^
Agreed. Fatts is a fun player and can get buckets, but is not, and I repeat is not, a good 3 point shooter. 5'10 and shot 23% from 3 this year (28% for this career) at a large sample size of 5 3s a game.
He takes a lot of step back 3s, contested 3s and off the dribble 3s at URI. The silver lining is he is a solid FT shooter.
March 18th, 2021 at 12:43 PM ^
We need Fatts to counter Rocket Watts.
March 18th, 2021 at 12:52 PM ^
I thought Dan Gilbert made him change his name to Rocket Mortgage.
Maybe Fatts could get sponsored by Dominos Pizza?
March 18th, 2021 at 12:50 PM ^
Minnesota is not in play?
March 18th, 2021 at 12:54 PM ^
Beat me to the punch.
March 18th, 2021 at 12:52 PM ^
He would seem a natural fit at Minnesota.
March 18th, 2021 at 12:54 PM ^
Can he play in our Sweet 16 game?
The Law of Nicknames:
Anyone named Fatts is skinny
Anyone named Tiny is huge
Anyone named Einstein is stupid
Anyone named Cassanova sucks with women
When I played football there was another guy with the same name as me, but I'm 6'2 and he was maybe 5 foot flat. His prefix was "Big ___" and I was "Little ____"
Dick?
I go by Richard now. Tutti fruity.
Anyone named FauxMo a real Mo
FauxMo is a mofo fo real.
Penn State is probably fairly desperate considering their situation
Have watched Fatts quite a bit over the year as a Dayton fan. He is a fairly high usage ball dominating guard that takes his fair share of very bad shots. He’s a nice piece for another P5 but I don’t think fits what Juwan Howard likes to run here.
This is the exact same thing that we said about Mike Smith FWIW. High usage G with low shooting percentage.
Right. The question is does Fatts have high usage and bad stats because his teammates suck and he needs to do everything, a la Smith, or that's just his style.
Does this mean confidence that Zeb is going to come around is waning?
OK, help me out here, what's with the Minnesota joke?
Minnesota Fats was a famous pool player
Played by Jackie Gleason in "The Hustler."
Fascinatingly, all evidence points to the real life "Minnesota Fats" adopting the name ... after the film came out, while claiming it was based on his life (he had previously gone by "Triple-Smart Fats", "New York Fats", "Broadway Fats", and "Chicago Fats," and had never lived in Minnesota.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Wanderone
I know it's a highlight film so they won't look bad, but I'd take this on the roster next year. Especially if he is willing to adapt to a more efficient role.
I see some AI in his game.
Considering he's from Philly, not surprising
Question- Do Seniors who return next year (all eligible due to Covid) count as one of the 13 scholarship spots?
My understanding is "no". Guys staying around for a bonus "covid" year do not count against the 13 scholarship limit. Not sure if transfer grad bonus year players count or not.
Kinda sounds exactly the same as Mike Smith
I'd prefer that Smith stay on, but if not they definitely need a true PG.
5' 11", 165 pound guy, nicknamed "Fatts"?
Do want!!
Someone help me out here. I was under the impression that this was basically a freebie year of eligibility, meaning nobody on the current team has to leave unless they want to go pro, transfer, or are not asked back. Is this incorrect?
If true, between the great recruiting class coming in and already having Smith & Brooks on the roster (two starters on a championship team who have proven to be very valuable pieces), why would we be looking for more bodies? I can't think of a reason we would want to force Smith and/or Brooks out to make room for an unknown. Also can't think of a reason they would want to leave voluntarily.
Definitely not doubting the coaches; just not connecting the dots here.
I've been wondering this too.
If I'm Coach Juwan Howard, I would do my utmost to get Mike Smith, Eli Brooks, Chaundee Brown, and Austin Davis to return. Along with Hunter Dickinson and Brandon Johns, that's the core of a Big Ten RS Championship team. We can count on contributions from the #1 class to make up for Wagner and Livers. But we can have a very stacked team next year that would insulate us from damaging injuries (like the one to Livers).
Perhaps this is Coach Howard and staff being diligent in case a player changes his mind.
I don't see Davis getting many minutes next year. I'd be surprised if he's still on the team. With Johns, Dickinson, and Diabate you should be able to fill all your minutes at the 4 and 5. And I think Houstan is like Livers. He could definitely play the 4 IIRC.
Maybe they want to go pro whether if it's NBA, G-League or overseas. Plus, there's one extra scholarship for Juwan to fill with Franz departure because he's a lock to declare for the draft. Can't have recruiting class full of freshmen. A grad transfer would make sense for Juwan especially at G
I really don't want another PG that can't shoot 3's unless he's going to be dunking on everyone like Iverson instead. X/Z was awesome but he put a ceiling on our offense.
A tiny dude nicknamed "Fatts"? I'm sold.
Smith needs to come back. He's critical.
Need experience in front of Zeb for another year; he hasn't gotten to see the floor enough yet this year