Michigan out of running for Cassius Winston

Submitted by ypsituckyboy on

Per his Twitter, he's down to Pitt, Stanford, and MSU. Looks like he tried to push back his timeline a bit and was told we couldn't wait that long since we'd lose out on back-up options if he didn't end up at UM.

TeJon Lucas, come on down.

Rabbit21

September 9th, 2015 at 9:04 AM ^

He turned up the heat when something with Michigan's recruitment went sideways, sounds fairly standard actually and something we'd be begging Beilein to do if the situation was reversed(not that it ever is for some weird reason).  Not sure how that makes him a slimeball.

ijohnb

September 9th, 2015 at 9:38 AM ^

is our recruiting going sideways?  We have the facilities, the rep, a gazillion dollar Jumpman deal and play in the premiere conference in the country.  Why is this staff not closing on these kids?  Beilien may be my favorite coach in any sport in the history of sport, but this is getting very troublesome from a long-term program building perspective.

PANIC!!!!!!  Not quite, but it is certainly a thang that makes you go hmmm.

In reply to by ijohnb

Bob The Wonder Dog

September 9th, 2015 at 10:52 AM ^

than in football. The main selling point we have (an education from a top-tier university) doesn't go so far when a player doesn't plan on spending more than a couple of years in school. 

Blue_sophie

September 9th, 2015 at 11:44 AM ^

As far as basketball goes Kentucky is like the 1-year accelerated Stanford MBA (not a real thing). In 8 months, many of their student athletes are fully prepared to get drafted and contribute in their chosen profession. That is the gold standard for these young men; at least those who are good enough at age 17 to start penciling their name onto NBA rosters.

Our only recruit at that level was Mitch, and he is a weirdo snake god who was regularly injured and got in trouble for smoking weed. He is possibly my favorite Michigan basketball player, but in no way was his time at Michigan a template for professional education. Also, our other first round picks are considered busts (which is unfair IMHO, but it is the consensus of the NBA analysts).

So I think there is some sense in focusing on Beilein's greatest asset as an educator: maximizing the talent of late-blooming players. It's a good model, and it means we can keep kids around for more than a year or two and still put them into the NBA. Throw in the occasional snake God weirdo 5* and we have a good formula for sustained success and occasional greatness.

eth2

September 9th, 2015 at 8:43 AM ^

I want players who want to play for Michigan. This kid had every chance to commit long ago. When recruits stretch things out, especially with so many other schools involves, it most often does not work out.




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lilpenny1316

September 9th, 2015 at 9:23 AM ^

Our football team has a not-so-good backup QB and his biggest asset right now is that he wanted to play for Michigan.  We have guys who've committed to us because their top school did not offer them or have space for them and we benefitted greatly.  As long as the kids we bring in are good, they will eventually love the campus. 

ak47

September 9th, 2015 at 9:26 AM ^

Yeah it really sucked when we got that mitch mcgary guy after a long a recruitment.  The top recruits take their time.  Beilein is overreacting to Battle and now Winston will almost certainly wind up at MSU.  There is no other way to look at 2016 as something other than a failure of recruiting.

Trader Jack

September 9th, 2015 at 11:30 AM ^

Is this a joke? Sure there is. We're going to end up with 4 or 5 solid prospects that Beilein will develop into excellent college players, like he always does. And we'll keep winning, like Beilein always does. You're acting like Winston was some program altering recruit just because he's ranked high without, I'm assuming, even knowing much about his game. There are many people (including me, and apparently the coaching staff) who like guys like Aiken and Lucas just as much or more. We'll land someone like that, Beilein will turn them into a good player, and we'll be fine. Chill out.




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MGlobules

September 9th, 2015 at 10:44 AM ^

want good players who also want to be here, kids intent on being students, too. One of the reasons Beilein's teams excel is because he has intelligent players thriving in his system. Not a knock on the OP, but it is curious to me that some people continually criticize the NBA and its prima donna superstars but then turn and fail to appreciate the team play we have.

Laser Wolf

September 9th, 2015 at 10:55 AM ^

You misunderstood. I also want our players to represent us well in the community and in the classroom. What I disagree with is the idea that recruits must be 100% beholden to Michigan from the drop, and if not then we didn't want them anyway. This is ridiculous. Kids should be allowed to thoroughly vet one of the biggest decisions of their lives and should not be run under the bus if they take their time making said decisions, or even (GASP) end up going somewhere other than Michigan. This is not even close to the character flaw that some people make it out to be. The character flaw is in fans projecting their own expectations onto kids they don't even know or will likely ever meet.

CorkyCole

September 9th, 2015 at 11:42 AM ^

The thing is that there are always more than one option for each kid. Just because they don't choose to come here doesn't mean they wouldn't want to be here if they were to choose UM.

Have you ever had to choose between two girls you liked because it was time to commit to one? They're both good options but ultimately you have to choose one, so you figure out which one you think is the best option and you go with it. I'm not saying we should be all butthurt over not being picked #1 and cry to Momma, but there's a reason Winston was in it this far with us - He really likes what UM has to offer. Maybe it's best we move on now, but you have to live with it knowing that you didn't give the kid the full chance to commit when he was ready to.

And the girl analogy works perfectly because there never is just one. No matter how long you go between girls, two will always show up once one surfaces.

Trader Jack

September 9th, 2015 at 11:26 AM ^

Luckily for you then, we have plenty of good players. Many of which are still young. Look at the roster. It's a bummer to miss on highly-ranked prospects, but one of the best things about Beilein is that he doesn't need all 5 stars to have success. If he was replacing Winston with someone terrible in this class, that would be a problem. But he'll get a solid prospect, develop him into an excellent college player, and the beat will go on. As long as Beilein lands a good prospect, which I have all confidence he'll do, we'll be in very good shape.




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Erik_in_Dayton

September 9th, 2015 at 8:45 AM ^

This means no Bridges too, though landing him was always unlikely.  It also probably means yet another excellent addition to MSU's class in the form of Winston.  You could not have scripted this recruiting season to go worse for Michigan. 

ijohnb

September 9th, 2015 at 10:31 AM ^

not sold on Winston to State.  Narn is going to be there and be a two year starter basically by the time Winston gets there.  And Winston is a "point guard only" kind of player who probably sees himself an immediately starter (Walton may have posed an issue for him in this regard).  Stanford and Pitt both sound very specific picks, not generic awesome program where everybody goes. I would be interested to see the point guard forecast at those two schools.

Lanknows

September 9th, 2015 at 12:26 PM ^

We went from turning away Langford to go for Battle/Winston to, now, fighting for scraps.

That said -- as they did with Watson, Michigan could still land on it's feet. Aiken or Lucas are not bad players. Beilein has proven he can develop talent, but  you still want the Yogi Ferrell, Gary Harris, Glenn Robinson kids. After failing to land all their A-list guys in '14 and '15 this was the year that we fans were pointing to for elite talent. It especially hurts that Winston and Bridges are in-state kids and we HAD a commitment from Battle.  Ouch ouch ouch.

Erik_in_Dayton

September 9th, 2015 at 8:52 AM ^

...I think programs can do more (or at least do more) on official visits than they can on unofficial visits.  I think he wanted to be wooed one more time with everyone's best pitch. 

This strikes me as a case of "not feeling the love" as a result of Michigan not being willing to hitch its wagon to him alone.  I believe MSU told him he's their only PG target.

ypsituckyboy

September 9th, 2015 at 8:52 AM ^

Eh, not a huge fan of Aiken or Simpson. I think TeJon Lucas is better than both those guys and Winston. I've never been a huge Winston fan since his jump shot is a bit whack in terms of form and he's a step slower than most top tier PGs. I'd probably order them: 1. Lucas 2. Winston 3. Simpson 4. Aiken

alum96

September 9th, 2015 at 8:56 AM ^

Lucas' only offers are USC Memphis and Old Dominion?  Looks like collge coaches have a very diff view than you.

Winston is a pure old school PG who is a creator and floor general ranked in top 30.  It sucks.

alum96

September 9th, 2015 at 8:51 AM ^

what an awful cycle of recruiting.   If he goes to MSU they will have 3 top 75 players.  And potentially a 4th if that kid who grew up in Flint goes there.

I dont get why kids are not buying what we are selling  - esp at the wings and guards.