Mike Jackson leaving for Purdue...

Submitted by The Other Brian on

This is an....interesting....development. UM bball assistant Mike Jackson is leaving to take an assistant coaching job with Purdue.

Wolverine In Exile

June 6th, 2010 at 8:06 PM ^

Their coach Painter is solid and a lot of Purdue alums I work with think that this is a UM / MSU scenario all over again... Purdue is taking advantage of confusion and disappointment in Indiana to scoop up the top prospects in state, and they're betting that by the time Indiana gets itself righted, Purdue will have established themselves nationally as "the Indiana school" for hoops. I keep mentioning to them they need a number racket scandal for Indiana by a shady booster at their biggest employer (Eli Lilly) for this to be true, but they don't seem to get it...

dahblue

June 6th, 2010 at 8:55 PM ^

This isn't a "mutual" situation.  Jack is leaving because he needed to make a move to benefit his own chances of landing a head coaching gig.  If Michigan were winning, he would be an easy head coach hire somewhere.  He's a great coach and great recruiter (DeShawn, Manny, Smotrycz were all his recruits) that ADs respect but can't hire for a head coach position...yet.  How do you sell a "great coach" to alums when he has a losing record?

As a fan of Michigan bball, this is a bad thing for the program.  It signals a lack of confidence in the next year or so of the program.  Down the road, with the new facility, we'll be ok but Mike Jack needs the exposure of a winning record in order to make the jump to a head coach position as soon as possible.  I know this wasn't an easy decision for him to make.  I wish him well and, frankly, wouldn't mind seeing him as the HC of the Wolverines in the future.

michman79

June 6th, 2010 at 8:16 PM ^

I hate to say it but the guy made a positive career move.  I am Michigan Blue through and through but the state of the two Bball programs and the 5-year outlook greatly favors Purdue.

Raoul

June 6th, 2010 at 8:28 PM ^

It's interesting that this would mark a complete turnover in the assistant coaches from the beginning of last season. Given how last season went, that may not be such a bad thing.

Also on the basketball front, umhoops.com is reporting that Anthony Wright will be attending Toledo for his final year of eligibility.

Raoul

June 6th, 2010 at 8:46 PM ^

That's a wild interpretation of what I wrote.

Guess you don't like Beilein. What would you have said if he retained the same exact staff for next season?

(For the record, I didn't neg you.)

PaulVB

June 6th, 2010 at 11:42 PM ^

Really?

Amarker got 7 years. Ellerbe got  4. Beilein did something in 2 years that they couldn't do in 11. Sure last year was disappointing, but that was only because 2 years ago was so surprising.

Beilein has put together the best back to back recruiting classes since the late 90s (jamie mac can back me up on this). I'm willing to give him a few more years considering he has over 600 wins, many of those coming in a tougher basketball conference than the Big 10.

M-Wolverine

June 7th, 2010 at 4:35 PM ^

But in any regard, bringing up the years thing insinuates that he said fire Beilein, now.  Which nothing in his post is anything like that.  Don't know how saying he hasn't done great things here yet in any way says he shouldn't have a chance to turn things around, or frankly, in any way deniable.  The fact that he hasn't been nearly as sucky as the two guys before him is more a knock on those who makes the hires, not props for him.

dahblue

June 7th, 2010 at 10:15 AM ^

Imagine if JB didn't bring Mike back after he took over (remember that they let Mike leave and then brought him back after realizing his value).  We wouldn't have had DeShawn or Manny on the team.  For those who thought the team wasn't so great...yikes...imagine our squad the last couple years without those two!

Tater

June 7th, 2010 at 9:10 AM ^

This makes me wonder if JB is going to find another coach with a Detroit or even a Flint/Saginaw background, or if maybe he feels having Bacari Alexander is enough to recruit effectively instate and will find someone who feels more at home recruiting the East Coast?  I also wonder if Alexander's hiring means that JB knew there was a fairly good chance of Jackson moving on?

At any rate, JB should be able to find another good assistant.  I'm sure there are plenty of coaches who see Michigan as a "sleeping giant" and will be happy to be a part of its renaissance.