PG Xavier Simpson Skyrockets Up ESPN Final Rankings

Submitted by IvyLeague on

Michigan hoops commit Xavier Simpson who was a mid-level 4 star before the season started, is now rated the #48 rated prospect and #4 rated point guard in the country on ESPN after averaging 26.3 points, 6.6 assists, and 3.9 steals per game. For his efforts, Xavier took home Mr. Basketball in Ohio. I remember folks were somewhat disppointed in Beilein when he commited because they felt there were better (higher rated) point guards on the board. I think this is another job well done in Beilein finding a blossming gem. The last Mr. Ohio winner that came to Michigan was Trey Burke. Trey's performance against Kansas in the NCAA tournament still gives me chills.

WorldwideTJRob

April 26th, 2016 at 6:58 PM ^

That's huge in basketball...by the final year of the restrictions that means there would only be 8 scholarship players on your team. Amaker wasn't great but he did have a hell of lot more limitations than Beilein has. He was coming off the shameful Ellerbe era with a ran down basketball arena and no practice facility. The fact that he even convinced a McDonald's all-American and a couple Mr. Basketball winners to come there is pretty remarkable when you think about it now.




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RDubs

April 26th, 2016 at 7:21 PM ^

the fact that many of those highly rated players didn't improve (some seemed to regress) under Amaker was the problem. That, and an offense that seemed to consist of passing the ball around the perimeter followed by one guy trying to get off a pull up jumper...

RDubs

April 28th, 2016 at 11:35 AM ^

While the offense the last couple years hasn't been what it was with Burke and Stauskas, it is sitll way more advanced than what Michigan ran under Amaker. JB's offense has pick and rolls, dives to the basket, and ways to draw the defense away from players to get them open. Execution hasn't been as strong, but there is a system in place to try and help generate open looks.

Amaker's offense was maddening. Literally, players would just swing the ball around the perimeter the majority of the time with no off the ball movement. There was very little cutting, they did nothing to move the defense, and that would be followed by a dependency on someone (Daniel Horton, Dion Harris) with a decent amount of talent trying to create a decent look out of desperation on almost every possession.

orangeda

April 27th, 2016 at 9:56 AM ^

Instead of being able to carry 13 players, Amaker could only carry 12 scholarship players for the 4 yrs, and IIRC, he wasn't really ever even close to maxing out on his scholarships anyway, making it a moot point to begin with. 

Amaker's problem was lack of development, and a sloppy, disorganized offfensive bball team.  Guys like Horton, Harris and Lester Abram were virtually the same players as Seniors as when they were freshman.  His big men never seemed to take the next step either, whether it was Chris Hunter, Courtney Sims, or Brent Petway, their games were stagnant while under Amaker, the only one who got noticeably better was Graham Brown.

All that, and they always seemed to lose the games when great stakes were on the line, the final game of the year against a IU team at home that would have set them up for the tourney, the Big Ten Tourney game against an atrocious Minnesota team, again when they needed a win to make the tourney, Amaker's teams could never get over the hump, and he was deservedly fired for it.  Amaker is in a better spot now, he was loathe to promote the program at UM, and he doesn't have to do that at Harvard, and he's in a much easier league as far as competition and coaching go.

You can have his great recruiting classes, I'll take Beilein's ability to put together great teams.

jmblue

April 27th, 2016 at 11:29 AM ^

That's huge in basketball...by the final year of the restrictions that means there would only be 8 scholarship players on your team.

No, what happened was that we had 12 scholarships a year (instead of 13) for four seasons.

(EDIT: duh, missed the post above mine.)

somewittyname

April 26th, 2016 at 8:47 PM ^

This is short-sighted in a lot ways. Amaker picked this program up from the lowest spot it has literally ever been. He actually would have made the tournament (I believe it was Horton's freshman year) had we been eligible for the post-season. Furthermore, he certainly would have been dancing on probably multiple ocassions had he stuck around longer. An Epke, Sims, Manny team I am certain would have found it's way to the tournament.

Now all that said, I am of course happy we upgraded with Beilein. My biggest complaint was lack of player development, e.g., Blanchard. My other biggest issue was pretty bogged down half-court offense. Still, Amaker left the program  in much a better place than he started. It's not debatable. He's since gone on to do well at Harvard.

I think real hoops fans, who actually would attend games during the Ellerbe era have a strong appreciation for TA. And I'm not surprised people who bandwaggoned on when Manny and Sims took us dancing have no respect for TA.

bacon1431

April 26th, 2016 at 10:00 PM ^

I don't agree. Ekpe, Manny and Sims are no better of a trio than Horton, Harris and Sims. He coached during one of the weakest eras of B1G bball and could not get over the hump.

I don't mind TA. Left the program in better shape than when he found it. But let's be honest, the roster he left JB was bare. The three players you named were the only quality players he left. And one was an incoming freshman. He inherited a bad situation. Doesn't mean he didn't underachieve




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mGrowOld

April 26th, 2016 at 4:27 PM ^

He's all signed up right?  No take-back, do-overs or changes of mind allowed anymore?  He's signed, sealed and delivered (for one year anyways) at this point for the 2016-17 season.

Ok if that's the case I wont feel nervous if somebody at Kentucky or Duke reads this article.