Portal Prospects I'd Like Juwan to Sign
Howdy all, after news of Hunter's departure hit, I started scanning the portal and if we can sign some talent, I am actually not so doom-and-gloom about next season. Even though they didn't do great, Illinois made the tournament with essentially an entirely new team and they lost a 5 star guard in the middle of the season. So, hopefully, it won't be impossible for us to make transfers work in the age of Ono. The big thing that honestly would piss me off the most is if Hunter starts trying much harder or works on his conditioning.
Anyway, I'm bored and under the weather so here are some names:
- Kelel Ware: Top-10 5 star center last year, mobile 7-footer, had a mediocre freshman year at Oregon at like 6ppg and 4rpg. If he can develop his skill set he's a lottery prospect talent.
- Jamison Battle: Stretch 4 didn't do nearly as well at Minnesota as two years ago, but the team itself was horrible and even still he'd provide size and shooting. Went from averaging 18 a game last year to just under 13 this year.
- Isaac Traudt: redshirt PF who was a bordeline 5 star last year, crystal ball says Creighton though
- Jameer Nelson Jr: small baller with good genes, good shooter but dipped last year, good genes, still a 20ppg scorer at mid major level. Did I mention his dad?
- Dalton Knecht: 6-6 shooter who averaged 20 and 7 at Northern Colorado, on NBA radars
Bonus: Yohan Traore is in the portal if we're wanting to do some more reuniting with old flames this summer. He did nothing at Auburn last year.
Who would you like to see added to the roster amid theoretical turnover, and why?
Semi related, and possibly board worthy, but I’m too lazy, UM basketball twitter account just posted a farewell post about Hunter. Seems like he’s officially gone and not just testing the waters.
Thank god.
why?
On the court Hunter is a loss, but off the court…. I think a lot of people will low-key breathe a sigh of relief.
Except for the owners of Skeeps. This is a bad day for them, big hit to revenue
On the court Hunter is a loss
i know this is kinda your little schtick, and all, but that’s just idiotic.
Hunter performed worse every year. This is a fact. Look up points per minute. He had a small uptick, and I mean small, his second year and dropped.
His freshman year was his best and he didn’t elevate ANY of his team mates. Not a leader, he didn’t make anyone better.
But go ahead and get mad because “you feel” he was elite.
The nba doesnt want him. Better centers in the big have come, passed him, and gone to the nba MULTIPLE TIMES. He’s still in college for a reason.
March 31st, 2023 at 10:38 PM ^
it’s a good thing i didn’t make a single one of those arguments, then.
March 31st, 2023 at 10:45 PM ^
Nobody wants you either. That's why you hang out in moms basement making shit posts on mgoblog
in this guy's world, first team all big ten players are not elite.
His FT shooting definitely regressed this year by a pretty decent margin.
I think he meant not having Hunter is a significant loss on the court. That would make more sense in the context of the post.
I'm not privy to any insider-ish information, so maybe your comment is hinting at something I'm completely ignorant about. But from my outsider fan perspective, it seemed like Hunter was great as the focal point of the offense, but lacked the leadership abilities the team had when upperclassmen to fill that role the prior 2 years. Isaiah Livers and Eli Brooks weren't wearing ski masks to conference away games or taunting the opponent bench.
Throwing away the COVID year, look at the difference in the football team between the Shea years and the Cade/JJ years. On an individual basis, the 2018-2019 teams were probably more talented across the board than 2021-2022. But the 18-19 teams wilted in pressure situations, especially against OSU. The 21 and 22 teams obviously did not. "Leadership" is an overused term on sports talk radio, but it does matter.
Well, does Kobe leave or stay? Does Joey Baker leave and clog up the rebuild? Does Terry stay and abuse Howard’s loyalty to him to worsen the team? Hunter to the portal is the worst case scenario for this roster—it sounds like it caught Howard off guard.
There are dozens of players in the portal who see like good targets, but maybe Hunter was not impressed with who he saw Howard going to bring in, like many of us were not so excited about BJ Mack and Hedlum.
I should have noted that I am specifically avoiding talking about our current players leaving / being asked to leave. Just seems gross.
The prompt is just really about looking at the talent that is out there and talking about who we'd like to have, doesn't really need to be realistic.
March 31st, 2023 at 10:20 PM ^
You cannot be seriously wash your hands like Mr. Pilate of your own premise and all that it infers.
You cannot imagine who you want to come here without imagining folks are leaving or processed at the positions you are naming replacements for. There is no other way to take your hypothetical unless you want to pretend you said “If Howard had unlimited scholarships.”
Otherwise, there shouldn’t be any hypothetical that extends beyond who has left and how many scholarships are available.
I find your direct response “gross” because it lacks sincerity. This entire year has been about people on this board holding mob torches for firing Howard, hating on the players I named, and consistently saying NIL and portal makes college ball basically professional minors.
March 31st, 2023 at 10:28 PM ^
I gotta hand it to you, I have never been called Pontius Pilate on the internet before, made me truly laugh.
But yeah, just pretend I said whatever words would make you feel better and relax, literally nothing at stake here.
So you're all in a huff while telling on message boards telling others what they can and cannot imagine. LOL. Well, I imagine that you're are a sad little person who has no friends.
"Does Terry stay and abuse Howard’s loyalty to him to worsen the team?"
So nonsensical that it is painful to read.
March 31st, 2023 at 10:07 PM ^
No pain, no gain, they say. Lucky me, I’ve gained so much from your wit.
March 31st, 2023 at 10:40 PM ^
I assume this refers to Terry Mills, but I suppose it could be Terry Duerod (old head alert).
My favorite Titan.
How does someone leaving clog up the rebuild?
I meant “or,” which I should have edited. Go and get yourself some chintzy up votes.
I’ve been a proponent of Howard, Hunter, and Baker all season—defending them and Dug against the by game reactionaries.
Apparently, all the people here who have cried all season about Terry and these guys are all a little sensitive to asking the questions on player movement now that Hunter’s surprise move is made.
Sad to see Hunter leave, personally. 🤷🏻♂️
What you said didn’t make sense. I asked for clarification. Your clarification doesn’t make sense either. I don’t give a shit about up-votes.
For the record, I thought your speculation on who might be leaving just fine. Seemed sanctimonious for him to call you out on what we are all wondering & what has previously been discussed.
March 31st, 2023 at 11:15 PM ^
If it caught Howard off guard it is 100% his own fault. Hunters podcast co host was hinting at a transfer for over a week, but because he works for a company not deemed acceptable on here it was not reported. I’m sorry I am not a barstool fan, but this childish attitude of not reporting anything for them is just ridiculous considering they have players from the big ten on their podcasts. I am sure they just lie and make things up and have no inside information compared to some blabbering idiot on a site like ESPN that has no direct connect to the program. I guess it hurts peoples feelings too much when someone they do not like says something that is true.
Caitlin Clark, would instantly be the best shooter on the team. Let's get an NIL fund set up.
Would rather give a scholly to a young prospect like Traore than to a sixth year Joey Baker. Joey might want to go be a bench piece for a competitor anyways. Doesn't make much sense from either side to return for what is almost certainly a rebuilding year.
Best passer, best shooter, biggest bal-- nvm.
So all the best players? Cool
Technically #1,4,6,15, and 23 in the portal. I think they'd be good fits!
Dear Santa…
Basketball is just a build a bear sport at this point. It’s hard to really care since there is basically zero connection to the athletes. I’ll root for whomever wears a maize and blue jersey for the year. But tough to really feel any sort of involvement or investment.
I think you could really feel this across the country this year. It is a different sport now for sure.
Once athletes really started getting their own special classes, dorms, tutors, and other stuff that basically made them completely different than typical students, it became less fun to root.
like, back in the sixties, you mean? i guess.
March 31st, 2023 at 10:04 PM ^
Not at all. Lived on the football in South Quad. Two years they were like anyone else.... they did have a separate room to eat in the quad sometimes and would eat together but sometimes they they are in reg cafeteria. For two years. Third year most lived in apts nearby. The classes they took were not all cupcakes either.
Basketball might be different.
It is "build a bear" for sure, but how do you "build your bear"?
1. You can play roulette on the transfer portal for hire
2. NIL a player or two to the moon
3. SD State a bunch of lower level recruits into Juniors and Seniors
4. Or maybe roll the dice and recruit a lottery pick for 1 year who may or may not actually be good at basketball.
What did I miss? I personally like 3 to try and avoid roster chaos and it somewhat resembles the game we knew.
Couple I'd love Coach Howard to kick the tires on, in addition to the ones you mentioned:
- Olivier Nkamhoua (PF from Tennessee)
- AJ Storr (SF from St. Johns)
- Ryan Langborg (SG from Princeton)
Storr has pique my interest. Really like for M to gauge his interest,get him on campus quickly!
He could be a def piece on M roster,which would help solidify wing postion, adding some MUCH needed versatility.
I think Michigan is in full rebuild with Dug, GW3, Reed, Kante, and this Bama transfer. I think they will hit the portal to look for kids with lots of eligibility. I think Bufkin is gone. I am hopeful they will be a gritty-scrappy kind of team. We are completely post-Bielien now and this program needs to forge its own identity. It might not happen overnight.
The only problem with this is whether anybody in college ball will stay and team-build anymore when they can just transfer to a contender.
I agreed with everything until the last 3 sentences. The problem is, the post-Beilein rebuild season was THIS season. Not sure Coach Howard is going to get or even deserve another year after this coming one. This season is the one and the offseason has been apocalyptically bad thus far unfortunately.
By Collins, you mean Dug? 'Cause Frankie been gone.
My bad. Fixed.
we got dug collins? i mean, he’s probably in his seventies but i bet he can still ball. he was an absolute stud, back in the day.
Not so fast on Kante
March 31st, 2023 at 10:06 PM ^
Saw something earlier on Twitter about his grades and he may not make it past admissions. That would be par for the course at this point. Lose a big to the portal and lose one to academics before he ever steps foot on campus and leave one true big on the roster.
Doing a "full rebuild" in year 5 of a new coach at a major college program that is coming off an amazing decade run where they have been one of the best programs in America I don't think is very acceptable.
It doesn't make sense to get worse every year, expect the team to be bad, bottom out and then give that same coach even more time to hope he builds something.
I hear you NJblue2, but the rules behind roster management have changed at a dramatic pace during the same time period. And it was those very changes that may have spurred the last coach to leave.
Basically we have two questions
1. Is this on Juwan, Martelli and company?
2. Or is this a paradigm shift in all of college basketball?
Honestly, it might be a little of both, but with sober eyes I am leaning towards paradigm shift in all of college basketball. This very site used to knock JB for not getting big recruits, so we go get big recruits and it ends up being butter fingers Mousa and brick layer Houstan for 1 year of the weirdest draft warm up you will ever see.
It is number 2 for sure for people who don't know much about college basketball other then our team blame Juwan because they have no knowledge in college basketball and how it works.
Dam I hate reading this all the time people talking crap about Howard and his team but yet don't know anything about college basketball and how it works. Didn't Kentucky and Duke miss the tournament in the last 10 years when they were good. Duke had a losing record. Coaches don't control who transfers or who can get accepted at Michigan when it comes to transfers. We have had so many players leave early and that is for that kid to follow their dreams but yet Juwan is to blame for recruiting NBA type of players. Don't understand that at all.