Over at http://www.umhoops.com
they just posted a twitter from the Rivals Duke Insider expert regarding McGary:
I'm waiting for Muppets!
Happy day :)
If this is true, this
If this is true, this announcement will make me super happy. Nothing better than seeing a Top 10 player commit to our basketball team after the past decade. McGary would add huge presence for the Wolverines in more ways than one.
“What the mind can conceive, the mind can achieve and those who stay will be champions.” - Bo
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top 3
top 3
our best recruit since
our best recruit since Webber. unreal.
actually
Jerod Ward was the #1 player coming out of high school.
But yes, unreal.
yeah, forgot about that. for
yeah, forgot about that. for whatever reason, 1994 recruiting rankings were shit.
i guess
it depends on how you define "best." Jerod Ward (1994) was ranked the #1 HS player in the country when he committed to Michigan. The following year, Louis Bullock and Robert Traylor were also McD's AA's. Lavell Blanchard was a McD's AA and a concensus top 10 player. Daniel Horton a few years later was a highly coveted 5 star.
So yes, a huge recruit. Best since Webber? Who knows. Certainly could be considered a watershed commit (if it happens) and could be the the most significant since Webber and his cohorts (Jimmy, Juwan, and Jalen were also McD's AA's along with Webber).
For my privacy, my new username is "non-Oriental non-Andrew"
Yep
Rivals staff have repeated (or started) this idea, but there have been a few top 5-10 overall recruits since Webber. Ward, Traylor, and Blanchard were there or close to it. Horton was not generally considered to be a top 10 player, but he was highly regarded.
At least, the statement should mention Ward instead of Webber - which is just a 3 year difference anyway.
To borrow from Hoke...
landing Mitch would be TREMENDOUS!!! McGary, Glenn Robinson Jr., a seasoned Hardaway, Burke, Brundidge, and the rest of the cast....Ahh, the possibilities =)
Stauskas
Why does everyone forget Stauskas? The kid is a straight baller. Just check this video and then you'll be adding him to your, "I'M SO EXCITED FOR...." list.
http://www.youtube.com/user/StauskasBasketball#p/a/u/2/IjEVxbOXgiI
No doubt! That kid is gonna
No doubt! That kid is gonna be an ace baller...serious skillz! Standing-O for Beilein
"Those who stay will be champions"
fingers crossed
i'll exhale on thursday
RIP my avatar, June 14, 1998 - October 26, 2012.
So you're saying...
So you're saying that you're "waiting to exhale?"
Florida Wolverines have dreadlocks...
nothing to see here
but man would this be huge.
RIP my avatar, June 14, 1998 - October 26, 2012.
Good to hear, but...
I will believe it when I believe it.
It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future. -- Yogi Berra
When is that?
When is that?
After the announcement
Maybe not even until the LOI arrives.
It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future. -- Yogi Berra
When he believes it,
When he believes it, duh.
/sarcasm
Biochemistry
Class of 2010.
Best recruit since Jerod Ward in 1994.
There are programs that recruit well but don't develop players during their time on campus. There are programs that develop players in good college players, but don't bring in the big time recruits and are eventually exposed. With Beilein and this staff, M has the chance to become one of those teams that both recruits high level players and maximizes their potential. This is BIG.
Michigan's Reputation
If Michigan gets a reputation for developing and preparing players to the point where they can succeed in the NBA, it will bring huge dividends. Almost every High School player wants to go to the NBA. If Beilein and his coaching staff demonstrate skill and success in making that happen, then those players who are serious about making it will be all the more likely to consider Michigan. With the coaching, and now the PDC, plus geographical proximity to Chicago, the State of Michigan, the State of Indiana, as well as Ohio, we are sitting very well and only getting stronger. We appear to be on the cusp of riding a huge wave to regular Final Fours.
"It does not matter how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you get up." Vince Lombardi
And to think that Belein was
And to think that Belein was generally considered to be the 2nd best coach we raided from the Mountainers. Amazing what can happen when everybody gets behind the new guy with the wierd system and supports it isn't it?
Even when your first year is the worst the program has seen in a long while (10-22) and by year three things still aren't going as well as you hoped (15-17). Sure glad everybody rallied behind our coach and stuck with him cause we're all seeing now what can happen when adversity pulls people together instead of shreading them apart.
Well
Well put.
/Iseewhatyoudidthere
or uh, Duder, or El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing.
Well, I thnik it was different because
for JB, there was no "winningest program, with 33 straight bowl game..." expectation to be great instantly. Also, the BB team sucked under Amaker, Crisler was gross, there was no PDC...so we all knew that there were major problems.
It's all about expectations, set the bar low and surpass it!
"They're stuck with that quarterback (sophomore Braxton Miller) for the next two or three years, that's fine with me. He throws worse than (Tim) Tebow. - Steve Everitt
Perception
The program didn't "suck" under Amaker. He went .500 in the Big Ten three times but never made the NCAA's. He went 10-6 (Beilein has yet to post a winning conference record) and finished 3rd in the league during his second season, only to be banned from playing in the postseason. And he left after recruiting Harris, Sims, and Udoh. And he had inherited a program that was a complete dumpster fire after Ellerbe. And he didn't have shiny new facilities to lure recruits with. And he's done a fantastic job at Harvard. And he's a pretty great guy.
Beilein is a better coach (though this doesn't make Tommy unique in any way) and Amaker's teams were completely frustrating (they just could never win that one extra game to get over the hump) but the guy did a pretty damn good job under the circumstances. I don't get all the people (many of whom never attended games while the guy was coaching) who view his tenure as an abject failure and retain so much hostility towards the guy.
/Rant not really directed at you
It is spelled HOKEAMANIA. Our coach is an ass-kicking American citizen, not one of the Beatles, for Christ's sake!
It is interesting to me the
It is interesting to me the differing outlooks of Hoke and Belien.
Belien never speaks of winning the Big Ten, his mantra lately has been, "our goal is to win the national championship". I understand and agree with this philosophy. M can finish 2nd or 3rd in the conference every year would be considered an elite program, with a shot at the NC every year.
Hoke on the other hand, never speaks of a national championship, but always maintains the goal is to win the Big Ten championship. Big Ten titles are tangible and can be pursued every year, NC's are more mythical in nature, and in the current arrangement, if you have 2 losses you have virtually no shot at a NC, no matter how well you are playing at the end of the season.
Thats a basketball vs.
Thats a basketball vs. football thing I think. In basketball its all about making the postseason and once you're in the tournament you're trying to win it all. In football the point is to win the league, get to your bowl game, in our case the Rose Bowl, and win it.
Whatcha gonna do, little brother?
Even when your first year is
Even when your first year is the worst the program has seen in a long while (10-22) and by year three things still aren't going as well as you hoped (15-17).
You left out year two (when we ended our NCAA tournament drought), which was the program's best in a long while. That was the key. It bought him time and allowed him to survive the rockier year 3. A good year two would have done the same for RR. If he'd cashed in on some of those "match points" in 2009, he wouldn't have been in a do-or-die situation in 2010.
Shhh ...
Shhh ... you're ruining his perfect analogy. Stop putting holes in it with your logic bullets.
I would have to disagree
If you looked at the message boards at more basketball-specific sites like umhoops.com or rivals.com, I would venture to say that MOST people did not support Beilein right around year 3. I feel that I was one of the few who always supported Beilein and felt that he could do what he is now doing with the program. In fact, many of my friends know that I have thought Beilein is a better coach than Izzo for as long as I can remember.
Despite what might be common philosophy now, Beilein did not have full support from the get-go. Many questioned his hiring and his coaching until at least last season. Hoke had far more support right away.
Believe
Beilein
BIG or B1G?
BIG or B1G?
gonna happen...
McGary will be coming to M because Duke has been focused on Tony Parker as their top priority.
No, Duke has focused on Tony
No, Duke has focused on Tony Parker as their top priority because McGary is coming to Michigan. Other way around.
If MM wasn't widely assumed to be a one-and-done
I'd be much more excited about the chances of him coming here. He ain't Magic Johnson.
you break out the goddamn balloons and marching band.
I agree that's what Beilein and the program should do, absolutely. You have to promote your successes on and off the court, and getting MM away from Duke would be a huge achievement. I'm just skeptical of the idea held by some that MM playing as a pure freshman makes us an automatic Elite Eight or Final Four candidate. It's a rare freshman who has that kind of talent, which is why I brought up Johnson. If MM comes here and plays two or three years, then the benefits to the program are vastly greater than if he comes to campus for just 8 months as a freshman. That would go by in a blink of an eye.
Yes it is rare for a freshman
Yes it is rare for a freshman to be capable of carrying their team to a lengthy tournament run, but it's also becoming more frequent. In the past few seasons, there's been guys like Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, Michael Beasley, Carmelo Anthony, John Wall, Brandon Knight, etc.
"A Michigan Man will coach a Michigan Team"
One reason it's become more
One reason it's become more common has to due with the lack of depth and talent in the tournament. This is a direct result, imo, of talented players leaving college at younger and younger ages. You don't have the talented upper classmen you used to have back in the 70's and 80's (heck 90's)
go blue
I saw Carmelo do it at 'CUSE...
granted, he did have a nice supporting cast. Warrick, McNamara, Duany. McNeil was a big body and Josh Pace was a pretty decent contributor as well. I think Mitch would have a very solid "supporting cast" (I don't like to use this term for ballers like Hardaway, Robinson Jr., Staukas, Carlton, etc. since I think they're all very solid players in their own right) at Michigan. All you need is that one superstar kid and a solid cast and the potential to go all the way is there.
You may be skeptical of
You may be skeptical of McGary making M an EE or FF candidate, but you would also probably be wrong. Not saying M would make a FF in MM first season, but they would certainly be considered one of the top 10 or so teams capable of making the run. Belien already has a Sweet Sixteen caliber team next season without MM, you add MM to the mix and look out. Belien would be fielding a team with very few weaknesses and many strengths. My biggest concern for M if they land MM would be an injury to Burke (see MSU and Kalin Lucas), that would be M's Achilles heel.
I don't think the potential
I don't think the potential for an injury can be called an Achilles heel... You could say that about every sports team in history. As in, my biggest concern for the Bulls is if Jordan and Pippen get injured, or my biggest concern for the Packers is Rodgers getting knocked out for the season. There's no reason to suspect that these things would happen. Don't concern yourself until/if it happens, and if/when they prove to have no one who can step up in place of the injured player. Even then the Achilles heel would be lack of a point guard, not the injury itself.
"Michigan Defense" is dominating everything, in every aspect of life. That's a rough definition.
-Craig Roh 10/29/2011
Call it what you want, but an
Call it what you want, but an injury to your point guard with seemingly no viable alternative can be critical in basketball. I have bad flashbacks to Isaiah Thomas spraining his ankle in game 6 against the Lakers. Or theyear Magic popped a hamstring against the Pistons and doomed whatever little hope the Lakers had.
Staukas can handle the rock too.
I agree, I really like
I agree, I really like Stauskas, and Brundidge too for that matter. They can both handle the ball and shoot well, I am just not sure that either can run the point. I hope they can. Great time to be a M hoops fan.
People are so excited because
People are so excited because we have a chance to be a final 4 team in 2 years without MM. Landing him changes the entire picture for UM hoops. It's on y'all!
"Those who stay will be champions"
Errrrbody thought Sullinger
Errrrbody thought Sullinger was going to be a one-and-done too.
or uh, Duder, or El Duderino if you're not into the whole brevity thing.
One and done
The new NBA CBA could very well change entry requirements from 19 years old and one year removed from high school to 20 and 2. Which, if Michigan lands McGary, I'd be very much in favor of the NBA adopting!
Not to be a downer on your
Not to be a downer on your parade, but Mitch is already a year removed from high school so you will need to root for the NBA to adopt the NFL 3 year rule.
the new CBA might not let him
the new CBA might not let him be one and done.
Depends on what the CBA
Depends on what the CBA specifies though. People need to remember that McGary (under the current rules) is eligible for the 2012 NBA Draft. He has graduated HS and is doing a prep year this season. Even if one-and-dones are banned, McGary would still be 2 years removed from high school.
If they change the rule to two years removed from HS
McGary would still be one and done since he spent a year in prep school after graduating HS.
dont jinx it
i'll wait till thursday to open the champagne.
Happy day :)