Rivals Duke Insider conceding McGary to Michigan
Over at http://www.umhoops.com
they just posted a twitter from the Rivals Duke Insider expert regarding McGary:
I'm waiting for Muppets!
November 1st, 2011 at 2:58 PM ^
Happy day :)
November 1st, 2011 at 3:00 PM ^
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.
November 1st, 2011 at 7:08 PM ^
top 3
November 1st, 2011 at 3:02 PM ^
our best recruit since Webber. unreal.
November 1st, 2011 at 3:17 PM ^
Jerod Ward was the #1 player coming out of high school.
But yes, unreal.
November 1st, 2011 at 3:27 PM ^
yeah, forgot about that. for whatever reason, 1994 recruiting rankings were shit.
November 1st, 2011 at 4:39 PM ^
Ward was ranked #1 by one of many sources and it was a bit of an outlier, IIRC. The consensus had him in the 7-8 range that year.
November 1st, 2011 at 3:27 PM ^
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).
November 1st, 2011 at 3:52 PM ^
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.
November 1st, 2011 at 3:03 PM ^
landing Mitch would be TREMENDOUS!!! McGary, Glenn Robinson Jr., a seasoned Hardaway, Burke, Brundidge, and the rest of the cast....Ahh, the possibilities =)
November 1st, 2011 at 4:12 PM ^
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
November 1st, 2011 at 6:23 PM ^
No doubt! That kid is gonna be an ace baller...serious skillz! Standing-O for Beilein
November 1st, 2011 at 3:03 PM ^
i'll exhale on thursday
November 1st, 2011 at 4:55 PM ^
So you're saying that you're "waiting to exhale?"
November 1st, 2011 at 3:04 PM ^
but man would this be huge.
November 1st, 2011 at 3:05 PM ^
I will believe it when I believe it.
November 1st, 2011 at 3:21 PM ^
When is that?
November 1st, 2011 at 3:24 PM ^
Maybe not even until the LOI arrives.
November 1st, 2011 at 3:25 PM ^
When he believes it, duh.
/sarcasm
November 1st, 2011 at 3:12 PM ^
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.
November 1st, 2011 at 3:19 PM ^
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.
November 1st, 2011 at 3:28 PM ^
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.
November 1st, 2011 at 3:46 PM ^
Well put.
/Iseewhatyoudidthere
November 1st, 2011 at 3:57 PM ^
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!
November 1st, 2011 at 4:32 PM ^
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
November 1st, 2011 at 4:56 PM ^
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.
November 1st, 2011 at 5:54 PM ^
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.
November 1st, 2011 at 5:42 PM ^
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.
November 1st, 2011 at 6:10 PM ^
Shhh ... you're ruining his perfect analogy. Stop putting holes in it with your logic bullets.
November 1st, 2011 at 8:05 PM ^
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.
November 1st, 2011 at 3:28 PM ^
BIG or B1G?
November 1st, 2011 at 3:15 PM ^
McGary will be coming to M because Duke has been focused on Tony Parker as their top priority.
November 1st, 2011 at 4:02 PM ^
No, Duke has focused on Tony Parker as their top priority because McGary is coming to Michigan. Other way around.
November 1st, 2011 at 3:24 PM ^
I'd be much more excited about the chances of him coming here. He ain't Magic Johnson.
November 1st, 2011 at 3:37 PM ^
Its the era of hoops we're living in. Magic Johnson would have been one-and-done too, so that comparison is moot. When a consensus top 5 recruit wants to come to your school and play hoops, you break out the goddamn balloons and marching band.
November 1st, 2011 at 4:17 PM ^
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.
November 1st, 2011 at 4:42 PM ^
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.
November 1st, 2011 at 6:29 PM ^
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)
November 1st, 2011 at 4:58 PM ^
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.
November 1st, 2011 at 5:06 PM ^
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.
November 1st, 2011 at 5:29 PM ^
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.
November 1st, 2011 at 5:58 PM ^
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.
November 1st, 2011 at 6:54 PM ^
Staukas can handle the rock too.
November 1st, 2011 at 7:13 PM ^
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.
November 1st, 2011 at 6:28 PM ^
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!
November 1st, 2011 at 3:47 PM ^
Errrrbody thought Sullinger was going to be a one-and-done too.
November 1st, 2011 at 4:11 PM ^
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!
November 1st, 2011 at 4:22 PM ^
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.
November 1st, 2011 at 6:02 PM ^
the new CBA might not let him be one and done.
November 1st, 2011 at 6:13 PM ^
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.