Updated ESPN 2013 Basketball Rankings: Irvin #70, Donnal #84
In ESPN’s updated basketball rankings following the July evaluation period, Zak Irvin moved up slightly, from #74 to #70, while Mark Donnal made a similar-sized move in the opposite direction, going from #81 to #84. Derrick Walton Jr. remains outside the ESPN top 100, ranked 25th among point guards. As a point of comparison, Monte Morris has the same “scouts grade” of 91 as Walton but is ranked 99th overall and 21st among point guards. So Walton is just outside ESPN’s top 100.
One other basketball recruiting note: Stefan Jankovic narrowed his list down to five, eliminating Michigan from consideration. His final five are Wake Forest, Georgetown, Missouri, Florida State, and Purdue.
August 13th, 2011 at 1:36 PM ^
Looks like we have great talent coming in for 2013.
August 13th, 2011 at 1:37 PM ^
I think it's safe to say Coach B is good at recruiting.
August 13th, 2011 at 4:14 PM ^
...hiring some very GOOD assisant coaches,also. Don't under esimate the impact both of these young men have had on the program.
Moving forward its going to be hard to hold on to these two. Middle-tier schools will be inquiring about them...if the program has the sucess we all see coming. I only hope DB throws alot of money their way...
August 13th, 2011 at 4:33 PM ^
August 13th, 2011 at 4:55 PM ^
I forgot to mention his contribution. Michigan Basketball is in good hands with the current coaching staff...
August 13th, 2011 at 2:04 PM ^
Reasonable amounts of optimism for basketball. It's been a while since we've been able to claim that around these parts. Believe in Beilein!
August 13th, 2011 at 2:12 PM ^
I think Irvin will end up being a little higher and Donnal will stay about the same by the end of all the rankings. I also think that walton is quite a bit better than morris and am surprised espn has him ranked higher. I think by the end walton will crack the top 100 as well.
August 13th, 2011 at 4:40 PM ^
I'm very optimistic as well, but I will caution that in 2009 a lot of us were very optimistic and got burned.
Moral of the story: cautious optimism!
Edit: This was meant as a reply to VictorsValiant09 not sure what happened besides my obvious failure on the interwebs.
August 13th, 2011 at 4:58 PM ^
I think the major difference might be, going into this season, that we won't have problems with leadership from the upperclassmen, unlike 2009-2010 (ie, Harris and Sims).
August 13th, 2011 at 6:31 PM ^
It's nice to be competing again..And i dont think its a stretch to say we should have a shot at the Big Ten title this year...GO BLUE....
August 13th, 2011 at 7:09 PM ^
Good news to hear. Irvin looks like a legit top-50/75 talent, and I expect Walton to be in the 80's when the final rankings shake out. Looks like a very good class so far, and who knows what might happen with a good year on the court.
August 13th, 2011 at 11:45 PM ^
Beilein has done an amazing job recruiting with very few misses. Novak, Douglas and Morgan have contributed despite being completely unheralded. Morris and Hardaway were huge pickups. Smotrycz didn't perform as well as hoped last year, but I think that with experience and maybe a little more bulk from the weight room he'll be fine.
I see good things ahead.
August 14th, 2011 at 2:28 AM ^
Basketball recruiting is so frustrating. The 2013 class is basically done, though we may still add another, and there are still two seasons to go before we even get to see these players take to the court.