Zeller to IU
IU folks are losing their minds down here and with good reason. They are stockpiling basketball talent like nobody's business. When will UM land an elite prospect? I was a freshman when the Fab Five commitments rolled in and the excitement was unbelievable. No offense to any player that has come to UM since, but there just hasn't been the creme of the crop talent in years. I want a reason to follow basketball recruiting with as much interest as I do football recruiting!
November 11th, 2010 at 3:57 PM ^
Fact: Carlton (per ESPN & Scout) and Trey (per ESPN) are top 100 recruits.
What do you want?
November 11th, 2010 at 4:06 PM ^
I believe Smotrycz and Hardaway were top 100 recruits per ESPN as well.
November 11th, 2010 at 3:56 PM ^
Im a Freshman at IU and people are so pumped. Basketball is the sport and with getting Perea for 2012 a few days ago people are believing IU will be good soon. I would compare it to landing a few five stars in football for Michigan on the same day.
November 11th, 2010 at 4:00 PM ^
no surprise in that commit.
November 11th, 2010 at 4:03 PM ^
Michigan has had terrible facilities (Crisler still bad, dedicated practice faciity in the works), they have had to compete with a substantial in-state power for Michigan recruits and several other powers for regional recruits, and they have had basically all of their prestige wiped away due to a recruiting scandal and a decade without making the NCAA tournament. A snap of a finger, or the thought that "Hey, we were good 20 years ago" is not going to get Michigan anywhere. This has been, and will continue to be, a slow rebuilding process. Hopefully, the current staff (or the next staff...or the next staff) will help to turn things around, but Michigan is currently in a very difficult place as a basketball program
November 11th, 2010 at 4:05 PM ^
So true on all accounts. This is why Beiline is being cut plenty of slack from Brandon.
November 11th, 2010 at 5:11 PM ^
I'm not criticizing Beilein, because I like the job he's doing, but I don't think these are really viable excuses anymore. The NCAA sanctions ended a long time ago, a practice facility is being built, and we made the tournament two years ago. This isn't some enormous rebuilding project in the ground stages. The team is now completely made up of Beilein recruits, so I'm interested in seeing the results this season.
November 12th, 2010 at 9:15 AM ^
Who are juniors. We will be ok in 2011/12 but not yet. Also, Belien is not a Calipari and never will be. We won't be challenging for a Big Ten title until his best recruits, ie the 2011 class, are juniors.
November 12th, 2010 at 1:53 AM ^
Yeah a comment on the "terrible facilities" is that a coworker told me when he was at a game in Crisler last year, he felt something hit his head. Looking up, he found out it was rain leaking through the ceiling of Crisler onto him.
It's sad that University with so much endownment and legacy of athletics would have a facility with a leaky ceiling
November 11th, 2010 at 4:06 PM ^
Man, I was pretty excited with Hardaway Jr. and Smotrycz. With the 2 new assistant coaches and players coming in next year I was stoked. IMHO, I think coach B is gonna get this program going places and soon.
November 11th, 2010 at 4:07 PM ^
I don't think you understand this board very well. Sour grapes is never received well. Rather than complaining you should provide insight into what the situation is and suggestions on how to improve it.
Here's the situation. We have two top 100 players already committed in this class and the staff is pushing for a third. We had one top 100 player last year. This is for a team that has one NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 10 years. Rebuilding a program is a process and we are making progress.
Let's push for tournament appearances before we start demanding "Fab Five" recruiting classes.
November 11th, 2010 at 4:18 PM ^
I think I understand the board just fine and am certainly not demanding Fab Five recruiting classes. That was a once in a lifetime haul of talent. I was simply lamenting the fact that not a single elite player has come to the UM basketball program in years.
In no way am I putting down top 100 recruits, but I guess I'm talking about an immediate impact type of talent, like Zeller, Oden, Sullinger. Those guys are out there and other Big Ten schools are getting them, but for the reasons mentioned above, they are simply not choosing to come to Michigan. It's not like IU has been riding high recently either.
November 11th, 2010 at 4:53 PM ^
Pretty lame to rip on Beilein's recruiting on a day when two top 100 recruits are expected to sign LOIs for 2011. And at a time when the coaching staff is working hard to add Amir Williams to the class. Do you think your comments are helping matters any?
Beilein's recruiting is steadily improving and within a couple of years the roster will have several top 100 recruits on it. How about showing a little more support and patience than spewing negative comments that have been voiced countless times before on this board?
November 11th, 2010 at 5:30 PM ^
To be fair, top 100 isn't exactly the same in basketball as it is in football. Top 15 or so are usually instant stars with the top 25-50 instant solid contributors. Once you get below that top 50 or so, you're into players who can be complimentary pieces on good teams as freshmen and may develop into stars over the length of their career.
We haven't had a guy who can walk in and be a star in quite a while. I think Beilein is building the pieces necessary to be the kind of team that lands those immediate superstars, but we're not there yet.
November 11th, 2010 at 6:30 PM ^
It's shocking how soon people forget about Manny Harris.
November 11th, 2010 at 7:44 PM ^
Wasn't Smotryz like the 59th player in the nation? Yeah, I guess that 9 spots is enough to say we haven't had anybody that can make an immediate impact. I wish people knew as much about basketball as they think they do on this site.
November 11th, 2010 at 8:25 PM ^
I wish people knew as much about basketball as they think they do on this site.
Amen, brother.
And you're right, Rivals had Smotrycz at #59. I'd say that there's a good chance both Smotrycz and Hardaway Jr. will be immediate-impact players.
November 11th, 2010 at 11:45 PM ^
Though the game on Friday didn't go very well, I could see the potential in both Smotrycz and Hardaway Jr. I'm really excited to see what they can do.
November 11th, 2010 at 4:25 PM ^
November 11th, 2010 at 4:28 PM ^
That is exactly what I came on this thread to post. He might be the most important recruit left and to have him commit to Indiana would have been a kick in the teeth.
November 11th, 2010 at 4:37 PM ^
I did the exact same thing and was for a split second was confused as hell!
November 11th, 2010 at 5:02 PM ^
a triple take and if it wasn't for the thread directly underneath it... I'd probably still be in WTF mode.
November 11th, 2010 at 5:37 PM ^
At Indiana (I'm an alum - BA 1991), this is the biggest news of the month. The guy is a major catch and probably catapults Indiana's 2011 team to the upper division of the conference. It means the Hoosiers will almost surely be back - a big class is assembling for 2012. Furthermore, it means IU is back to grabbing the top recruits in Indiana. That means a lot after years of dominance by Purdue. Of course this is happening in the thick of football season, but at Indiana the casual fan's interest in football tends to wane after October 1.
November 11th, 2010 at 10:15 PM ^
My heart dropped into my feet, and for a few seconds, I was uber depressed, especially after reading the 2011 Mock Draft Class. Thank God for double takes, I guess.
November 11th, 2010 at 10:59 PM ^
I did the same thing. I was scanning the posts and trying to figure out WTF was going on. I am glad I not the only one.
November 11th, 2010 at 5:24 PM ^
Would have been cool to see a big-time recruit like that end up at Butler just to watch the Hoosiers' heads exploding all over the state. I know Butler was on his final list.
November 11th, 2010 at 5:38 PM ^
WOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah, Babby. On the way back! Look out Big 10! We're coming fo-....wait a sec, wrong blog forum. Sorry. Carry on
November 11th, 2010 at 7:53 PM ^
Who's Babby?
November 11th, 2010 at 5:48 PM ^
I'm sorry he didn't choose Michigan (assuming that was a possibility), but at least he didn't go to Duke / UNC.
November 11th, 2010 at 11:01 PM ^
for M to land Amir Williams next week.
November 11th, 2010 at 11:23 PM ^
As far as immediate impact, I would take Burke or Brundidge over Zeller. Both Brundidge and Burke have college ready offensive games, and should be able to contribute immediately. Zeller like many big men has a ways to go and probably won't be very effective his first couple of years. If you don't have a good handle, it is hard to dominate on the college level, plus Zeller is not really a physical player, and while he may end up being very good, I don't anticipate it happening early in his college career.
Amir Williams is a different case, physically he is ready to compete on the college level right now, but skill wise, he's just not there. I can see fans getting frustrated with Williams, because his offensive game and his opportunities on the offensive end will probably be limited.