NIL being taken seriously. I've heard this was supposed to happen a year ago, but better late than never:

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- NFL Players Association (NFLPA) executive Terése Whitehead, an expert in brand building and athlete marketing, has been appointed as University of Michigan Athletics' first in-house NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) Executive GM in collaboration with Altius Sports Partners (ASP) on Wednesday (May 8). Returning to her alma mater, Whitehead brings extensive experience as Vice President of Consumer Products & Strategy at NFL Players Inc., the for-profit business arm of the NFLPA. Whitehead will spearhead Michigan's NIL program in her new role, leading the department's strategy to provide athletes with comprehensive support and resources to capitalize on their NIL opportunities.

I wonder how much the sudden movement on this after a couple of years of dithering has to do with Sherrone Moore and Dusty May replacing Jim Harbaugh and Juwan Howard. No offense to the prior coaches meant; it's just that Harbaugh and Howard were both very famous athletes who could reasonably believe their star power made NIL relatively unimportant. Moore and May are not, and neither has the kind of bulletproof track record Harbaugh had. Both will seek every advantage they can get.

[After the JUMP: Brian Kelly said what]

After a somewhat prolonged process, Michigan formally announced the addition of Vlad Goldin last week. 

In our internal slack chats I wasn't so subtle in stating that Goldin would be a bigger get in relation to Johnell Davis regardless of what any transfer ranking would have you believe. Seven-footers with true two-way impact aren't typically available for programs such as Michigan, particularly those in the portal. The necessary resources typically exceed what Michigan can reasonably offer.

It would be an understatement to say that I'm excited about Goldin.  This is a massive pick-up for the Wolverines, both literally and figuratively.

SCOUTING (Offense)

First and foremost, Vlad is an outstanding finisher at the rim. He converted 72% of his 200 attempts at the rim last season. Goldin routinely finishes over length and through contact.

I have zero doubts as to whether this facet of his game will translate, as the clips above have Vlad finishing over Charleston behemoths James Scott/Ante Brzovic and Coleman Hawkins with relative ease. The volume lends credence to this as well, as a whopping 200 out of 303 total FGAs from Goldin last season were at the rim per Torvik. He's going to own the restricted area. 

The thing that really popped on film review is Vlad's impeccable touch. He consistently converts "other twos". Functionally those come in the form of jumphooks, and he's superb using both hands.An ambidextrous 7-footer with elite touch is quite the weapon at the college level. For context, Goldin shot 58.3% on 103 "other two" attempts per Torvik. That is ridiculous efficiency on high volume for a shot type that is generally considered sub-par. Having a 7-foot Tony Parker is hard to visualize, but here we are. 

Vlad is also adept as a back-to-the-basket scorer. He has above-average pivoting/footwork, understands where his spots are and is patient in getting to them. He doesn't settle much. 

Goldin does really well for himself absorbing initial contact and maintaining balance. He usually gets the better of his defender after that initial contact and leverages his superior size and impeccable touch to convert. 

[After THE JUMP: the exact archetype Michigan needs]

Michigan Football recently picked up a commitment from Birmingham Groves OL Avery Gach, the second commitment since Sherrone Moore took over as head coach. Today we give him the proper Hello: 

GURU RATINGS 

Gach is a consensus four star, ranked just inside the top 250 of the On3 Consensus and the 247 composite. Rivals and 247 are the highest on Gach, putting him inside their top 200 and ranking him among the top 15 IOL prospects nationally. ESPN is a bit lower, just inside the top 300, but all three of those sites consider him a top three prospect in the state of Michigan. On3 is the rather bizarre outlier (something that their own EJ Holland heavily disagrees with in his pieces), ranking Gach as an irrelevant three star and 7th in the state of Michigan. According to Seth's five star scale, Gach overall grades out as a solid four and in the middle of the pack among all IOL prospects that Michigan has gotten commitments from since 1990. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: what the scouts say]