Basketball Recruiting Discussion: Stephen Zimmerman (2015 5* Center) to visit
http://michigan.scout.com/2/1286745.html
Paid article; info in article title
Edit: Front page material, so discuss any 2015 (or other) basketball recruiting info here. Who do you want? Who do you think Beilein will eventually land?
April 25th, 2013 at 10:58 PM ^
So far two decent commits with doyle and hatch, although hatch might never play but with the offers michigan has given should be a good one. Devin Booker, kameron chatman, trevion buiett, and vince edwards are all in the top 60 and all have offers and interest in michigan. I say Beilein takes five payers in this class with Morgan graduating. You know Mitch and GRIII wont stay another year and u have to think Stauskis and one of the incoming freshman will get some love so will need five commits.
April 25th, 2013 at 11:16 PM ^
2012 was a large class, so 2014 would seem to be a good candidate for a large class. However, I almost half wonder if we might see some early 2015 commits before getting most/all of the 2014 class in hand. That would be a tricky situation to be in. I don't think we should hold back on 2015 offers though for fear of that. We're in good shape with two point guards (Hyrond Edwards [IN] and Sedrick Barefield [CA, omg do want]) and some big men.
I would expect to at most take 5 players, counting hatch, but likely 4 total if I absolutely had to guess, in 2014, but no pure PG. We would be looking at the 2-5 positions with an emphasis on a combo forward. Current targets include Kameron Chatman, Kevon Looney (allegedly, I still don't know for sure that we've offered him despite what he says), and Vince Edwards.
April 25th, 2013 at 10:10 PM ^
Um, YUP!
April 25th, 2013 at 10:19 PM ^
Based on the hype videos, Zimmerman seems to be very fluid...moves well for a 7 footer and looks like he can run the floor.
Seems to have a pretty good handle on the ball, as well.
Couple good mid-range jumpshots in there, too, which (obviously) is huge, considering how that would open up the floor offensively.
Also, seems to dominate the paint defensively which...yes, have some.
April 25th, 2013 at 10:52 PM ^
April 25th, 2013 at 11:23 PM ^
if his ball handling skills held up at the college level and he could lay it on the floor like that. I would be a bit more skeptical, but who knows. He does have great hands though, and as I already commented on this thread, a pretty good motor. He doesn't seem to run the floor, but he's active on both sides of the floor, which WILL translate well to the college level.
April 26th, 2013 at 11:27 AM ^
I think it's important that he is a 7 footer, his handles shouldn't be expected to be at the level of a guard, but they are terrific, especially at this juncture in his career.
April 25th, 2013 at 11:29 PM ^
April 25th, 2013 at 11:37 PM ^
But a potential frontcourt rotation in the 2015 season of Ricky Doyle, Stephen Zimmerman, and Mark Donnal is drool worthy on offense. It will be interesting to see who else we take in 2014, because imho we need at least 4 forwards on the roster. McGary/GRIII will be gone, and I worry Bielfeldt will exit the program prior to that time.
April 25th, 2013 at 11:05 PM ^
Sam Webb just wrote an article stating that Coach Beilein "Struck a chord" with Devin Booker. Duke just filled their SG slot. Kentucky just offered him. Anybody read the scout article and want to drop some cryptic hints?
April 25th, 2013 at 11:06 PM ^
Heavy is the flag that flaps in the tsunami breeze.
That's as cryptic as I can make it for you.
April 25th, 2013 at 11:09 PM ^
I was hoping for a "gut feeling". I would literally do a happy dance regardless of location or circumstance.
April 25th, 2013 at 11:13 PM ^
It's not bad news.
April 25th, 2013 at 11:19 PM ^
Tsunami Breeze = Michigan's National Champ. Game Run
Flag = Devin Booker
Breeze = Momentum of the UM program
Therefore, Devin Booker may be much more "heavily" considering Michigan than most though up to this point, even though he plays his recruitment close to the vest.
Disclaimer: no inside info, total Tinfoil theory.
April 26th, 2013 at 12:15 AM ^
Booker was at a LOT of UofM games last year and I had a really good feeling about him. It seemed like he was showing a lot of love to UofM. But then he started getting offers from everywhere.
I don't think he "cooled" necessarily, but even after a great year this year, it's still hard to compete with Kentucky, etc on the national scene.
I do really hope we get Booker though. He's the best prospect we've offered in that class IMO.
This Zimmerman kid is awesome too. It's exciting to see UofM in on elite kids like these ones.
April 25th, 2013 at 11:14 PM ^
April 25th, 2013 at 11:29 PM ^
I think by this point we probably should not expect a super impressive class in 2014. And by that I mean, of the quality of the 2012 and 2013 classes. We may have 1, possibly 2 top 100 type players, but I don't know if we will continue our streak of 5 stars. Obviously a lot can change and players develop, etc. But I think if there were some players that really liked Michigan, we would have seen more early commits like Ricky Doyle who just love the place.
2015 I for some reason feel will be a different story. I think we will be in very good shape to get a really good point guard because A) we have now sent two PGs to the NBA B) Trey Burke hit the best shot of the NCAA tournament to show what PGs in Beilein's system can do and C) I suspect we will handle 2015 PG recruiting very much like 2013. In 2013, we very quickly after mid-June extended offers to 3 highly-touted PGs. Derrick Walton (commit), Demetrius Jackson (ND Commit, top 30 ESPN), and Monte Morris (Iowa State Commit, top 90 ish ESPN, Mr. Basketball Michigan). It feels safe to assume the coaches put a little bit of pressure on the recruits saying they were only taking 1 PG in the class and whoever committed first got it. I expect that helped lead to Derrick committing as early as he did. I think that since we will really want another pure PG in 2015, Beilein will do something similar.
If we landed this kid, it would be a huge get.
Only seen him play one time this past season and was very impressed. Watching Beilein's offense first thing I thought of was he would be perfect for it (of course what 5 start wouldn't be perfect fit in any offense). He played a lot of minutes and didn't tire. Nice touch from the outside too and in warmups was knocking down the 3's. Great shot blocker but the opposing team didn't start anyone over 6'5''. Just to get a visit from a 5 star that is not a local kid shows where this program is at. Probably a long shot but would be thrilled if he came to Michigan.
Should be a epic battle with mainly pac 12 teams right now.
"Center"? O_O!?
He's 7ft, moves well, has obvious ball skills, and he's a sophomore. What do you expect? Another 50 pounds of muscle combined with Tim Duncan post moves? Let the kid get his driver's license at least before writing him off. The upside here is RIDICULOUS, and I can only hope we're fortunate enough to pull him.
Doesn't have that "oh shit!" look on his face that a lot of big guys have with the ball on the floor. He can pop a 15-foot turn-around, but no otherreal-deal post moves that I can see- which is no big deal because he's 16-17 and plays against 6'4" types.
You can teach some post moves and footwork to a kid, but you can't teach 7'. I'm a believer.
April 26th, 2013 at 10:33 AM ^
He'd be our most highly touted recruit since Blanchard (who was top 5 IIRC) if continues his current development.
April 26th, 2013 at 12:08 PM ^
Don't forget that McGary was at one point ranked #2 in the country.
April 26th, 2013 at 12:54 PM ^
...from the highlight video is how far he _doesn't_ have to jump to dunk the ball.
On another note...holy balls, this is a Beilein prototype.
Yes, please.