LaMelo Ball spotted at Crisler Center
WTF doesn't do this justice.
I sure hope we aren't recruiting him. Wouldn't touch the Ball clan with a 10 foot pole.
(@EKouza1)
December 15th, 2018 at 9:49 PM ^
That's appropriate. There was a nice MO sighting at the Laker game. 7 minutes of run, 5pt on 2-4, w/3 boards -- all in garbage time.
December 15th, 2018 at 9:49 PM ^
Maybe the Jordan contract is set to expire and BBB decided to do a pop up ?♂️
December 15th, 2018 at 9:52 PM ^
That is hilarious
December 15th, 2018 at 9:50 PM ^
I want melo ball here don’t care what anyone says.
December 16th, 2018 at 12:31 AM ^
Glad it only took a few comments to see someone rational. The attention the Ball's would bring the program would be huge for recruiting. I hope we recruit him. Just need to be up front with Lavarr that he won't be any closer to the program than any other parent.
December 16th, 2018 at 2:03 AM ^
Coach Beilein could tell him that and no doubt make it stick and Lavar would still make a spectacle of himself.
Hard pass on anything to do with that shitshow.
December 16th, 2018 at 10:51 AM ^
Honestly when was the last time you heard from Lavar? Furthermore how would he hurt the program? Honestly, ppl just have opinions but really do not think in depth about why they have them.
December 16th, 2018 at 1:13 PM ^
It could be the “leopard can’t change his spots” thinking is what wants us to not have him here. Just because we haven’t heard from him ‘lately’ ...
December 16th, 2018 at 10:52 AM ^
The Ball family would be a much better match at Ohio State. Ball is the antithesis of a John Beilein recruit. I hope this is a joke. The Ball experiment was a disaster at UCLA....3 kids committed, they played 1 season total at UCLA (might have been more if LiAngelo didn’t create an international incident by stealing in China). Lonzo has a much different personality than LiAngelo and LaMelo, who both come off as spoiled. The Lithuania experience was a joke. The shoe company that charged an insane amount of money for a show, that then couldn’t produce the shoe was a joke. Last year being a Lakers fan was unbearable with Lonzo’s father. Luckily when Lebron came to town and everyone was on the trading block, including Lonzo, Lamar finally stopped becoming a distraction.
This is more in response to the ridiculous comments above, because at the end of the day Beilein will never bring the Ball family to Michigan.
December 16th, 2018 at 11:42 AM ^
There are lots of people that follow this stuff much more closely than I do, and Lavarr Ball is the only parent of a basketball player that I know about. And there is a reason for that.
December 16th, 2018 at 8:54 AM ^
If your anyone includes Beilein, I'm inclined to believe you are wrong.
Trust in JB.
December 16th, 2018 at 9:35 AM ^
Honestly, why?
Michigan has proven it can be a national title contender with the 3, 4, and minimal 5 star guys they get. The Ball clan is cancerous and I'd wonder if his presence would be a net negative. Beilein usually has great teams, so what are the odds that this is damaged by having the Ball clan infecting your locker room?
December 16th, 2018 at 10:54 AM ^
How are they cancerous? Lonzo and Lavar are apart of the Lakers, and they’re so cancerous one of the greatest b-ball players of all time signed up to play there. Some of these takes are hilarious.
December 16th, 2018 at 11:06 AM ^
Clearly you are not a Lakers fan or you wouldn’t have to ask. Luckily, Lonzo will either click with Lebron this year like he did last night...or he will be on the trading block.
December 16th, 2018 at 12:34 PM ^
I think the Lakers' season is instructive, though. The family was cancerous at UCLA because UCLA let them be -- it just seemed like Alford et al. were wildly deferential until the whole situation became untenable. The Lakers are being far less deferential, as shown, for instance, by signing Rondo when Ball went public with his knee surgery during trade talks. The traveling circus has gone underground, and Lonzo is showing flashes of living up to his draft position -- Jason Kidd comps are reasonable, IMO.
I think it goes without saying that the Beilein approach would be a lot closer to the Lakers' than to UCLA's. If LaMelo can play at a high level (and actually wants to play defense, which I have yet to see), I'd have no problem with him coming to Michigan.
December 16th, 2018 at 12:51 PM ^
You are talking about this year. Last year what a Ball shit show (Lamar not Lonzo).
December 16th, 2018 at 1:59 PM ^
Sure, but I think the moral holds: LaVar's behavior responds to leverage and expectations. For all his buffoonery, he comes off as a more or less rational economic actor trying to goose his personal/family brand. And it seems to have sunk in that the adults of the basketball world aren't putting up with his shit and have less to lose by parting company than he does.
December 16th, 2018 at 9:44 PM ^
If Lebron didn’t come...it would be the same as last year.
December 15th, 2018 at 9:52 PM ^
He would be the best recruit JB would have ever had. I'd trust JB to put him and his family in their place when needed. If he can't, just bench him and let him leave.
That said, I doubt his dad would let him come to a program like Michigan where he has to earn everything even if Michigan decided they would take him. I could see him going to Memphis.
December 15th, 2018 at 9:55 PM ^
Absolutely do not want.
December 15th, 2018 at 9:56 PM ^
I’m sure LaMelo is a good kid and a great basketball player, but he brings unwanted baggage wherever he goes. It’s not his fault but it is what it is.
His father is a cancer to any locker room. If I’m a GM, and I don’t have written guarantees from LaVar that he stays out of my locker room, I don’t want anything to do with any of his sons, no matter how talented they are.
December 16th, 2018 at 10:55 AM ^
How is Lavar hurting the Lakers now?
December 15th, 2018 at 9:56 PM ^
No way in hell. Not because of the kid. I just don't want his dad associated with this program in any possible way.
December 15th, 2018 at 10:04 PM ^
I'm not endorsing his dad, nor implying that his antics are in any way a benefit to a basketball program; but at least what he does is out in the open.
December 15th, 2018 at 10:28 PM ^
Right, if you don't want to hear LaVar trash talkin' UM, then you don't want LaMelo here.
December 15th, 2018 at 10:03 PM ^
He’s at a basketball school with a bunch of big time prospects, possible he just tagged along on a scheduled visit.
December 15th, 2018 at 10:16 PM ^
Maybe I'm being a little too judgy, but from what I've seen from the few "Ball in the Family" episodes I've watched, I doubt he would get accepted into Michigan for academic reasons. Having said that, his skills would fit in on the offensive side of the court, but not the defensive side. He has the physical makeup to be an excellent defender, but I'm not sure he's quite committed to making that improvement.
December 15th, 2018 at 10:25 PM ^
So lets review pros and cons:
Pros:
- His offense
Cons:
- His defense
- Lack of academics
- His dad
- His dad
- His dad
- His dad
1 pro vs. 6 cons. DON'T WANT!!!
December 16th, 2018 at 12:14 AM ^
Great list, but incomplete. Let's complete it:
7. His dad
8. His dad
9. His dad
10. His dad
There, that should do it.
December 16th, 2018 at 12:42 AM ^
Damn, a knew I forgot a few things.
December 15th, 2018 at 10:26 PM ^
Exceptions granted, I don't think the large majority of Michigan's basketball players would be accepted to the school under normal standards.
December 15th, 2018 at 10:43 PM ^
WTF even is "normal standards?"
The virtuoso pianist or artist that is admitted because of their amazing portfolio (and not SAT scores) is somehow less than some kid who took the ACT 6 times to get a 34?
December 15th, 2018 at 10:57 PM ^
do we really admit virtuoso artists without regard to their grades and scores? I'm saying that Mitch McGary would not have gotten into the college of LSA if he were not a basketball player.
December 15th, 2018 at 11:22 PM ^
My daughter auditioned for dance/musical theatre and they told her she needed mid-20s ACT. Average to UM is 29-32. The music department admissions counselor told us that the audition was absolutely the most important factor but they needed to make sure the arts majors had the academic chops to handle the classes. tl:dr is that yes, artists (and athletes) admission standards are a little different.
December 16th, 2018 at 9:18 AM ^
As they are at every school, including the ivy league schools.
December 16th, 2018 at 10:55 AM ^
Michigan has a separate School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. It has a completely difference admissions process than LSA. It awards BFAs and B. Mus to undergrads, as opposed to BAs and BS, and only about 1/4 of your classes are liberal arts classes taken with LSA students. It’s a terrific institution, but it’s also not the correct datapoint for saying that students with performing talents have lower standardized test admission standards, because they aren’t applying to the same school as everyone else.
And sure, athletes could technically be admitted into that school instead of LSA, but as a holder of a Bachelor in Music, I can’t imagine being able to align a rehearsal and performance schedule with practices and games for a major college athletic program.
December 16th, 2018 at 9:09 AM ^
To be fair you ask what normal standards are and then give another abnormal example.
Isn't it a well-known fact that students with special skills or special circumstances get favorable treatment by admissions?
Do you honestly think that an elite athlete of a major money sport has to have a similar GPA, SAT score, and extracurricular activities as the average kid who is kind of good at math and wants to be an engineer?
Sure, some elite athletes have the academic resume to get in to the school they attend, many didn't.
I am a teacher and I had a student who wasn't even in the top third of his class (maybe not even the top half) get into Yale. Why? Sports. Good for him, he was a good kid. Students in his high school class with significantly higher GPAs, test scores, and extracurriculars did not get into any Ivy League schools that they applied to. Without sports - that kid would not be at Yale and probably would have went to GVSU.
UC Berkeley is a great school...they treat athletes of money sports significantly different in admissions than the typical kid. LINK
While most applicants with low scores are turned away, athletes who average just 370 out of a possible 800 in each subject - math, critical reading and writing - are invited to enroll
December 16th, 2018 at 12:05 PM ^
articulated far better than I did
December 15th, 2018 at 11:06 PM ^
Not to mention wealthy alums and donors who get their kids and grandkids in who do not qualify under ‘normal standards’.
Its not just athletes bro.
December 15th, 2018 at 11:05 PM ^
Wait, what? There's a TV show about the Ball's named "Ball in the Family", and you actually watch it? Good God, man...
December 15th, 2018 at 11:11 PM ^
I'm fairly certain LaMelo is ineligible to play in college, but he was heading to UCLA prior to whatever you want to describe the last year or so as for the Ball family. There's no real reason to assume that academics would've kept him out of Michigan.
December 16th, 2018 at 7:39 AM ^
He’s eligible. He played for free in Europe.
December 16th, 2018 at 9:24 AM ^
I forget which is which. I thought one of them was pulled from high school before he even graduated. I don't follow social media but I haven't heard from any Ball in what seems like over a year.
December 16th, 2018 at 9:51 AM ^
It wasn't just playing pro ball. He also had an agent and his own signature shoe.
December 16th, 2018 at 11:10 AM ^
You watch “Ball in the Family”?...and just admitted it? Brahahahaha
December 15th, 2018 at 10:35 PM ^
This is wasted discussion. He’s never coming here.
December 15th, 2018 at 10:36 PM ^
Absolutely do NOT f-ing want because of the father who says all kinds of stupid shit.