BBall Recuiting - New 2020 Target/Jordan Kwiecinski
Based on everything I've been able to gather, Kwiecinski has the look of a prospect the coaching staff will take a wait and see approach on...……..essentially let's re-evaluate in the Spring/Summer (AAU) to determine if we get serious or not.
January 19th, 2019 at 3:43 PM ^
Looks like an interesting player and is still not super physically mature. Is he wait and see guy due to him being so skinny? Being a back up plan? Or other factors?
January 19th, 2019 at 3:55 PM ^
I’d say he’s likely a backup plan as of now considering he camped At Michigan in June and followed that up with a visit in September.
January 19th, 2019 at 4:14 PM ^
Someone make the kid a sandwich, with extra meat...
January 19th, 2019 at 4:33 PM ^
January 19th, 2019 at 4:37 PM ^
Any word on C targets for the 2020 class? I know we’re after Kessler but not optimistic with Duke now involved and Virginia a little closer to home than us.
January 19th, 2019 at 8:09 PM ^
Don't have any nuggets for Cs in the 20 class. Duke is the 'it' school, and has replaced Kentucky that way...……….I wouldn't get my hopes up for Kessler.
January 19th, 2019 at 9:58 PM ^
Do you think Castelton will be ready to take the backup center minutes next year? We also desperately need someone who can spell Simpson and Poole and I'm not convinced Nunez is going to be that guy and we already know Brooks isn't. Does JB go grad transfer route or does he try and add a high end recruit in the spring space permitting? Should be interesting but the lack of bench production from anyone but Livers is concerning.
January 20th, 2019 at 12:14 PM ^
In terms of raw skill, I think Castleton is likely the best Center we've ever signed under Coach Beilein. He most definitely has some Pau Gasol like qualities to his game. The question is whether he's physically ready in terms of strength, and can he keep up with the speed of a Big Ten game. My guess is that he'll be ready to contribute for short stints next year.
January 20th, 2019 at 3:18 PM ^
Castleton may be ready and maybe not, hard to tell. But I think Johns definitely will be ready. Also, keep in mind we have Jaron Faulds a 6'10" transfer from Columbia who could be ready next year to see some minutes at center. I don't think depth should be an issue next year. We'll lose Matthews and maybe one of Poole and Iggy, but besides that, we have everyone else returning plus current freshmen should see some minutes plus Jaron Faulds. Next year will be pretty interesting considering our team will be pretty veteran
January 19th, 2019 at 9:08 PM ^
I'd love to add another in 2019 and process Davis and Brooks if possible.
January 19th, 2019 at 9:26 PM ^
I never want to ‘process’ any kid, but I will say that I thought both Brooks and Davis were incredible reaches at the time they were offered. Didn’t think either was a B10 prospect from a physical standpoint and that may end up being true.
January 19th, 2019 at 9:44 PM ^
I guess I dont understand why our recruiting isnt better than it is? We have def had the results on the court in the last 5 years to produce more top 100 to top 50 recruits than we have. Here we have been sitting top 2 most of the year and undefeated and you're saying dont get your hope up on Kessler? Why not because hes exactly the type of interior talent we need to be bringing in? And I know hoops recruiting is even dirtier than football but theres a ton of talent out there. We have offense and defense now to show recruits.
January 19th, 2019 at 11:28 PM ^
“Dirtier” basically eliminates the top 30 or so recruits. There should be ample talent from 30-75.
I agree with the conclusion - why is a stretch/reach prospect even on the board for the #2 team a year after playing for the NC and run by one of the best talent developers?
January 20th, 2019 at 7:35 AM ^
I think we’ve done some good recruiting recently. Belein seems to not be into 1 and done recruits. Probably because he wants to teach them his offensive philosophy and it takes time. That rules out 1-30 ranking. He has done pretty well recruiting 30-100 kids lately.
January 20th, 2019 at 11:58 AM ^
He can't get 1 and dones. It's not because he's "not into them" it's because CBB is a cesspool. That said there are a handful every year that are recruitable and he should be going after those guys.
January 20th, 2019 at 12:24 PM ^
I think recruiting has been good, bordering on very good, starting with the 2017 class. I think what you may be asking (please correct me if I'm wrong) is why can't we land elite 5star/one and done type prospects?
The simple answer is that we will probably never have that sort of profile under Coach Beilein. Elite, 5star/one and done prospects generally have longwinded recruitments that carry on for the better part of 2-3 years...……..Coach Beilein simply isn't the type of coach that is going to text/call a kid every day, multiple times per day, unless that same level of interest is reciprocated.
The best way I can analogize this is through a dating lens. Coach Beilein utilizes the 50s/60s dating philosophy of dating your better half for 6-9 months and then getting married, having kids, living happily ever after. 5star/Top 20 prospects utilize the millennial model - date for 3-4 years, figure out if this person is right for you, and then either move on to someone else or perhaps move in with one another. Coach Beilein isn't willing to take the risk associated with the millennial model if that makes sense. Under his strategy, you either want to be at Michigan or you don't. He's not going to play the waiting game for more than 6-9 months.
January 20th, 2019 at 4:10 PM ^
I do agree our recruiting has been on an upswing. The one area I haven't seen it at is inside at the 5 position. Maybe Castleton is that guy.
When does Michigan's success start selling itself with the winning, the NBA prep, facilities, offense and defense, etc?
Will Beilein continue to pluck International players due to the risks associated with top 50 players?
January 19th, 2019 at 9:45 PM ^
Think it's already true, they are warm bodies and nothing more. It's too bad the freshman aren't coming along faster. At least this crop of assistant coaches appear to have convinced JB to go after a higher caliber recruit and stop settling as much as he had been. In the last two classes all but Nunez were/are top 100 kids and 2020 is off to a great start as well.
January 20th, 2019 at 10:59 AM ^
Brooks isn’t flashy, but I think he’s shown enough this year that he can be a fine option off the bench. He needs to shoot more when he’s open. He had 2-3 open shots yesterday that he pulled out of for whatever reason. He and DeJuluis will fight it out for the backup spot next year. And even if he beats DDJ next year, I can’t imagine he would do it his senior year and DDJ’s junior year as DDJ has a much higher ceiling and can shoot it off the dribble and be better in the PnR. Zeb Jackson will be a freshman that year and may not be ready for backup duty. So it’ll be good to have Brooks around. Depending on how the offseason goes, he may want to go somewhere where he’d get more playing time. But if he stays, he is good enough for those 5-10 minutes where we’d need him. He’s getting more PT this year because we don’t have a solid backup 2 at the moment, so he backs up Poole and X.
January 20th, 2019 at 11:56 AM ^
Brooks has shown absolutely nothing this year for you or anyone to think he's going to be a capable contributor. He has a worse 3 PT shooting % than Zavier Simpson. He's gone scoreless 4 times and failed to score more than 3 points 12 times despite playing 15 minutes a game. He's bad on defense. He's a warm body and nothing more.
January 20th, 2019 at 2:17 PM ^
His advanced stats tell a different story. His shooting from deep is a small sample size. If he had made two more, he’d be shooting 38% from deep which is pretty good. Never said he’s anything more than a backup and he’s proven better than our other options at the backup 1&2
January 20th, 2019 at 7:35 AM ^
The kid fits into that flexible category that enables you to forge mismatches. Physically he looks to be at least the 6'6" I see him being listed...doesn't look like he is done growing. I'm guessing the offer is based more on getting your name in the hat because of the upside he might develop into...rather than who he is right now.