WolvinLA2

April 24th, 2014 at 12:06 PM ^

Exactly.  So many times over the last few months I heard how bad this class was and that it lacked a "blue chip" recruit.  Sure, it would have been nice to have Booker or Blackmon in addition to these guys (or more likely, in place of MAAR), but I think it's turning out just fine.

alum96

April 24th, 2014 at 12:38 PM ^

The 2012 class may go down as the best in the past 30-40 years... I know Fab 5 had more high end talent but this one will have 5 NBA players... the Fab 5 had 4 (I don't remember how long King lasted in the NBA).  And all 5 players from the 2012 class are tracking to early entry.  I know it is a different era but King and Jackson stayed all 4 years - none of the 2012 kids will barring massive shock.

Hard to compare anything to 2012 in retrospect.... we went 5/5 on early entry NBA players in that class!   2014 has a chance to do good things like the 2013 group - and certainly will have more players in it.

alum96

April 24th, 2014 at 12:42 PM ^

Oops you are right - my bad.  I was thinking about the starting lineup from last year's FF team all going to the NBA early.  That wasn't one recruiting class. (brain fart)

Ok 4 for 5, all to the NBA early :)

Let's conservatively say it was the 2nd best class in UM's past 30+ years.

alum96

April 24th, 2014 at 1:13 PM ^

Yes different era but 3 of those 5 did leave early (Webber Howard Rose) even back in those days. 

King I don't know if he would have left early in this era, probably he would have ranked similar to THJ but maybe wowed scouts in predraft with his athleticism.  He ended up being a 2nd round pick back then.  He probably would be viewed similar to GR3 today if he left early - potential upside  with great raw athleticism etc.

 

Ali G Bomaye

April 24th, 2014 at 1:20 PM ^

Webber left after his sophomore season because he was the consensus #1 overall pick, and Rose and Howard were both lottery picks after their junior season.  Back then, "leaving early" almost always meant playing three years, and plenty of NBA-bound players played four years.  In 1993, we almost certianly wouldn't be seeing GRIII make the leap now, and we'd probably have another year of Stauskas as well.

dahblue

April 24th, 2014 at 5:04 PM ^

Absolutely correct.  The Fab 5 was just that much better than any other group.  I love all of our modern-era kids, but none of them (at the time of leaving as sophomores) had the dominant game of Webber.  All would have stayed at least 3 years.

Elmer

April 24th, 2014 at 12:44 PM ^

This got me thinking about the value to the program of certain recruits.  I believe GR3 and Mitch were the highest rated recruits two years ago.  Caris was not even close to any Top 100 list.  Yet if he does stay all four years and keeps progressing, his impact will be much bigger than either Mitch or Glenn, if Mitch also leaves for the NBA this week  

Add in Trey being the best player in decades and being only a 3*, and I'm starting to care less and less about basketball player rankings.  As long as we land a solid mix of kids like this year (two top 100, two solid role players), we'll be fine. ...as long as Beilein is on the bench.

alum96

April 24th, 2014 at 12:49 PM ^

Jordan needs respect here too - he is our guard/wing expert it appears and we were not having this level of success in development the first few years of Beilein with the old staff.  Much like Narduzzi/Dantonio I am not sure who you give the credit too more though or what is the chicken and what is the egg. 

Is it because we are getting players more suited to our system, is it because Beilein's last 4 years were his recruits versus fitting round pegs in square holes with Amaker's, is it because Jordan is just a bad ass developer of talent and combined with Beilein's back to basics approach in fundamentals is resulting in quantum leaps?  Unknown.  But if I was UM I'd be locking up Jordan for as long as Brandon can since this combination just works.

I am shocked we have not heard Jordan's name out there as a mid major candidate this year.  If I was a mid major I'd be looking at Beilein's staff really closely to get some of this magic into my program.

WolvinLA2

April 24th, 2014 at 12:24 PM ^

No one said the word "most" or "majority" but you.  I said a lot of people were complaining that this was a bad class, and that's true.  Just because >50% thought it was good doesn't change the fact that many on this board complained about how Beilein struck out this time around.  

I never suggested that the majority complained, but that a sginificant minority did, which is ridiculous.  

gwkrlghl

April 24th, 2014 at 12:10 PM ^

Edit:

Instead of being snarky, I think it may be time to introduce the Beilein Certainty Principle. Most recruits who Beilein gets will move up in the rankings before they show up on campus

alum96

April 24th, 2014 at 12:09 PM ^

'Crooting!

Nice move by Wilson.

Doyle seems raw - I think the lack of camps really hurts him.  He is a dude who is playing guys 4-5 inches shorter than him in Florida so he is a bit of a mystery.  Seems like he'd be well served by RS, although if Mitch goes there will be no choice but to play him next year.

Chatman at 38 or 28 or 25 - he is a high end prospect that is going to be forced to play big minutes next year.  GR3 played 33 min a night at the 4 as a freshman, and now that we see his size is 6'8 210ish, that seems the exact same role for Chatman next year.

alum96

April 24th, 2014 at 12:45 PM ^

Yes probably that is a better terminology.  Just his level of competition from what I read is not the greatest and he is not playing guys his size/height almost at all in HS so you don't know how he adjusts to that.  If he was playing in Chicago or wherever he'd be facing athletes more of his size/bulk and his game would probably be farther along in terms of having to adjust to talent of similar ilk across from you.

umumum

April 24th, 2014 at 12:54 PM ^

that suggests otherwise.  Virtually no high(er) end competition.  Ranked well outside of the top 100 despite his size.  Film that doesn't say differently.  The only reason we have for optimism on Doyle is this staff's recent track record.  Saying he is raw or a project doesn't seem unwarranted.

EastCoast Esq.

April 24th, 2014 at 12:09 PM ^

And the trend with Beilein continues...

What happens if he gets the #1 recruit in the country one day? Will they have to create a higher ranking since all of Beilein's recruits turn out to be better than originally thought?