Burke: Latest, Options Otherwise
After yesterday we're in limbo between totally boned and a two seed, which is better than life at around 4 yesterday when we were just totally boned. If you didn't see it on twitter yesterday, the (still unconfirmed) source who posted that Burke was out the door retracted that citing a "change of heart."
Unfortunately, it is the sort of change of heart that reduces the chances of departure from 100% to something less than that but certainly not zero. This was echoed by Sam Webb on Scout. They're saying that Burke wants to go and that Beilein (surprise!) and his parents are trying to talk of him out of it. That's the good news. You may have noticed it isn't very good news.
The bad news comes from a Daily reporter who twitpic'd Trey Burke's garbage-bag laden dorm room…
…and, oddly, Alex Guptill, who tweeted this to teammate Andrew Sinelli:
@ASinelli17 well now we [know why] Trey hasn't shown up to move sci for the last month haha
If that bit's true it could be hard to undo what is (almost) done, and then Burke's parting gift would be be an APR hit for leaving ineligible. That's a low blow there.
I'm not feeling very confident Burke returns. Let's meet some hurried stop-gap measures…
Spike Albrecht and Amedeo Della Valle
You know the stories on these two guys, who were covered in an earlier post after the trio of transfers a couple weeks ago. Albrecht is on campus as we speak and given his other options…
Ivy League schools, Davidson, Vermont, Appalachian State and others came calling, and he's since decided to close it down to others.
…it's hard to see him turning down an offer.
I took in most of Albrecht's game against Hargrave last night to get an idea of what he might bring to the table. One man's amateur scouting report: good shooter with decent quickness offensively, pass-first mentality and ability to find the open shooter. Big men had terrible hands, which makes his assist numbers more impressive. Not going to generate shots for himself often. He'll drive into traffic looking to pass. Poor defender.
Della Valle, meanwhile, was a little underwhelming as Findlay Prep's fifth offensive option in the ESPN national something something invitational classic. He had some nice plays here and there but he was an afterthought. Given the rest of the roster that's understandable. I'd still take him.
RJ Evans
Evans is the closest thing to Brandon Wood available at the moment. A three-year starter at Holy Cross, Evans missed most of his junior year with an injury. He's planning on taking his talents elsewhere for his senior year, preferably at a place with a good MBA program:
Evans would like to pursue a master's degree in business after graduating in May. He has one year of eligibility remaining due to the fact that he missed the majority of the 2010-11 season with a sports hernia.
Michigan fits the bill and can offer playing time on what should still be a tournament team. Evans previously said he was likely to end up at UConn…
Right now, his first choice is UConn.
"It's hard for it not to be (my first choice) because I'm a hometown kid and it would be a great opportunity in general and hard to pass up...," Evans said. "It would be pretty cool if I ended up at UConn."
…which is in his hometown, but you'd have to think a contributing role on a tourney team with one of the best business schools in the country would be appealing.
Unfortunately, Evans is not Brandon Wood. Wood was a massive-usage player with ORtgs around 108 in the Horizon League. He was probably the top player in that league both years he played. Evans's ORtg was 99 last year and significantly worse as an underclassman. He's never been able to shoot threes; his free throw shooting was a dismal 59% last year. So he can't shoot at all.
Arguments in his favor: he did pop up to high usage last year and had a good assist rate. At 6'3" he's got good size. And he is not dead, which makes him better than the alternative. Michigan can take him without occupying a scholarship for 2013. There is no downside.
Secret Unknowns
There don't appear to be any other unsigned point guards Michigan can pursue. The only uncommitted guy Rivals ranks is headed for JUCO; EMU commit Ray Lee has bounced through four high schools in his high school career and got booted from the prep school he attended briefly.
As far as other grad-year guys go, there are no other immediately-eligible guards who seem like plausible fits on Goodman's transfer list… yet. It's possible graduating guys at lower-level schools see an opportunity after the NBA draft is settled. For instance, Colorado State just lost its coach and has two starting guards entering fifth years: Wes Eikmeier and Jesse Carr. (Eikmeier already transferred from Iowa State, so I'm not sure he would be immediately eligible.)
There are other guys out there who might want to try their hand at a higher level. Michigan would be a logical landing spot.
I had friends freshman year who were gung ho about school when they first showed up but when they found out what it was really going to be like realized it wasn't for them. It wasn't that they were immature or that they weren't willing to work their asses off, it just wasn't what they were willing to work their asses off at.
Well, to be fair, my room kind of looked like that in the dorms. I used trash bags as laundry bags and would rarely do laundry until it had to be done. This could be the same time of thing. With that said, everything does look to point towards him leaving, which is very unfortunate because we need him for another year, but I also think he needs another year in college to develop his skills.
I know of two people that have lost significant portions of their wardrobe from others taking such bags of clothing to the trash. Not two smart people, but two people. CSB
There's a good chance that isn't Trey Burke's room; it's very likely to belong to Angelina (she, of Jersey Shore Season 1 fame). Either that, or they both share the same luggage.
also reflect the fact that he is still unpacking in his freshmen year. With all the early games, practice and class, he may have not had time to do this.
So much for competing for the Big Ten title again next season.
Its nice to see Trey going early second round, but remember that these Mock Drafts for the most part do not include many of the International players that will declare in the next couple weeks. They dont have the same deadline to return to school. This will bump trey 3-4 spots if not more.
I mean seriously. If I'm a college basketball player and projected as a second round draft pick, I'm staying in school to work on my game to increase my draft stock. I know it's easy for me to say as a non-athlete and outsider, but I think the choice is pretty obvious.
The fact that he supposedly hasn't been to "mov sci" in a few weeks isn't dispositive of anything.
Movement Science, assuming it's 101, is a lecture that ALL Kines' freshman have to take--including myself back in the day. NO ONE ever goes, it's always early in the morning (mine was M, W, F), it's boring as shit, and no attendance is taken.
Of course, student-athletes don't really have the luxury that I did when I'd just sleep through that hideously boring class, but the requirements of them having to go to class aren't always strictly enforced, especially when its a class that doesn't take attendance.
Unless Beilein specifically asks them everyday if anyone had missed class (as Lloyd Carr did when I used to work with the football team), how would he really know?
And would the APR be affected any differently if they just straight up left without finishing a class as opposed to finishing it but leaving early anyway?
if they're in good academic standing when they leave.
So the lecturer for Movement Science 101 is always talking to an empty lecture hall? Somehow I doubt that's the case.
"Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."
reminds me of the 80s teen flick that had a tape recorder on each desk in the lecture hall. "Real Genius"? i can't remember.
IIRC, maybe between 10-15 would show out of a capacity of about 60. I probably went 1.5 times/week. It's one of those classes where you can get all of the Power Points online and really not miss a beat. Ahhh, Kines!
If his parents and Beilein are trying to convince him to stay, I think the "20-35" report is bunk. If he had any likelihood of being a first rounder I suspect his dad would probably be OK with his leaving to give it a shot. More likely the NBA advisory advice was or is going to be the same "second round or undrafted" that basically all the draft analysts have said out there.
"For every Kobe or LeBron, there are 100 Lenny Cooke's."
Maybe someone should send this article to Trey.
http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story/_/id/7778070/dallas-mavericks-mark-…
He hasn't vacated it.
Here is Beilein's statement on MGoBlue.com:
http://www.mgoblue.com/blog/2012/04/inside-michigan-beilein-weekly-11.html
Interesting. Maybe a lot of people are jumping the gun here.
Publishing a photo of a 18 year old's dorm room feels really invasive; I'm sorry I saw it. Did Burke give his permission to publish it? If not, it's way over the line of creepy stalking.
(It doesn't matter that someone else published it first.)
I have no problems if Burke leaves early. It is his life. Michigan will adjust. Perhaps the ceiling will not be as high. But we will have an opportunity to recruit some one else next year.
In regards to Burke leaving, it is a very immature decision. Everything I have read is that he would most likely go undrafted. A lot of underclassmen PG's are also declaring early. The NBA is about raw physical ability. At sub 6 feet Burke has to be a complete player or have some obscene ability that is extraordinary even in the NBA . He has shown neither. I agree with some of the other posters that Moris has a better NBA game and he is stuck in the minor leagues. Burke showed some very nice things. However, he did not show that consistant domination that you expect from a NBA style player going up against inferior competition.
Well good luck. It is his choice.
So Sam Webb also backed off and said it isn't 100% anymore?
He said this morning that Burke is probably gone but that there is room for hope.
We definitely pay our players, look at that room
now I am worrying if Trey comes back, will he have his head and heart in it?
I guess 50% of Trey is better than no Trey.
That haven't signed a letter of intent yet?
OMG, this is the same furniture from over 15 years ago.
Have a hard time believing he'd take a one-year stint at UConn given their post-season ban next year.
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