Exit: Frankie Collins
It makes no sense, and total sense, and lots of people who think they possess sense are going to imagine themselves capable of passing it on. It's all in vain. Frankie Collins, projected to be Michigan's point guard of the immediate future, is entering the transfer portal.
I'm sure there's an announcement or something I can place here...I'm writing this last night and spending my Saturday trying not to dwell.
After a much-needed freshman year behind Devante' Jones, Collins was—at least in every mind but his—guaranteed to start the majority of Michigan's possessions next year. Shooting aside, his on-ball defense got Michigan to the Sweet 16, and there were more than enough flashes of his finishing at the rim and passing acumen to expect Collins would grow into a taller Zavier Simpson.
Clearly, Collins felt he'd been recruited over when Michigan picked up transfer guard Jaelin Llewellyn, even though he wasn't recruited over, because Llewellyn is a shooting guard and Frankie can't shoot. Again, if that was something that could be communicated it's past.
Unfortunately for Michigan it's still true, which means they're probably going to have to go shopping in the portal for a 30-minute point guard, either a grad transfer, a freshman willing to start his education over, or someone from the rare school our admissions tweeds will concede is a college.
It's 2022, however, so there are some names still out there. Iowa State's Tyrese Hunter was a freshman at an until-recently AAU school. He recently cut down his list to KU, Texas, Tennessee, Purdue, and Zaga, but that was before Michigan opened up—he's originally from Racine, Wisconsin.
On a scale of 1 to WHAT IN THE ACTUAL HELL this is an 11.
I jumped on to see who was drafted and yelled “ what the f&ck!!!” to the surprise of everyone else in the house including myself b/c I did not see this coming, I mean seriously what in the hell?
Not surprising when you consider Frankie attended 3 different high schools in 4 years. He likes to move around.
Is it really so surprising?
Sam said on the Mgoblog roundtable that there's a big gap between what the players feel Michigan should be doing regarding NIL and what Michigan feels it should be doing.
And I've read in several places that Terrence Shannon wanted to come to Michigan but Texas Tech refused to pay for his summer classes that were necessary for him to graduate. You would think the obvious response on Michigan's part would be "Of course we'll pay for the classes!" But instead Shannon is at Illinois.
If we're dealing with an athletic program that won't even scrape together the money for summer tuition, what are the chances they're offering Frankie Collins anywhere near what he should be getting?
And it's not like Collins jumped right into the portal. It was literally the last day.
Sure -- maybe Collins is in the portal because he irrationally thinks he won't get the playing time he wants.
But isn't it way more likely that he (completely rationally) thinks he's not getting nearly the money he deserves, that he waited as long as he possibly could for Michigan to get its act together, and that only when it didn't, he entered the portal.
It's going to be very, very easy to stop watching college sports now. Other than the fans paying for the right to cheer on the laundry, the pretense of anyone caring about the schools is gone. It's all about the money.
Wow, I didn’t see that one coming. Best of luck Frankie. I was always a fan of your energy level that you brought to the team last season.
April 30th, 2022 at 11:08 PM ^
I am confused .... Why are we saying "Best of luck"-- when he was being handed the keys to the team and he left by all accounts for more money.... I don't blame him but.... not "best of luck"
April 30th, 2022 at 11:22 PM ^
He left because he felt the coaching staff didn’t think he was good enough.
April 30th, 2022 at 11:31 PM ^
And you know that how?
We don't know for sure because no coach will ever say it. But we can look at actions of coaching staffs and deduce that is how they may feel (at least in terms of him absorbing majority of minutes and then recruit behind him to take rest). Instead they have recruited over (going to get older, more experienced players) younger guards instead of allowing them to develop through play. In this climate, when players see that (and this is on all levels), it communicates to them (it may be perception over reality), that you don't believe I can play 30 plus minutes at that spot.
The actions of the coaching staff! if they were supremely confident in Frankie, they wouldn’t hit the portal for another small guard.
The coaching staff hit the portal looking for a shooter/scorer in a guard role, plan and simple. Frankie isn't a shooter just yet, and a major weakness of this team is that they cant shoot. Frankie took it against himself. Sad, but thats how alot of these kids think these days. I hope the coaching staff can talk him into deciding to stay.
What?!? They brought in a guard because we had exactly three on the roster. No program wouldn’t bring in another guard in that scenario.
This is 100% on Frankie
Well, this was the one freshman I think everyone wanted to see have a larger role next season. He really seemed to be blossoming into a smart PnR ball handler with excellent finishing ability to go along with his already stout defensive acumen. Such is the way of things in CBB these days. Hopefully Michigan can find an instant contributor out there somewhere. Still need backcourt help for defense + ballhandling + shooting.
What the fuck is this?
I think it's possible that, given Collins's unproven shooting, Juwan may not have been willing to unequivocally hand him the keys to the offense, absent a preseason in which he proved himself. Or there may be other moves underway, other players under consideration. Or we may never find out what prompted this move. (Or maybe Frankie washes up somewhere with a bag, though this is not to cast doubt on his integrity, but to make fun of the whole emerging process a little--he seemed like an appealing kid, and was said to be loving school.)
Clearly, we have entered a period of unprecedented volatility in the college game. I hope that Juwan has the stomach for it.
EDIT: Am hearing from people who may know that Frankie was getting a NUMBER OF offers. If we are going to celebrate when we land a kid with money, then who's to say that they shouldn't be entertaining all the offers that come? Slippery sloppy slope, and far, far from "NIL." Game we won't always win.
If anyone questions a young adult for taking more money to perform a sport, people should ask about that person's integrity, not the players.
Globules: Duke, Kansas, and Kentucky have been winning "the game" for several years without much meaningful competition. (Side note: Their fans are in varying degrees of denial about this. Kansas fans are the worst.) NIL gives us "two wrongs make a right" possibilities.
April 30th, 2022 at 10:14 PM ^
I don't get the relevance of your edit here. I assume Collins was contemplating leaving and then started to entertain offers, including NIL deals, from others. That makes sense.
This isn't some slippery slope. Guys have jumped to other programs for playing time, better facilities, access to better coaching and paths to the pros, personal connections, etc. And that's not even mentioning the under-the-table money that was also thrown around. It's been like this forever, and the only difference now is that the money is above-board and guys aren't forced to lie about it or risk being deemed ineligible.
April 30th, 2022 at 10:21 PM ^
It isn't a slippery slope that guys will be getting whispered to as soon as they slip in the pecking order or new recruits threaten their status, by other teams, boosters, and coaches? That teams will be whipsawed by these currents, that they'll--quite obviously--grow much more intense than they were? That this could happen with the same player, year after year, and with whole teams, everyone spending time eyeing their market value while they slip in a little practice, school, and campus cultural activity on the side? What is a slippery slope, in your definition?
ya right. so juwan recruited dug mcdaniel right behind him because he is such a lights out shooter.
Juwan might have the stomach for it. But I don't think i do.
It's not that I think we should go back to the pre-NIL pre-transfer portal days because from a labor ethics perspective I think today's system, for all its warts is better for the average player. But it just makes it suck as a fan
This is the state of college athletics today
Next.....
Good Luck to Frankie
and it fukn sucks.
Don’t Frankie and Juwan go way back? This is so strange/annoying. If the plan is to play Bates at the PG spot and Llewellen at the PG spot I suppose that is genius in a way but still a long way to go on that front. And why would TWill suggests something is amiss? Not knowing the back story of all this is so frustrating.
I thought the same thing about the potential impact on this decision due to Bates possibly coming in. If that ends up being the reason Collins is leaving, it already wasn't worth it to go after Bates IMO.
Being a Michigan sports fan:
Fucking depressing. If this is really about us recruiting a 2 guard to play next to him, yikes.
Sounds like he doesn't like competition.
The one thing I hope this isn’t about. Emoni as PG. Mainly for the team’s sake.
Good luck, Frankie.
Emoni Bates is the Keyser Soze of Michigan Basketball this week.
Have a nice life, Frankie.
Not sure how I feel about this, he played out of control too often, was awful at outside and FT shooting .
He's not NBA material, IMO but I wish him luck unless he plays us.
April 30th, 2022 at 10:30 PM ^
If he's not NBA-caliber, then it makes sense for him to earn as much $$$ as possible in college.
Godspeed, young man. We'll always have Colorado State.
This is so frustrating. So many of our guys bail early, when Sparty seems to keep them longer than most would expect them to stay. It just doesn’t make sense. There must be something else going on with Frankie?
Well, compared to Sparty, our players are actually good
Was really excited to see him in charge next year...
Best of luck to him but... fuck!!
247 dude (Dotman) said JL was recruited for PG not SG.
April 30th, 2022 at 11:30 PM ^
"Dotman" is just a random poster on their board. The "sources" people use,
Sam Webb confirmed what he said as well later.
He's a mod on the 247 site. Not really a good one, but he's not just a poster.
I will never understand the Dot love. He posts a bunch of cryptic shit that he hears and then gets upset if people call him on it or ask him to explain what he is actually saying.
Love how it’s just assumed this is about Emoni Bates even though there’s no actually evidence that he’s coming to Michigan. Also it’s possible Juwan wasn’t absolutely sold on Collins as PG1. The kid had a really nice couple tournament games but otherwise was a bit all over the place and can’t shoot. It’s much better to have a PG who’s a shooting threat, Zavier notwithstanding. There’s probably more to this story than we currently know.
Regardless, it would be nice if Howard could just recruit a freshman PG who sticks, rather than relying on a transfer turnstile.
Simpson developed into a respectable shooting threat. I remember him nuking MSU with 3's once and Izzo complaining in his press conference about players making shots that don't normally do. I was hoping Collins would follow a similar path, but alas.
Best of luck to him. He could be a star wherever he goes. This is just how it is nowadays, I guess.
April 30th, 2022 at 11:02 PM ^
Lol, wut? Zavier’s (lack of) shooting was reason #1 (of several) that they did not win it all.
(NOTE: I’m taking an insane scale here…. Natty. Win it all - your PG needs to be an above average shooter… not significantly below average)
April 30th, 2022 at 11:18 PM ^
Izzo's comment was actually accurate. Simpson had 1 or 2 surprisingly good shooting days, but mostly was an extreme liability as a shooter. That's why teams sagged off him.
When you play smart odds and lose that bites….Izzo played smart odds challenging Xavier to beat him on open three pointers.
"There’s probably more to this story than we currently know. '
Of course...as fans we seldom know the full story. And, as the wheel turns on big-time, big money college sports I'm not sure we could stomach the truth behind our beloved teams and sports.
Doesn’t anybody stay in one place any more?
Tapestry
You get one crown for this post.
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