First MBB recruiting domino falls as Auburn Top 100 2018 commit bails
UL press conference at 1p today to fire Pitino. Epect MANY moving pieces among major recruits the next few weeks. Could be entering a golden period for Michigan hoops.
http://www.espn.com/college-sports/recruiting/basketball/mens/story/_/i…
September 27th, 2017 at 12:50 PM ^
September 27th, 2017 at 2:11 PM ^
Yeah, this feels like a bullet dodged with these players. No reason to get back in front of the gun.
September 27th, 2017 at 11:50 AM ^
Will Michigan really gain anything from this? Unless they actually go after every single dirty program and Michigan is the only one left standing, I'm not sure that there will be any benefit for Michigan.
September 27th, 2017 at 11:53 AM ^
No. Because that would never happen.
Could but Michigan can ride a wave of being the "clean" program and maybe we are in the mix for the top kids around the country who want to live within the rules and do things the right way? Probably wishful thinking, but that's the only positive I can think of this...is somehow we push this "we're the clean school" brand and some kids actually bite.
I think it's far more likely we just sit this one out and let the chips fall where they may, knowing we're going the right thing and we always have (under our current head coach).
September 27th, 2017 at 11:58 AM ^
Yeah, unfortunately it's hard to see this paying off for M in the short run. I guess the one way it could is if R.J. Barrett decides he prefers the certaintly of Beilein's squeaky-clean program over some of the alternatives.
Long-term, hopefully the FBI investigation will deter some of the shenanigans that have put clean programs at a competitive disadvantage. But that seems unlikely and would be impossible to quantify.
September 27th, 2017 at 12:02 PM ^
was the NCAA ??? of course in the corner looking the other way..To me this just emphasizes how disfunctional the NCAA is...The NCAA should be under indictment for allowing this to take place..You cannot convince me that they werent aware of at least some of this
September 27th, 2017 at 12:24 PM ^
What the NCAA's people knew and what they could prove with evidence are two different things, especially with no subpeona power and the U.S. Attorneys' Offices on speed dial. These are two things the FBI has. Weren't we all lambasting them for messing up the Miami (YTM) investigation? The Hurricanes walked off with a wrist slap because the NCAA investigators violated ethics. There was not much question that a lot of bad stuff happened with Miami athletes.
September 27th, 2017 at 12:25 PM ^
Yes, it could help us if we are seen as stable while other top programs are in a state of uncertainty about their future.
Recruits hate uncertainty more than anything else.
The longer this whole episode drags on, the better it is for us.
September 27th, 2017 at 12:00 PM ^
We can all appreciate the irony with Michigan basketball now being sold as the "clean" program.
September 27th, 2017 at 12:22 PM ^
Because it is.
It needed to be changed . . . and it was.
September 27th, 2017 at 12:48 PM ^
Indeed on all counts. Still ironic though.
September 27th, 2017 at 12:22 PM ^
But aren't we already in the mix for the top kids that want a squeaky clean program? Isn't that why Beilien is a perpetual runner-up to scumbag operations?
September 27th, 2017 at 12:34 PM ^
The problem with this theory is that it appears that virtually all of the kids have already experienced the racket before they get to college. If Michigan is a clean program, that will be a change for the ethical for most of these kids (and I don't mean the KIDS are unethical, it's the people in charge). So if a college program is dirty too, what's the difference?
It seems like a gamechanger that Adidas is implicated in this. Tip of the iceberg. No way Adidas has feelers here and Nike doesn't. No way at all.
September 27th, 2017 at 12:59 PM ^
I was talking about the kids who AREN'T in this "system" of taking money, but still go to the "dirty programs."
For example, Luke Kennard, who I hate to use because he's white and this isn't a race thing. Maybe Michigan is REALLY in the mix with a player like that if the Louisville's and Arizona's are out.
I'm talking about the 5* kid who is doing all of the right things. We're not getting those guys either and some of them are going to schools like Louisville and Arizona and USC. If more of these programs come out...say Kentucky. Maybe that helps a school like Michigan be in the mix more often.
Still have to win. We're still not Duke. It's still wishful thinking.
But I wasn't talking about the guys who've been influenced in HS or before.
September 27th, 2017 at 12:01 PM ^
No, because shoe companies and schools are still paying.
This will change nothing.
Even at the schools that got caught (in the long-term).
September 27th, 2017 at 12:21 PM ^
True. Old habits die hard.
If Louisville saw no problem in going right back to cheating 1 month after being put on probation, then you know that a lot of programs approach it the same way.
They just aren't worried about it.
Now, give Louisville the death penalty and they may lay low for a year or two.
I would not expect too much, though. SMU got the death penalty in football and the entire SEC still had no problems continuing cheating as a way of life.
September 27th, 2017 at 7:41 PM ^
September 27th, 2017 at 11:55 AM ^
we look all right, and really don't have space. I'd look to the next two years, where we are likely to have more space, and can allow the shake-out to occur. Many top programs, who rely on bagmen, will have to dramatically alter their approach. And, many of the top "recruiters" (bagmen) are going to either be out, or very reluctant to ply their trade with the potential of people wearing wires.
September 27th, 2017 at 11:57 AM ^
Something tells me Beilein isn't going after kids who had Lousiville high on their list, and even if he was they probably won't be interested when he tells them we don't pay.
He's the polar opposite of Pitino.. completely clean and honest. Go Blue!
September 27th, 2017 at 11:59 AM ^
of nervous coaches and players across the country right now....tip of the iceberg?
September 27th, 2017 at 12:04 PM ^
September 27th, 2017 at 12:22 PM ^
September 27th, 2017 at 12:41 PM ^
so Barrett is likely out, not that we had much chance to begin with.
September 27th, 2017 at 12:17 PM ^
I'm sad.
A lot of these top 100 recruits will have to take a pay cut now.
September 27th, 2017 at 12:26 PM ^
Can't we just implement a $15/hr minimum wage, already?
(I probably need this: /s)
September 27th, 2017 at 12:31 PM ^
More like $1500/hr in the NCAA.
September 27th, 2017 at 12:42 PM ^
September 27th, 2017 at 1:08 PM ^
September 27th, 2017 at 2:51 PM ^
Exactly. I mean, there's no way to really pay these kids without opening up a whole bottle of a different kind of mess. It's just too many players in men's and women's college sports.
September 27th, 2017 at 12:53 PM ^
I wonder if we'll be in on any of the other guys who will undoubtedly be de-committing. Even if we're not, doesn't matter. Beilein gets his guys no matter what and makes them into great players.
September 27th, 2017 at 12:54 PM ^
many think and the US Attorney makes it impossible for schools/shoe companies/agents to pay the players in ALL sports, some of those questionable commitments of the past (yes, I'm looking at you Laquan Treadwell) likely go away as well.
The decision making process for these top recruits won't include the bag man element and I would assume that helps UM.
September 27th, 2017 at 12:58 PM ^
I think we'll do well because schools will be less likely to brazenly cheat, but I wouldn't anticipate that we'll pick up many guys decommitting from the schools being investigated. The type of guy who's basing his college decision on an under-the-table payment probably isn't the kind of guy who John Beilein is targeting anyway.
September 27th, 2017 at 12:58 PM ^
Always liked Beilein not only for his obvious guru coaching skills but he refused to play the games and get dirty.
GO BLUE!!
September 27th, 2017 at 1:07 PM ^
scandal. Not good for the U
September 27th, 2017 at 1:16 PM ^
I was musing about this earlier with someone, and I wonder if the next few weeks will see a flurry of rapid decommitment / re-commitment to other programs in the wake of all this. As it won't stop with Pitino (and hasn't, it seems from some other news now breaking), so it will be with recruits. Teams will end up looking very different than they otherwise might have - this could get interesting for teams not involved in this scandal, I imagine.
September 27th, 2017 at 1:30 PM ^
Anyone have an idea what the rankings cut off line is for payments from these Shoe companies? 100k for top 25? top 50 or top 100, or is it a sliding scale?
September 27th, 2017 at 1:58 PM ^
September 27th, 2017 at 2:11 PM ^
