It's Official - Moritz Wagner is a Wolverine

Submitted by EastCoast Esq. on

U-M announces that German forward Moritz Wagner has signed his LOI for the 2015-16 academic year.

— Joshua Henschke (@JoshuaHenschke) May 29, 2015

Also, a cool little tidbit

Michigan formally announces addition of Moritz Wagner, the first German player in program history http://t.co/KPTTpzJYg8

— Brendan F. Quinn (@BFQuinn) May 29, 2015

justingoblue

May 29th, 2015 at 4:42 PM ^

Here's the press release:

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan men's basketball head coach John Beilein announced today (Friday, May 29) the signing of 6-foot-10 German forward Moritz Wagner to a National Letter of Intent. Wagner will join the Wolverines for the 2015-16 academic year. "Moe is a long and versatile player," said Beilein. "He has a great understanding of the game with a tremendous upside. As a product of Germany, he has always played against men five to even 10 years older than him, which has only helped his growth as a player. As he continues in his development, Moe's skill and athleticism will allow him to eventually play multiple positions for us. He just turned 18 years old, so we are excited about his potential. Moe's engaging personality and passion for the game will make him a very valuable asset to our team now and in the years to come." A Berlin native, Wagner played 18 games in his second season with ALBA Berlin in 2014-15, averaging 16.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He recorded 15 games in double figures, including a career-best 25 against RSV Eintracht (Oct. 12, 2014) -- including going 9-for-13 from the field. He finished the season shooting 56.6 percent from the field and 72.5 percent on free throws. In the 2015 NBBL North Playoff, he helped Alba Berlin reach the semifinal. He played in the 2015 NBBL All-Star game, helping the North team to a 67-63 win, scoring 14 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Wagner was also part of the 2015 Belgrade adidas Next Generations Tournament, helping ALBA Berlin to a 3-2 record and a third-place finish. He played in all five games, averaging 9.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2.0 steals per game. In 2014, he helped guide ALBA Berlin to the NBBL German Championship after a 69-56 win over CYBEX Urspring.

Miami Maize

May 29th, 2015 at 4:43 PM ^

May Moritz prove to be our own version of a Dirk Nowitski.  If he's even half that good being maybe 4 inches shorter, then we got ourselves a serious German.  

East German Judge

May 29th, 2015 at 4:45 PM ^

Willkommen an der Universität von Michigan junger Mann, und wünschen Ihnen viel Erfolg

 

Translation:

Welcome to the University of Michigan young man, and wish you much success

Wolverine Devotee

May 29th, 2015 at 4:48 PM ^

First player to come to Michigan from Europe since 1993-94.

Olivier Saint-Jean from Verailles, France was the last one. 

PhillipFulmersPants

May 29th, 2015 at 4:50 PM ^

"Ride of the Valkyries" when I see/read Wagner, which inevitably brings Apocalypse and Colonel Kilgore to mind.  "My boys love it!"  

Looking foward to BB and FB this year after a rough 2014.  Welcome Moritiz! 

NCMtnBlue

May 29th, 2015 at 5:12 PM ^

Would the W be pronounced as a V?  How about the "a" as well?  If he was American, I would just assume Wag-ner.  Since he is German, I am thinking Vahg-ner, but that could be completely incorrect.  Hence, the question for MGoBlog.

NCMtnBlue

May 29th, 2015 at 5:35 PM ^

It is funny how you pronouce something in your head when you read it over and over, and not really think about it.  Then one day you hear the actual pronunciation, and you had it wrong all those times you read it.  Perfect example is the novel Dune.  I read all 6 original books, and then watched the movie after.  Boy was I way off on so many of the pronunciations.

snarling wolverine

May 29th, 2015 at 5:45 PM ^

There was some discussion about this.  Since the German flag just has three stripes, it might not work that well in Michigan colors.  Without the original colors, it's hard to tell that it's a German flag.

I propose we use the flag of Berlin instead:

This would look pretty awesome in maize and blue.

Webber's Pimp

May 29th, 2015 at 4:59 PM ^

I take it he must have passed the TOEFL (i.e. English as a second language) exam. According to Sam Webb there was still some doubt whether he would qualify.

wile_e8

May 29th, 2015 at 5:03 PM ^

Does this mean he passed his TOEFL or whatever and actually been accepted into the University? Because that seemed to be the question surrounding him. Officially signing his LOI is nice, but as far as I know you can do that before you are accepted. But maybe things are different for international players.

goblue224

May 29th, 2015 at 5:39 PM ^

I was curious about that too. He avoided answering if he'd taken and passed it, so maybe he was just waiting on the results when they did the interview a few days ago. Either way this is good news!

 

I found a freep article saying that he doesn't have to of passed the test to sign. We lost a recruit back in 08 because of him not passing, even though he had signed.

Schrödingers Cat

May 29th, 2015 at 11:17 PM ^

I have been stationed in Germany for the bulk of my military career since 1998, I even own a home there. In my experience Germans begin to learn English very young and speak it quite well. I have worked with 18-20 year old Germans in the Heer (German army) that I would be comfortable to teach English in American schools. Not a knock on the American education system, they just are taught that well.

HarBooYa

May 29th, 2015 at 5:28 PM ^

By jb. Love it and will be on floor next year. Makes for an even more dynamic squad if Caria and Walton stay healthy. Lots of options and shooters.

LSAClassOf2000

May 29th, 2015 at 5:41 PM ^

Willkommen in Ann Arbor, Moritz!

Good news on a Friday evening and I am rather excited to see Wagner contribute to the Wolverines. My mother - German herself - was quite excited, to the point where she phoned me to tell me. 

Honk if Ufer M…

May 31st, 2015 at 1:33 PM ^

I talked to Ricky last night. He said he's now lifting as much as senior J-Mo did! He's super excited about next year. Excited about Wagner & DJ. I seriously doubt there's a nicer kid than Ricky Doyle anywhere.