OT: Michigan target 2021 5* CG Hunter Sallis commits to Gonzaga
https://twitter.com/ebosshoops/status/1375448400116781065
https://247sports.com/player/hunter-sallis-46057844/
The rich get richer in the cupcake conference
March 26th, 2021 at 10:58 AM ^
Michigan target? Meaning he is someone we were interested in at one time? I've never heard he was a serious target. He never considered us, am I missing something?
March 26th, 2021 at 11:19 AM ^
We offered him and he was one of the few guys left in 2021 that Juwan likely would've taken in the class. He's also the #6 player in the country so it's somewhat significant recruiting news
March 26th, 2021 at 11:23 AM ^
he was mentioned often and was a top target some time ago. It was well before either of our 5 stars committed, and the odds of landing him were probably higher than us landing the 2 we got at that time.
March 26th, 2021 at 11:38 AM ^
Yeah but anytime Matt or Sam, or anyone with any knowledge mentioned getting another player in 2021 it was either Holgrem (ain't happening) Bediako, or Reid. I have never even heard his name mentoned with regards to Michigan.
March 26th, 2021 at 11:51 AM ^
Recently, you are correct. Again, this was quite some time ago. I remember watching a lot of clips of him because of the offer and liking him, but being underwhelmed that he was a 5*.
March 26th, 2021 at 11:02 AM ^
Gotta hand it to Few. His program is now a well-oiled machine.
March 26th, 2021 at 11:02 AM ^
Yeah I don't know if he was ever a Michigan "target."
March 26th, 2021 at 11:11 AM ^
Duke West now. They will be a VERY frequent #1 seed for the foreseeable future.
EDIT: Meant to reply to Naked Bootleggers post.
There’s one or two decent teams in Gonzaga’s conference and that’s it. They’re a tourney darling for sure and will be as long as they stay in their current lane. Gotta beat em when you have a chance and not get bounced in the first weekend like 8/9 big ten teams did.
March 27th, 2021 at 12:40 PM ^
They play easy competition all year long, all they need to do is not fall asleep and they can snag a top three seed every year.
March 26th, 2021 at 11:20 AM ^
A player we offered and recruited isn't a "target?"
March 26th, 2021 at 11:56 AM ^
Not if we are nowhere near his top group.
March 26th, 2021 at 11:35 AM ^
Definitely feels like there is a changing of the guard in basketball. The funny thing about CBB, many of the “Blue Bloods” had one iconic coach that elevated them to that status and then they kind of get stuck. Duke wasn’t anything before coach K, UCLA has lived off of Wooden’s legacy, Kansas has two more NCs than Michigan and Larry Brown might be their best coach of all time.
Seems like the Gonzagas, Michigans, and Villanovas of the world are ascending, while Duke, NC, MSU are setting. And it’s definitely not just a COVID thing I think the trend will continue moving forward
March 26th, 2021 at 11:45 AM ^
That shouldn’t be a big surprise. Their coaches are aging rapidly. Izzo is 66, Williams is 70-71, and Coach K is 74. I’m waiting for the bottom to fall out on Boeheim (77) as well.
March 26th, 2021 at 12:13 PM ^
Kansas has two more NCs than Michigan and Larry Brown might be their best coach of all time.
That said, Michigan doesn't have 1 coach that is definitely better than Larry Brown, Roy Williams, or Bill Self
March 26th, 2021 at 12:16 PM ^
Exactly. Few has risen Gonzaga into that blue blood program. If you're a recruit you know you will win a ton of games, get exposure, can get to the NBA. Now that some 5* players have done it, others will follow as well. I've loved Gonzaga since their '99 run and has been the only other team outside of Michigan that I can really get invested in. That and any team who is playing OSU/MSU.
March 26th, 2021 at 12:46 PM ^
Gonzaga dominates a shitty conference. That doesn’t mean they are a blue blood. They have made the final 4 once in the history of their program and have only made it out of the first weekend of the tourney 11 times in the history of their program.
How many times have they done that in the last 20 years? Conference champions 22 out of the 24 years, 23 straight NCAA tournament appearances, 11 Sweet 16 appearances in 23 years, four Elite 8 appearances in the last 5 tournaments, and one NC runner up
They do not have control over their conference since they do not have a football team, which would make it harder to join the PAC-12. Also, they play one of the toughest non-conference schedules every year.
They have been nothing but on the upswing since 99. Coach K had to do the same thing when he took over Duke's program. Michigan State was not a blue blood before Izzo. But sure, they're no good because they play in the WCC.
I didn’t say they weren’t good. I said they weren’t a blue blood. Do you understand what blue blood means? Because having 1 good coach and being good for 20 years isn’t being a blue blood. Gonzaga only making 1 final four might be a good indicator of how they match up against actual blue bloods like Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, and NC
They have the 45th best win percentage in college basketball history, right next to other noted blue bloods Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Creighton
By that logic of what you say makes blue blood then you cannot call Duke one since they were nothing before K took that program over.
I would put Gonzaga in the category of at least becoming that. Few is only 58 and has shown he's not going anywhere. Still a lot of time to win a title and keep building the program.
Yuck, you’re making me stick up for Duke, but your argument is so dumb I have to. No, Duke wasn’t “nothing” before coach K. They went to the championship game under multiple other coaches and most importantly, have the 4th most wins in college basketball history. Just because they won all their championships under coach K doesn’t mean they weren’t good before him. What is your definition of blue blood, because having 1 coach take you to every NCAA tournament in your history minus 1 ain’t it.
March 26th, 2021 at 11:03 AM ^
Bait and switch. Neither of those sources mention Clemson football.
March 26th, 2021 at 11:08 AM ^
Walker Kessler also rumored to be leaning toward transferring to the Zags.
As the above poster mentioned; the rich get richer.
I wish they would join a real conference. I would love to see them play in meaningful conference game come March instead of beating St. Mary's/BYU by 20 on an annual basis.
March 26th, 2021 at 11:12 AM ^
Seems they are in front for Chet Holmgren as well.
March 26th, 2021 at 11:16 AM ^
Trust me, going to live in Spokane is no joy...
Mixed feeling about that team ! I feel they run a clean program,but they don't play anybody in conference! Seem to underwhelm in the tournament also!
March 26th, 2021 at 11:14 AM ^
What the heck is CG?
March 26th, 2021 at 11:16 AM ^
Combo guard
March 26th, 2021 at 11:23 AM ^
I demand to know the moron that downvoted you. CG means Combo Guard, meaning a guard that is between a point guard and shooting guard. Has characteristics of both but doesn't fit one position perfectly. Not a bad thing, like it used to be.
March 26th, 2021 at 11:39 AM ^
Idk how many times "CG" and "combo guard" needs to be defined for people on this board
March 26th, 2021 at 11:52 AM ^
While most sports-minded people probably heard of 'combo guard' and/or could intuit what it means and I personally consider myself someone who's more familiar with basketball jargon than the average joe schmoe, I hadn't heard 'combo guard' commonly used until a few years ago - kind of how we've only recently went from talking about small forward and centers to 'points', 'wings' and 'bigs'
March 26th, 2021 at 12:15 PM ^
I second this. I never heard the words "bigs" or "wings" until maybe two years ago. The classic terminology that I think most people know are point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward and center. Not sure why this terminology needed to change. As social media consumes more and more of people's lives it seems like new words for everything are popping up, not just sports.
I don't think this has anything to do with social media, rather it's about basketball moving towards more "positionless" offenses. There aren't a whole lot of true center types like Dickinson or Cockburn who play almost exclusively in the post. Especially if they want to make it to the NBA where a lot of the bigs can shoot the 3.
March 26th, 2021 at 11:53 AM ^
Cevin Garnett?
Clyde Grexler?
March 26th, 2021 at 11:23 AM ^
Good luck to him, but I think we did pretty well in 2021. And there are plenty more fish in the barrel for 2022 and beyond.
March 26th, 2021 at 11:26 AM ^
Gonzaga is one of the few programs who is consistently good that when a 5* commits where I say “that’s probably the right choice.” The only other school I don’t hold much grudge to losing a recruit to would be Nova.
Jay Wright seems like a truly likable cat. Bummed Nova won in 18, but they were the better team.
Few's program is descending into Duke territory for me. Blech.
March 26th, 2021 at 11:30 AM ^
With him and the likely addition of Chet Holmgren, will they slide in front of us for #1 recruiting class?
March 26th, 2021 at 11:38 AM ^
Nope. We'll still have the #1 class due to volume. If Gonzaga lands someone else in addition to Chet, then they'll pass us
March 26th, 2021 at 11:39 AM ^
My first thought as well, but I'll be ok with settling for the #2 class in the country.
March 26th, 2021 at 11:33 AM ^
The "CG" thing threw me off. You can just call him a guard.
March 26th, 2021 at 11:41 AM ^
It's combo guard. And no, I'm going to call him what he's listed as on 247 instead of conceding to the people who still don't know or care to know what "CG" means. You can also just look up "what is cg in basketball" on Google and it's the first result
March 26th, 2021 at 12:08 PM ^
To CG or not to CG, that is the question.
March 26th, 2021 at 12:18 PM ^
I know what a combo guard is, but it's not that normal to abbreviate it.
March 26th, 2021 at 12:21 PM ^
This is a dumb hill to die on. The "CG" thing isn't commonly understood. "G" would have been fine.
March 26th, 2021 at 11:34 AM ^
Why must every bit of good news for someone else come with an insult? Gonzaga has proven to be the real deal. Few has built one hell of a program and doesn't back down from anyone in non-conference.
March 26th, 2021 at 11:43 AM ^
I don’t hate Gonzaga by any means, and it will be interesting to see how their program reacts to a significant change to getting more 1 and done players as opposed to 3-4 year players. Suggs has been great for them, but he’s the only super frosh with NBA potential I remember going there.
On that note, Gonzaga will probably be a 1 seed in every tournament for the foreseeable future since they have no competition out west in their laughable conference. I’d like to see them join the Pac12 on a partial-membership basis (maybe with BYU as the other team to give them 14 teams).
March 26th, 2021 at 11:45 AM ^
I might be way off base here, comparing apples to oranges, and distracting from the initial topic. Or maybe this is a snowflake post. But to me the rise of Gonzaga basketball shows exactly why the football playoffs need to be expanded if we are ever going to reach some semblance of parity.
This is a university that didn't make their first NCAA tournament appearance until 1995, so they definitely were not a blue-blood basketball program. But they made the most of their initial appearances, getting some early upsets in 3 of their first 5 tourneys. Since then, they have become a staple in the sweet 16 (11 appearances and 6 consecutive), and elite 8 (4 appearances). Even though they still haven't won a national title, their recruiting momentum has risen with the buzz around their program. They signed the #13 recruiting class in the country in 2019, #11 in 2020, and what looks to be a really strong 2021 class.
The problem with football is that this could never happen in a four team playoff, especially one where the same 4-5 teams seem to compete every year. Expand it to 8 or 16 teams. Recruits that want to play for some playoff teams have more options to choose from. Better yet, some cinderella teams might get some upsets that might turn the heads of a few recruits (a la Gonzaga).
My point? Gonzaga might never have made a 32 or 16 team NCAA bracket in the mid to late 90s. And if they hadn't, they probably wouldn't be the powerhouse they are today. Yet the 4 team football playoff locks out the vast, vast majority of teams and ensures that the same 4-5 teams will compete every year. Recruits then go to those schools. Rinse and repeat.
March 26th, 2021 at 12:29 PM ^
I'm not sure an expanded playoff fixes that though. A big part of why anyone can beat anyone else on a given night is that there's a lot of skill and touch in basketball vs. speed and strength in football. Plus the sheer number of guys on a football team vs a basketball team means one guy being 'hot' or 'cold' has a far more muted effect on the game.
I agree expanding the CFP will help some, but it won't be the same