The Denarding

September 8th, 2015 at 1:52 AM ^

Having to get on campus to get the offer does hurt us in basketball to some extent. We also don't "employ" or associate really with any runners or handlers which can hurt with the elite players. The other big knock on us is that Beilein has a difficult offense to learn and master. One and dones are not interested in learning the intricacies of these offenses. They just want exposure at a known basketball powerhouse with deep agent or NBA type relationships. Your handler is on you from either grade to the pros if you're good. That's not how michigan recruits.

Joined: 11/29/2010

MGoPoints: 1679

Rabbit21

September 8th, 2015 at 10:48 AM ^

If that's the case I am absolutely team Beilein, you can't put your eggs in one basket. If this is enough to send Cassius elsewhere then it wasn't meant to be anyway. Best of luck to him and happy trails, but glad to see the staff is keeping their options open and not catering to every whim. Although, it does suck that changing the date to accommodate homecoming suddenly tubes everything, why wasn't this planned for earlier?

Joined: 11/12/2009

MGoPoints: 30384

Erik_in_Dayton

September 8th, 2015 at 11:07 AM ^

He initially said this is about Michigan wanting to make sure it's not stuck without a PG and not Winston changing his thinking about the Wolverines.  Michigan has already missed on a PG target or two while waiting for Winston, and he thinks they don't want to miss out on having a chance at others.  I believe Sam was saying that Winston thinks he might not make it to Michigan because Michigan might already have a PG commit before he would visit.

I'm confused, b/c Winston's timeline has been set (at least as far as I know) for awhile.  I'm not sure why Michigan would change its tune now, but maybe other PGs have unexpectedly come off the board. 

Sam said something at the end of the recruiting segment that made me question whether he knows that Winston isn't going to Michigan.  He said the staff has to choose between putting all its eggs in the Winston basket or going after other comparable talents even if it hurts their chances with Winston.  He said his gut tells him going after other players is the right thing to do.  I don't know whether he meant his general gut instict or his gut, the latter being that which is almost never wrong about commitments because he has information straight from the player or his camp.

Joined: 12/03/2008

MGoPoints: 59166

LSA Superstar

September 8th, 2015 at 11:16 AM ^

There's no way to sugarcoat this.  If we've lost our shot at Winston, that's a crushing blow to what was already a crippled recruiting class.

I say this after careful consideration of all the variables:  2016 eclipsed even 2015 in terms of how FUBAR it was.  From our mishandling of Langford, Battle's defection, to this.  Ugh.

Joined: 10/03/2009

MGoPoints: 3323

Wolvie3758

September 8th, 2015 at 11:13 AM ^

John Belien has EARNED that. Hes led M to Big 10 Titles, a NCAA regional title, two elite 8s and a NC appearnce ...Hes done this with whatever players he can get. Even last year we were competitive against the top teams, Villanova, Wisconsin, MSU....We couldnt have a better HC whatever the recruiting has been.  AND we are fairly loaded this year..We should have a pretty good season.....JB is THE BEST...and lets not forget where we were the decade before he arrived

Joined: 12/12/2010

MGoPoints: 6338

93Grad

September 8th, 2015 at 12:59 PM ^

He did it with a roster full of highly rated recruits and NBA talent.  The NC team had 4 first roudners, a second rounder and another likely first rounder, plus a senior center in Jordan Morgan.  It is unlikely we will have that same level of talent any time soon unless recruiting picks up drastically. 

Joined: 07/26/2011

MGoPoints: 13786

Jimmyisgod

September 8th, 2015 at 11:25 AM ^

We've missed on some big recruits, but that happens to all coaches.  What makes this difficult is if we lose him to State.  We never had a shot with Lanbgford IMO, but he's committed to State, but Winston I thought we had better than a 50-50 chance and it looks like he's leaning MSU now too.

Joined: 01/24/2012

MGoPoints: 10342

Blue_sophie

September 8th, 2015 at 12:02 PM ^

we are also recruiting Bryce Aiken. Watch his tape; he is not a consolation prize.

Like many, my heart sank when I read the news about Winston last night, but I am not prepared to condemn our coaches' ability to recruit based on a couple whiffs.

It's not uncomon for recruits to break-out after their junior year. So I'll withold judgement on the 2016 class for another few months, at least until we see how these guys are playing as high school seniors.

Joined: 02/22/2015

MGoPoints: 2766

MDot

September 8th, 2015 at 12:15 PM ^

I've saying for a minute, Pitt has a better chance to land him than most think. From what I've heard, he wants to play early. MSU (who has been considered the frontrunner) has a PG that Izzo is in love with (Narin), and Cassius game isn't suited to play off-the-ball like Trice did whenever they played together.

 

Pitt's staff has deep Detroit connections, and has been trying to build a pipeline to the city. Wouldn't be surprised he landed there at all.

Joined: 11/16/2013

MGoPoints: 2130

JT4104

September 8th, 2015 at 5:10 PM ^

What kids has Pitt pulled out of Detroit with these deep connections? Granted there hasn't been a lot of talent out of that area in a few years. The most recent guys I can think off are Marble and Appling.

Not saying it isn't true but if they did get kids from Detroit than it was on the lower spectrum and I'm not sure why anyone would want to play for constantly underachieving Dixon for hoops.

Joined: 10/25/2008

MGoPoints: 12331