U of M Basketball Recruiting Discussion

[*JD*]

Here are some notes on upcoming visits from recruits:

http://www.umhoops.com/2014/05/09/recruiting-notebook-michigan-lining-unofficial-visits/

Also, no real surprise here but Michigan is out of the running for Zimmerman. I still think he winds up in Arizona but UNLV wouldn't surprise me either.

[The Oracle]

Thorton and Leaf are my 2 major wants out of the next 2 classes. I don't care if we take only Coleman in '15. Need to get those 2 out of that class.

[The Oracle]

Michigan just offered '15 Eric Davis. Not all that crazy about this one. Would have preferred to save a little room for the loaded '16 class. Gotta believe Erron Harris won't be coming. Creating quite a log jam at the 1-3.

[*JD*]

Top 50 PG for the home state would be fine with me. You never know whether or not if Walton blows up in his 2nd year and jumps to the NBA. True that we'd still have Spike but I'm fine with another PG. Brunson is included in that thought process. I'm good with either of them. I just hope they land a big man as well.

[WM Wolverine]

I really like Walton but I can't see him 'blow up' to be an NBA guy in next years draft. He's at least a 3-year player and imo part of the reason Jalen Brunson (whom I really, really like) seems less interested in M than he was last fall as the opportunity to start at PG early will be a sizable hurdle...

Unfortunately for M, the landing spot for Brunson sounds like Sparty. Offer to Eric Davis (Sparty fans strongly felt they had him in the bag not long ago) tells me Brunson is falling out of favor for M.

[WM Wolverine]

I like Eric Davis PG a lot too, he's seen his stock skyrocket in the past couple months and could end up being thought nearly as highly as Brunson after this summer...

Jalen Coleman SG late this winter, sounded like he might be ready to drop for M. The recent pickups of wings Abdul-Rahkham & Dawkins shouldn't and won't scare away a talent like Coleman away but the fact that M was willing to sign those two might say something about their chances with Coleman.

[The Oracle]

Yeah, that's what people have been saying. Brunson's been real tight to the vest though, so who knows.

[Deuce]

I like Eric Davis PG a lot too, he's seen his stock skyrocket in the past couple months and could end up being thought nearly as highly as Brunson after this summer...

Jalen Coleman SG late this winter, sounded like he might be ready to drop for M. The recent pickups of wings Abdul-Rahkham & Dawkins shouldn't and won't scare away a talent like Coleman away but the fact that M was willing to sign those two might say something about their chances with Coleman.

Has Davis been skyrocketing? Seems like he has been nosediving a little, he was 75 in the latest 24/7 ranking, he was a fringe 5 star guy the previous summer.

[*JD*]

Has Davis been skyrocketing? Seems like he has been nosediving a little, he was 75 in the latest 24/7 ranking, he was a fringe 5 star guy the previous summer.

Rivals has him at #34 and ESPN at #28. 24/7 has him low but he's #39 in their composite.

[Deuce]

Rivals has him at #34 and ESPN at #28. 24/7 has him low but he's #39 in their composite.

He's dropped a bit in those since last summer too, I was just wondering where the "skyrocketing in the last couple months" comment came from. If he is and it will be reflected in future rankings that would be cool.

Usually WM knows things we don't know.

[The Oracle]

He supposedly had a very subpar EYBL outing in Dallas last weekend. Very underwhelming by the sounds of it. I've never been that high on him mainly because I don't think he has a position, but that can work in CBB. I just like our other offerees better and think we should use Davis as a Plan B guy. I wonder if we're using the Eric Davis offer to keep a close tie for '17 Brian Bowen who is already a stud. I'd be more on board with it if that's the reasoning.

[WM Wolverine]

I seem to remember him being ranked in the 70's range, maybe sites other than 247 has had him ranked much higher though I've noticed quite a few big offers have come in for Davis in this late winter, spring; e.g. UCLA, Florida, Michigan, Kansas, etc.

With Walton looking like a 3-4 year player, I don't think there is a huge need for a point guard. That said, I don't know if Davis is a point guard, looks like a classic combo guard to me and a good one.

[*JD*]

He's dropped a bit in those since last summer too, I was just wondering where the "skyrocketing in the last couple months" comment came from.

Those were their current rankings, so I'm a little confused about the "since last summer" comment.

I haven't followed him so I can't really go beyond what I found by Googling.

As for Walton making a leap, maybe I'm just going off what our last two PG's did from Freshman to Sophomores. Maybe Walton isn't a Trey Burke (he isn't) but he was rated higher in H.S. and did show some flashes, especially in the regular season games vs. spartie. I think he will likely fall somewhere closer to Morris. He's sticking around A2 for the summer to work in the "Camp Sanderson" weight-training & conditioning program that Nik & Caris did last summer so I do expect at least a bit of a leap. Maybe a All-B1G 2nd Team PG behind Ferrel so that might make going pro tempting, if not entirely warranted.

All I'm saying is that it wouldn't hurt to have another PG waiting in the wings.

[Deuce]

Those were their current rankings, so I'm a little confused about the "since last summer" comment.

I haven't followed him so I can't really go beyond what I found by Googling.

As for Walton making a leap, maybe I'm just going off what our last two PG's did from Freshman to Sophomores. Maybe Walton isn't a Trey Burke (he isn't) but he was rated higher in H.S. and did show some flashes, especially in the regular season games vs. spartie. I think he will likely fall somewhere closer to Morris. He's sticking around A2 for the summer to work in the "Camp Sanderson" weight-training & conditioning program that Nik & Caris did last summer so I do expect at least a bit of a leap. Maybe a All-B1G 2nd Team PG behind Ferrel so that might make going pro tempting, if not entirely warranted.

All I'm saying is that it wouldn't hurt to have another PG waiting in the wings.

"Since last summer" just meant he was ranked a little higher last summer.

[hack]

Those were their current rankings, so I'm a little confused about the "since last summer" comment.

I haven't followed him so I can't really go beyond what I found by Googling.

As for Walton making a leap, maybe I'm just going off what our last two PG's did from Freshman to Sophomores. Maybe Walton isn't a Trey Burke (he isn't) but he was rated higher in H.S. and did show some flashes, especially in the regular season games vs. spartie. I think he will likely fall somewhere closer to Morris. He's sticking around A2 for the summer to work in the "Camp Sanderson" weight-training & conditioning program that Nik & Caris did last summer so I do expect at least a bit of a leap. Maybe a All-B1G 2nd Team PG behind Ferrel so that might make going pro tempting, if not entirely warranted.

All I'm saying is that it wouldn't hurt to have another PG waiting in the wings.

Hard one. One the one hand, I wasn't disappointed by Walton's rookie year. He never quite had the breakout game post OSU that you'd look for to be certain that he's on an NBA/early entry track, and to season's end Beilein still seemed to trust Spike more. But the signs were still there in Walton's play. Hard to know if he can be a two-and-done guy, but more likely that than a four-year player. Perimeter players do tend to make big leaps under Beilein, even if they aren't brilliant players with a natural feel, like Stauskas is.

So, yeah -- build the pipeline. It looks like the Jalens aren't going to be the thing -- may not want to be between Walton and possibly Thornton -- so let's wrap up Thornton, recall that we have Spike, and focus efforts. Leaf's not quite the McGary successor I've been wanting but he's still a great looking college forward and someone Beilein could really deploy well.