Cassius Winston Commits to MSU
No real surprise here. MSU has a scary good class now with 3 247 composite Top 50 players and potentially one more with Miles Bridges yet to decide (the two have discussed being a package deal, but we all know how that can go). Bridges announces on October 3rd and has a top 3 of Kentucky, MSU, and Indiana - probably in that order. Oh well. Beilein's still gonna Beilein.
Cassius Winston puts on the MSU hat pic.twitter.com/IQtir3R2rK
— Matt Charboneau (@mattcharboneau) September 18, 2015September 18th, 2015 at 2:45 PM ^
September 18th, 2015 at 4:23 PM ^
That's the problem. You just get the feeling this program is only going to be "all right" when it held so much promise not that long ago.
Beilein is an excellent coach who just can't recruit like Izzo.
Go ahead and neg me (like it will make a difference), but it's true.
September 18th, 2015 at 4:41 PM ^
He's recruited McGary and come close many times with top players who went to Kentucky or other top schools.
I suppose he should have turned down Burke, LeVert and other players at that level to get a player rated higher by the recruiting services.
September 18th, 2015 at 5:34 PM ^
After the NCAA Tournament, Tom Izzo said something to the effect in an interview that he was going to do what it takes to succeed in today's game. Since then, he has signed a four-star and two five-stars. Most of all, he won a recruiting battle with UK.
Draw your own conclusions. I have drawn mine, and they lead directly to "active" boosters.
September 18th, 2015 at 5:45 PM ^
crossed my mind. Izzo doesn't have the track record to ordinarily bring in the one and dones. Suddenly they are flocking there and Beilein, who has the track record, doesn't get them.
Considering some of the rumored legal issues that seem to stay buried, I don't think I would put much past him.
September 18th, 2015 at 6:54 PM ^
...also be as simple as Izzo, who was historically known for not pursuing one and done types and stressing graduation, is no longer doing that. There are other ways for a coach with his track record to succeed at recruiting besides shenanigans.
September 18th, 2015 at 5:59 PM ^
September 18th, 2015 at 7:50 PM ^
McGary is exactly one elite recruit since he's been here, even on the heels of his better seasons. Kudos for developing Burke, LeVert, etc. but he took those guys after he couldn't land higher ranked guys.
Still, my sense is we caught lightning in a bottle with that crowd and will be perhaps a modestly above average B1G program from here out.
September 18th, 2015 at 9:14 PM ^
September 18th, 2015 at 2:45 PM ^
Our coach made the right move
September 18th, 2015 at 5:00 PM ^
Gotta feel bad for him - 4 years in East Lansing. Yikes. At his age and limited world view it makes sense though.
September 18th, 2015 at 2:45 PM ^
Was always Green
September 18th, 2015 at 2:48 PM ^
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September 18th, 2015 at 2:49 PM ^
I am very confident this isn't true.
Once bitten, twice shy.
September 18th, 2015 at 3:26 PM ^
Maybe, maybe not. He did say it was "unfortunate" that Michigan pulled his offer.
September 18th, 2015 at 3:52 PM ^
If he thinks it was "unfortunate," the only person he can blame is the guy looking back at him in the mirror. He had plenty of time to commit, and he chose not to. That's on him, not John Beilein.
September 18th, 2015 at 2:49 PM ^
I think he was looking for reasons NOT to come to Michigan, and his family had too much of a say in the matter. I also think him changing his visit was a way to basically have his decision made for him. Whatever it was, good luck unless he plays us.
September 18th, 2015 at 2:51 PM ^
I appreciate the post, but you might want to correct "Belein" to read "Beilein" - it's almost akin to misspelling Schembechler.
September 18th, 2015 at 2:58 PM ^
Thanks. Fixed.
September 18th, 2015 at 2:50 PM ^
We'll be fine with who we got. Would have loved to have Langford though, but I think he was leaning MSU all along too. Now if MSU gets Bridges, that is not good, that kid is a freak and underrated at #15 overall IMO.
September 18th, 2015 at 2:50 PM ^
Look forward to it playing out on the basketball court.
Keith Appling was the 37th ranked player...
September 18th, 2015 at 9:26 PM ^
Hope Winston has an injury free career and spends every game against Michigan making the same "welp" face as Appling.
September 18th, 2015 at 2:53 PM ^
I wish him luck during the four full years he will spend there along with other guys in Izzo's top ranked class.
September 18th, 2015 at 2:55 PM ^
Main reason I can't get into College Basketball anymore, just when you think you have a good team they all declare for the draft.
September 18th, 2015 at 2:54 PM ^
September 18th, 2015 at 3:06 PM ^
September 18th, 2015 at 3:15 PM ^
wants them away from Flint.
September 18th, 2015 at 3:23 PM ^
September 18th, 2015 at 3:42 PM ^
September 18th, 2015 at 6:12 PM ^
Aside from the fact that Webb hails from Flint and talks to recruits and/or their parents and/or their coaches virtually every fucking day of the week, he had been saying for a long time that while Michigan was in very good position in the recruiting for Winston, it was never a lock for us and that MSU was very definitely a strong possibility for Winston.
The notion that Sam Webb—or any other analyst—is "wrong" because a recruit suddenly changes his mind—which happens constantly—is boneheaded.
Webb said two weeks before Dashawn Hand committed to Alabama that if the decision came down to football, that Hand was going to Tuscaloosa. People around here were confidently predicting Hand was coming to Michigan right up till signing day, and then when he chose the Tide they were shocked, and some even tried to say Webb was wrong when in fact he called it just the way it eventually went.
September 18th, 2015 at 9:45 PM ^
September 18th, 2015 at 2:55 PM ^
September 18th, 2015 at 4:23 PM ^
Their past few classes prior to this one have not been very impressive.
September 18th, 2015 at 2:56 PM ^
"Scary class"? Please. No rival class will ever scare me with Beilein at the helm.
September 18th, 2015 at 3:03 PM ^
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September 18th, 2015 at 3:11 PM ^
Thats stupid. Beilein came to Michigan from WVU partly because he didn't feel he could get good enough players to actually win at WVU. Recruiting matters, being a good coach is great, being a good coach with more talented players than your opponent is even better.
September 18th, 2015 at 3:16 PM ^
Your premise assumes that Beilein is getting worse players. I'm not sure that's necessarily true given his recruiting history and his results against Izzo.
September 18th, 2015 at 3:22 PM ^
man. Beilein really started competing with Izzo the year he landed McGary, GR3, and Sauce. That is two 5 star recruits and a 4 star who should have been a 5. There was the sporatic win before that against fairly weak State teams but I would not say that Beilein has Izzo's number by any means without the players to do so. I think we are going to find out a lot of about these two coaches in the next 2-3 years.
September 18th, 2015 at 3:23 PM ^
How are you defining "competing"?
Those guys were freshmen in 2012-13. In the two seasons prior to that, Michigan and MSU had identical Big Ten records (9-9 in 2010-11 and 13-5 in 2011-12), and Michigan went 3-1 head-to-head vs. MSU.
September 18th, 2015 at 3:32 PM ^
I guess. Michigan split with MSU in 2011, 2012, 2013, and then swept in 14. We swept them when we were kind of loaded, and even our really loaded team got smoked in EL. I guess I am saying that we drew even with State(and winning/competing for BIG titles) specifically when we began recruiting universally regarded elite talent. I will be interested to see how Beilien does now when he has to go head to head with more unheralded guys. The narrative that JB does more with less is somewhat misleading to me because he really just did more with more. Great coach, don't get me wrong, but I think he going to be really tested here after missing on some legit elite targets.
September 18th, 2015 at 3:39 PM ^
We swept them in 2011. The Breslin game, in fact, was the huge turning point of the Beilein era - the "Aneurysm of Leadership" game. Then we finished the regular season with the "GTFO my court" game at Crisler.
September 18th, 2015 at 3:42 PM ^
we did sweep in 11 didn't we. I guess it was turning into ownership until last year.
September 18th, 2015 at 3:51 PM ^
you just keep on fighting for izzo...
September 18th, 2015 at 3:53 PM ^
I just conceded Michigan ownership of State from 2011 through 2014. How exactly is that "fighting for Izzo?"
September 18th, 2015 at 4:00 PM ^
September 18th, 2015 at 3:57 PM ^
September 18th, 2015 at 4:07 PM ^
but so are seniors.
Walton, Irvin, Dawkins, Wagner/Chapman, Doyle.
That will be our starting line up in 2016. With RAWK, Simpson, Teske, Wagner/Chapman, Watson, and Wilson coming off the bench. (No, Irvin isn't leaving).
We are stocked up on good for a while. It is imperative, however, that we land a couple of impact freshman in 2017 though.
September 18th, 2015 at 5:00 PM ^
and Robinson.
September 18th, 2015 at 5:16 PM ^
Wisconsin did pretty well with a bunch of upper classmen last season.
There are essentially 2 very divergent paths to competing at the highest levels in college basketball right now.
1) The "1-and-done" Kentucky/Kansas/(now Duke) model, where you recruit 3-5 of the top 10-20 players in each class and have a great 1-season run with those players before they turn pro after their freshman seasons. The problem with Michigan trying to implement this model is that with UK/KU/Duke taking 3-5/year, there is virtually no one left at that 1-and-done level of player to recruit.
2) The recruit and develop model. Wisconsin almost won a championship with it last year. Take guys in the lower half of the Top 100, keep them 4 years, develop their skills, and make a run. None other than Michigan State made a Final Four with seniors Travis Trice and Dawson leading the team. Trice and Kaminsky were not Top 100 players. Comparing Beilein recruits to Wisconsin, Michigan recruits at a higher level than the Badgers.
The downside of the second model is that it leads to the occasional down season when everyone with experience leaves. The upside is that it is an achievable model for a school like (basketball) Michigan that don't have consistent access to the very top recruits each year.
Trust Beilein.