Josh Christopher commits to ASU
April 13th, 2020 at 11:39 PM ^
Well, fuck.
Zeb jackson is now the recruit who will have the biggest impact on next years success. Our guard play is going to be a problem
April 14th, 2020 at 11:07 AM ^
Michigan never could beat Bobby Hurley.
April 14th, 2020 at 11:28 PM ^
Hahaha I wonder if Hurley is feeling the heat in Tempe to have a big year?
2020-21 will be his sixth year at ASU and they've yet to reach the Round of 32.
Made the NCAA Tournament in 2017-18, falling to Syracuse in the First Four in Dayton, and 2018-19, losing to Buffalo in the Round of 64 in Tulsa.
April 13th, 2020 at 11:39 PM ^
So DDJ left because....?
April 13th, 2020 at 11:51 PM ^
This is now the #1 question of the offseason
I find it hard to believe DDJ would transfer because of Mike Smith. Smith isnt guaranteed to be good enough to have stolen the starting PG spot from DDJ. Weve seen how transfer guards from smaller schools can struggle when coming to Big Ten like Jaaron Simmons
DDJ seemed happy all season. He would be in line to AT WORST be the backup PG
Christopher better not have pulled funny business such as tricking Howard into believing he was coming to Michigan, which led to Howard telling DDJ there wouldnt be many minutes for him, which ultimately led to DDJ transferring. I'd be heated
April 14th, 2020 at 12:20 AM ^
The long wait today had me concerned.
Thought it could be a simple commit but as the day wore on the worse I felt about it. Gave them time to do last minute arm twisting.
April 14th, 2020 at 12:25 AM ^
Well when you also factor in Jace Howard was planning to join the team as a walk on to clear up a scholarship for the 1 guy left on our board for the the 2020-2021 season, yea I would say Josh Christopher played Juwan. I cannot blame Josh one bit for wanting to play with his brother and to do so closer to home given this coronavirus, but stringing a coach/team along like that just so you can "shock" people is not right. I wouldn't parent my kid that way.
April 14th, 2020 at 11:02 AM ^
Yes Jace Howard is the smoking gun here. He told reporters all year he wasn't a walkon, only for that to change last week. I feel bad for Jace, he had to swallow his pride and publicly accept a walk on spot to make room for Christopher. Christopher was clearly a silent commmit.
April 14th, 2020 at 11:30 AM ^
I'm going to give Josh Christopher the benefit-of-the-doubt in saying that I don't believe he "played" Juwan and Michigan. I do believe he would be coming to Michigan if not for the coronavirus. Think about it -- his family may not be able to fly to see him play, or at the very least may not be comfortable doing it. But at ASU, he gets to play with his brother, and his family can drive to see many of his games playing in the Pac-12.
I really hope and want to believe Christopher and his family didn't play Juwan. With Jace Howard deciding to walk-on, that to me was when Michigan was assured Christopher was coming. Coronavirus and all that has come with it, changed his mind.
If he and his family did, in fact, play Juwan, shame on them. Especially playing a guy as honest and genuine as Juwan Howard.
The Jace Howard news came out just last week. If reports are true that Dejulius was thinking about transferring for a while, then the pursuit of the ivy league transfers had to have been to cover his open scholarship. Therefore, it seems pretty clear to me that the scholarship initially intended for Jace was cleared up for Josh Christopher. I have a hard time believing Juwan would make the move to have his son walk on and make that known to the public without having very strong indication from Josh Christopher that he was coming here (silent commitment?). Again, all this happened just last week. So Juwan was being led on this entire time. I understand the coronavirus concern, but what has changed in the last 7 days? Anybody trying to educate themselves about this virus in early April would have known just how serious this thing is and how long it may linger. So, I am not buying that angle. It seems pretty clear to me that Josh Christopher and his family played Juwan.
My only other thought on the matter is that this is a Najee Harris type situation. Najee was always going to Alabama, he was just using Michigan as leverage to get a $weeter deal from Saban. It would make sense if the same were going on here and thats why Christopher was giving such strong indications to Michigan. Although, I don't know that ASU & Hurley play that way. Also, if this recruitment was one of those recruitments, why were the usual suspects (Kentucky, Kansas, Duke) not more involved?
Don't forget Zeb Jackson coming in. If I was David, I'd be a little flummoxed about the influx of guards coming in, whether official or not. Perhaps he saw invisible writing on the wall.
If DDJ is worried about competition, then he should stay gone. But I doubt he's really concerned about competition - aside from knowing minutes may be scarce if Christopher was here due to a glut of PGs. He has to know he's got the inside track over ZJ and Smith. I mean, I understand (to some degree) if a lack of available minutes bothers you. But he has experience in the scheme and a full year on campus when the new guys aren't even in Ann Arbor. Improve yourself!
I simply cannot believe any of the successful PG's that have ever played at UM would have been scared about competition. Z? DW Jr? Burke? LMAO!!! Those guys would have stared down Christopher and made him fucking earn it.
I'll say it again - if possible incoming talent scared him away, then good riddance. Every position on the court is going to be recruited every year. Fucking deal with it.
April 14th, 2020 at 10:52 AM ^
this is a silly thought....there is ALWAYS going to be new guards coming in every year....I would hope DDJ is man enough to know that....His main issue, his size and he is just an average shooter. I liked him a lot though, and was even impressed by his defense. I'm guessing that DDJ felt he could be the man, the starter for sure, at another school. He is probably right on that, especially a bit lesser program
April 14th, 2020 at 12:44 AM ^
Per Dylan at UMHoops, DDJ’s departure has been in the works throughout the season and isn’t related to JC.
So he wants to sit out a year so he can play for a worse team vs starting this year and next for his hometown school? Makes sense
The NCAA looks like they're changing the one year sit out rule anyway.
April 14th, 2020 at 10:16 AM ^
He'll probably start for Maryland this year.
He probably transferred assuming Christopher was committing
April 13th, 2020 at 11:39 PM ^
Poop
April 13th, 2020 at 11:39 PM ^
This begs the question, why did David DeJulius transfer? He would have likely been a starter next year.
April 13th, 2020 at 11:41 PM ^
lol...
April 13th, 2020 at 11:41 PM ^
I wonder how much the COVID situation factored into his decision. I could see his parents wanting him to stay closer to home with all this going on. And playing with his brother would definitely make it easier for the folks to follow them.
April 14th, 2020 at 11:22 AM ^
Plus, he won't run any risk of getting infected in the warmer climate.
April 13th, 2020 at 11:42 PM ^
Can we get DDJ back or is it too late?
April 13th, 2020 at 11:59 PM ^
I don't think he will come back. The coach gave him a firm handshake because he was convinced that Josh would pick Michigan.
April 14th, 2020 at 12:17 AM ^
Oh yeah? Who'd you get that info from?
April 14th, 2020 at 12:21 AM ^
He got his info from those 11 crystal ball predictors, so must be accurate.
April 13th, 2020 at 11:59 PM ^
DDJ back? Sorry, don't wan't.
"Those who stay will be champions."
April 14th, 2020 at 12:22 AM ^
DDJ is laughing his ass off as he walks out the door.
April 14th, 2020 at 12:58 AM ^
Why? Wouldn't he be like "WTF, I thought this kid was coming, now I gotta sit out a whole year when I had a great chance to be the starting PG at Michigan!?"
Maybe he can change his mind. idk.
April 14th, 2020 at 10:46 AM ^
I don't see why he can't change his mind. In the portal does not mean "gone" as far as I know.
April 13th, 2020 at 11:43 PM ^
GODDAMNIT!!!!!!
April 13th, 2020 at 11:44 PM ^
Another dong punch?
April 13th, 2020 at 11:44 PM ^
Sic semper Michganus.
April 13th, 2020 at 11:45 PM ^
How were all the insiders so wrong?
April 13th, 2020 at 11:52 PM ^
Because they discounted the fact that his brother is on the team, that ASU has a good coach, etc.
Is Hurley even a good coach? Also there were reports that the family much preferred Juwan to Hurley and that they were upset about the brother was being used
Sounds like Josh played the Michigan coaches according to Chris Bilas. Or the bagmen must've swiped him up at ASU. Bagmen never sleep. Even during quarantine
April 13th, 2020 at 11:45 PM ^
How long before Todd decommits?
Livers will go pro, you know it's coming.
Team suddenly looks pedestrian.
April 13th, 2020 at 11:45 PM ^
Ok, this should end all commit prediction threads on this board for good.
Thank God....or the Spaghetti Flying Monster or whatever you believe in or not believe in.
This kid is gonna play one year on an average team and then leave.
DDJ why? Makes no sense.
April 13th, 2020 at 11:46 PM ^
Todd decommiting, livers going pro, and franz declaring would be such a Michigan thing.
My thoughts too. Also, Thad Matta is still a goblin. This has been one of my favorite usernames for the past 5 years or so
April 13th, 2020 at 11:47 PM ^
Next time we’re after a 5 star recruit, let’s have 10 random Mgoblogers put in Crystal Balls. Hell, we’d have just as much chance as the “experts”.
April 13th, 2020 at 11:51 PM ^
Crystal Balls just went down in flames. LOL.
Yeah fuck these recruiting sites and their crystal bullshit. All credibility out the window. Glad I don’t pay those bait click clowns any money.
People pay for that hot garbage?!?!
April 13th, 2020 at 11:54 PM ^
Yeah, I had a feeling that when it took this long something was up.
Wish him luck at ASU; it sucks to miss on a guy but Howard is still doing great recruiting and had a promising first year.
April 14th, 2020 at 12:10 AM ^
He'll only be doing great if Todd ends up on campus. If not, it'll just be a solid but unspectacular class, much like a lot of Beilein's.
I honestly don't wish him luck. Dude played the entire Michigan media and fans on Twitter for attention. He turned his whole recruitment in a spectacle in order to "shock the world"