Generally agree, though after one mostly-injured year and another year of very good but not quite great, Nazar seemed a stronger candidate to return than would be typical of a first rounder. Given some of his late-season play, if he feels he's ready, then you can't blame him for going.
Really? It's not like he's handing Washington the starting job. He was a reasonably highly ranked recruit and can fill a role as a garbage time 4th guard while he develops.
Read back through some of Matt EM's bb recruiting posts...high school talent (and therefore recruiting rankings) is what it was 10 years ago or even 5 years ago. For a number of reasons, there seems only be a small handful of top level recruits per year, and it tails off pretty quickly after that into a much bigger pool of players that are more difficult to project.
100% honesty, and rivalry aside, I'm pretty damned impressed by Ryan Day achieving this level of success as a kid growing up in a single parent household and dealing with the trauma of a parental suicide. That's incredible. He should absolutely be proud of that. And his openness about that situation and his support of mental health should be applauded.
But holy smokes, dude cannot stop himself from walking into these comments. You lost three in a row. You called out Lou friggin Holtz in a post game interview. You stuck a big "Toughness" sign or whatever up on the wall. Now you lost a coach to Michigan and are trying to frame it as replacing him with a coach who didn't grow up in a football family because that insinuates that those who did are somehow less?
My man, get yourself and your team into the submarine and start yapping after you beat Michigan.
I'm in for this one. Truth be told, I was always interested but never pulled the trigger on HAIL before, because I just assumed that the season would be disappointing in some way, and I didn't want a physical representation of the failure to meet all hopes. BPONE and all that.
This is different. They did that. Business is finished. I want this on my bookshelf, where I can pull it down and reminisce whenever the mood strikes.
Honestly, at this point I'm pretty suspicious that Harbaugh's entire Michigan tenure, including three straight wins over Ohio State and culminating in a national championship, was entirely about gaining an advantage in this year's NFL draft.
When he was recruited originally I expressed some skepticism that his shot mechanics would hold up, so I've been fairly surprised that he's maintained excellent shooting numbers. That said, given his size, I was still unsure how it would translate to college.
Unfortunate to lose a good shooter and scorer, but I'm not heartbroken over this one.
Honestly, I can accept him defending himself from criticism somewhat, I get it. But when asked about bringing May to Michigan over Louisville, he starts his response:
It says I can recruit. It says I can connect with people and talk to them about my vision and what I think they can do here and achieve. And that's what I do. That's what I've done.
Seriously, dude? You think this is about you?
Finally, 20 seconds later, something goes off in his head and he adds what he should have led with.
But it also speaks about the University of Michigan and that block M. It also speaks about Big Ten basketball and the success we've had. I think it's a whole combination. And I agree with Dusty: It's the right fit for Michigan. It's the right fit for Michigan.
Just to be clear, your argument is that Essegian was medically cleared to play, but Gard had a responsibility to bench him...before giving him some minutes and seeing that he wasn't effective?
Please feel free to explain it if I'm just missing something, but I don't get your conclusion at all. Where was it suggested that Gard was asking Essegian to risk his long-term health? Dude had an early injury and wasn't as effective when he came back, so Gard reduced his minutes.
"A year ago he played on a team that's okay. We're a much better team," Gard stated. "We've got more depth. The scouting reports are out on him. You've gotta add layers to your game. You've got to grow your game. They've got all the freshman film where you banged 3's. They're not letting you get loose as much.
"Continue to grow your game and accept the challenge. We know he can do it, but it's not one of those things we can afford to let him play through. The stakes are too high in terms of what this team wants to accomplish.
"We're gonna need him. He's gonna get there. I told him, I'll keep coaching your defense. I'll call you when you're 45 years old in a men's league in the YMCA asking, 'How did you guard tonight?'
"Until they shove the dirt on me, I'll keep coaching you and he knows I'm not gonna let up in terms of what I expect defensively."
I have to imagine that any new coach coming in can get 10 transfers of players who can work hard on defense and rebounding, learn to play within a system, play as a team and show effort.
Might be a bit more difficult if you're limited to primarily freshman and grads.
Was always curious to see if the "fastest guy on the team" claims were legit. I guess we might see something if he gets some serious run at another school. Best of luck to him!
I think it's a good question and thought exercise, but the flipside is how many playable freshman and transfers will a new coach be able to bring in (especially given UM's admissions record)?
So the challenge I see is that you might want retain some of this year's starters...to ideally be backups next year (or at least "rotational" pieces), just to fill out the roster. But would they stick around if they're losing a starting role? Seems unlikely.
Having trouble with the "Russell Wilson" and "natural leader" combo. By all accounts, dude has not been well-liked by his teammates at pretty much every stop.
I'm ashamed to say I responded to some MSU jabroni on Twitter claiming that the video of JJ warming up in the hotel conference hallway was proof that so much of what he does is "performative" and that he's always "looking for the camera."
Dude is charismatic and so yeah, cameras follow him...hyping up his teammates, downplaying his own contribution, quietly meditating before games, and daring to get a few practice reps in during the combine, like literally every other player does.
I don't claim any special knowledge about whether JJ will be a successful NFL QB, because that's really, really difficult and the success rate is pretty low. But boy, I hope he does, just to dunk on all the MSU and OSU morons claiming certain knowledge that he's terrible and bound to fail.
Not to mention Sanderson's resignation evidently involved a settlement and NDA. Clearly they don't want anything else about the situation coming to light.
The first line links to mgoblue where you can get a typical game recap, and the next section is the What just happened (TL;DR) brief summary...seems duplicative to write up an entirely separate game recap.
On Dec. 8, according to documents obtained by The Athletic, Sanderson shared his version of events of what followed in an email to Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel.
Sanderson wrote that Jace Howard “was berating” the trainer and caused a “scene” that prompted several players to stop and watch. Sanderson described the scene as “totally out of control,” and said the trainer was trying to calm Jace Howard down and get him to discuss the matter privately. Noticing the trainer looking increasingly desperate and “panicked,” Sanderson intervened, yelling at Howard from roughly 30 feet away “you’re a student athlete and he is a professional. You don’t talk to a professional like that. That is disrespectful and entitled.” He said he repeated that the tirade was “disrespectful.”
Sanderson wrote in the email to Manuel that he tried to de-escalate the situation, turning his back and walking away. When Sanderson looked back, he said Juwan Howard came at him, “angry and ready to fight,” repeatedly yelling as players and staff held him back.
“He kept aggressively pursuing me to fight, as the players and staff were doing their best to restrain him. He was out of control, it was an ugly scene. I had no choice but to stand my ground, I didn’t back down. A few of the players and staff got in front of me as well in an effort to keep us separated,” Sanderson wrote.
Sanderson wrote that players and staff were ultimately able to restrain Howard, after which the team started practice and Sanderson went to his office.
Who knows, maybe the team plane will slide off the end of the runway and they'll have to play the B10 tournament in their practice gear. It could happen.
"Rejoins" is kind of a funny word, because Macdonald's and Partridge's stints at Michigan had no overlap at all. But Partridge does obviously have a relationship with Jay.
Man. I mean, I get it, and if he's getting more money and more playing time, cool. Go blow up and be a star.
But still....our rival (who we beat) is on tilt (because we beat them) and throws money at a star safety from Bama (who we also beat, and their legendary coach retired, and then they hired the coach from the other playoff team we beat). Bama (reminder, we beat them, and is leaking players because of the coaching change), in turn, throws money at our not-quite-a-starter safety who just happens to be starter quality but can't quite get full starter snaps here because we have two returning starters (which is good), because they need to fill the vacant spot created by our on-tilt rival (who we beat).
It's kind of a good problem when even our backups are so good that Bama wants to poach them...but dang if it didn't play out in just the specific way to our detriment.
I guess we'll see if the supposed NIL improvements start coming through, and prompting some players from other teams to consider finishing their collegiate careers at Michigan...if they can get enough credits to transfer.
Yes, people change their minds, even very late in the process. People reporting that someone accepted an offer or told players they were staying aren't "wrong" when they later change their minds. It happens.
No, it isn't unique to Michigan, there's no "only us" here. OSU hired an OC and had to immediately replace him. Bama imported a coaching staff and then had to turn around and replace their brand new OC as well. This is the current landscape.
If it's too bothersome for you, stop paying for insider info and stop taking every headline as gospel truth that might not change a day later.
That was the conclusion of the NCAA committee that considered whether to drop the ban on in-person scouting a few years ago. Ultimately they failed to overturn the ban, but their report argued that it should be as it provides minimal competitive advantage.
Recent Comments
Good news, plus we just picked up what seems like an impact defenseman transfer from ASU as well (next thread up).
Generally agree, though after one mostly-injured year and another year of very good but not quite great, Nazar seemed a stronger candidate to return than would be typical of a first rounder. Given some of his late-season play, if he feels he's ready, then you can't blame him for going.
Now I'm curious what the greatest discrepancy is between a good FT% and a poor 3% for any college player with a decent sample size.
Really? It's not like he's handing Washington the starting job. He was a reasonably highly ranked recruit and can fill a role as a garbage time 4th guard while he develops.
Read back through some of Matt EM's bb recruiting posts...high school talent (and therefore recruiting rankings) is what it was 10 years ago or even 5 years ago. For a number of reasons, there seems only be a small handful of top level recruits per year, and it tails off pretty quickly after that into a much bigger pool of players that are more difficult to project.
100% honesty, and rivalry aside, I'm pretty damned impressed by Ryan Day achieving this level of success as a kid growing up in a single parent household and dealing with the trauma of a parental suicide. That's incredible. He should absolutely be proud of that. And his openness about that situation and his support of mental health should be applauded.
But holy smokes, dude cannot stop himself from walking into these comments. You lost three in a row. You called out Lou friggin Holtz in a post game interview. You stuck a big "Toughness" sign or whatever up on the wall. Now you lost a coach to Michigan and are trying to frame it as replacing him with a coach who didn't grow up in a football family because that insinuates that those who did are somehow less?
My man, get yourself and your team into the submarine and start yapping after you beat Michigan.
I'm in for this one. Truth be told, I was always interested but never pulled the trigger on HAIL before, because I just assumed that the season would be disappointing in some way, and I didn't want a physical representation of the failure to meet all hopes. BPONE and all that.
This is different. They did that. Business is finished. I want this on my bookshelf, where I can pull it down and reminisce whenever the mood strikes.
Honestly, at this point I'm pretty suspicious that Harbaugh's entire Michigan tenure, including three straight wins over Ohio State and culminating in a national championship, was entirely about gaining an advantage in this year's NFL draft.
A fine Christian name!
When he was recruited originally I expressed some skepticism that his shot mechanics would hold up, so I've been fairly surprised that he's maintained excellent shooting numbers. That said, given his size, I was still unsure how it would translate to college.
Unfortunate to lose a good shooter and scorer, but I'm not heartbroken over this one.
Honestly, I can accept him defending himself from criticism somewhat, I get it. But when asked about bringing May to Michigan over Louisville, he starts his response:
Seriously, dude? You think this is about you?
Finally, 20 seconds later, something goes off in his head and he adds what he should have led with.
Doug Lemov
Easy enough to do! I'd rather youtube only do that if you explicitly use the "Share" option with the option "Start at..." enabled, but alas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7owNzqYvuM
Just a link for anyone who doesn't want to start at 569 seconds into the interview...
Just to be clear, your argument is that Essegian was medically cleared to play, but Gard had a responsibility to bench him...before giving him some minutes and seeing that he wasn't effective?
Please feel free to explain it if I'm just missing something, but I don't get your conclusion at all. Where was it suggested that Gard was asking Essegian to risk his long-term health? Dude had an early injury and wasn't as effective when he came back, so Gard reduced his minutes.
Full context: https://247sports.com/college/wisconsin/article/connor-essegian-continues-to-struggle-for-wisconsin-badgers-basketball-as-greg-gard-refuses-to-loosen-the-leash-223185536/
As in, previously.
"worked"
As in, previously.
I was trying to figure TWill out....he's played 4 years, but doesn't he get a COVID year too?
Might be a bit more difficult if you're limited to primarily freshman and grads.
Was always curious to see if the "fastest guy on the team" claims were legit. I guess we might see something if he gets some serious run at another school. Best of luck to him!
I think it's a good question and thought exercise, but the flipside is how many playable freshman and transfers will a new coach be able to bring in (especially given UM's admissions record)?
So the challenge I see is that you might want retain some of this year's starters...to ideally be backups next year (or at least "rotational" pieces), just to fill out the roster. But would they stick around if they're losing a starting role? Seems unlikely.
Next year's roster could be rough.
At this point this is neither here nor there, but Tominaga's such a fun player. Would have loved to have him on a (good) Michigan team.
Rich Eisen has entered the chat.
Geez, hadn't thought of that. Hope not.
Since this is just turning into a "let's name some guys" thread (and that's fun), I'll throw out one - Rich Gannon.
Having trouble with the "Russell Wilson" and "natural leader" combo. By all accounts, dude has not been well-liked by his teammates at pretty much every stop.
I'm ashamed to say I responded to some MSU jabroni on Twitter claiming that the video of JJ warming up in the hotel conference hallway was proof that so much of what he does is "performative" and that he's always "looking for the camera."
Dude is charismatic and so yeah, cameras follow him...hyping up his teammates, downplaying his own contribution, quietly meditating before games, and daring to get a few practice reps in during the combine, like literally every other player does.
I don't claim any special knowledge about whether JJ will be a successful NFL QB, because that's really, really difficult and the success rate is pretty low. But boy, I hope he does, just to dunk on all the MSU and OSU morons claiming certain knowledge that he's terrible and bound to fail.
Not to mention Sanderson's resignation evidently involved a settlement and NDA. Clearly they don't want anything else about the situation coming to light.
1. Tall 7'0"+ point guard who brings good defense and is a 3pt sniper.
2. Tall 7'0"+ shooting guard who brings good defense and is a 3pt sniper.
3. Tall 7'0"+ small forward who brings good defense and is a 3pt sniper.
4. Tall 7'0"+ power forward who brings good defense and is a 3pt sniper.
5. Tall 7'0"+ center who brings good defense and is a 3pt sniper.
Woosh
OT: Luke McCaffrey, who apparently converted to WR at Rice, ran a 4.47
The first line links to mgoblue where you can get a typical game recap, and the next section is the What just happened (TL;DR) brief summary...seems duplicative to write up an entirely separate game recap.
…
From The Athletic article:
I'd be pretty surprised if the average person runs anywhere in the 5's.
Chop Robinson with a 4.49, so that puts the PSU gameplan into perspective (not that it wasn't apparent just from viewing).
This is pretty funny, since the MSU-Wisconsin series has been relegated to BTN Minus. And dear friend Graham Couch is big mad about it.
https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/sports/columnists/graham-couch/2024/02/28/michigan-state-hockey-plays-wisconsin-for-big-ten-title-but-it-isnt-on-btn/72768844007/
Who knows, maybe the team plane will slide off the end of the runway and they'll have to play the B10 tournament in their practice gear. It could happen.
"Rejoins" is kind of a funny word, because Macdonald's and Partridge's stints at Michigan had no overlap at all. But Partridge does obviously have a relationship with Jay.
Shhh,…
Shhh, Bama might hear you.
Man. I mean, I get it, and if he's getting more money and more playing time, cool. Go blow up and be a star.
But still....our rival (who we beat) is on tilt (because we beat them) and throws money at a star safety from Bama (who we also beat, and their legendary coach retired, and then they hired the coach from the other playoff team we beat). Bama (reminder, we beat them, and is leaking players because of the coaching change), in turn, throws money at our not-quite-a-starter safety who just happens to be starter quality but can't quite get full starter snaps here because we have two returning starters (which is good), because they need to fill the vacant spot created by our on-tilt rival (who we beat).
It's kind of a good problem when even our backups are so good that Bama wants to poach them...but dang if it didn't play out in just the specific way to our detriment.
I guess we'll see if the supposed NIL improvements start coming through, and prompting some players from other teams to consider finishing their collegiate careers at Michigan...if they can get enough credits to transfer.
I got that reference.
Good grief, this board is insane right now.
Yes, people change their minds, even very late in the process. People reporting that someone accepted an offer or told players they were staying aren't "wrong" when they later change their minds. It happens.
No, it isn't unique to Michigan, there's no "only us" here. OSU hired an OC and had to immediately replace him. Bama imported a coaching staff and then had to turn around and replace their brand new OC as well. This is the current landscape.
If it's too bothersome for you, stop paying for insider info and stop taking every headline as gospel truth that might not change a day later.
Someone didn't read the article. It's not that hard, folks.
That was the conclusion of the NCAA committee that considered whether to drop the ban on in-person scouting a few years ago. Ultimately they failed to overturn the ban, but their report argued that it should be as it provides minimal competitive advantage.
Could be wrong, but feels like he's going to have to display some really good measurables to get drafted.
Everyone knows Phil Martelli is the real coach.
/s
As if those assistants have no agency in the matter.
Unless his camera is reversed or he's calling in from England or Japan, I don't think he's in the driver's seat.