xavier tillman

Outbreak: minimal. Michigan's coronavirus pause after a handful of positive antigen tests appears like it'll be a brief one:

Was told only one of the handful of presumptive positive tests returned positive (UM football) after PCR testing. Michigan paused Monday as Harbaugh said: "out of an abundance of caution" Awaiting word on when/if team resumes team activities.

— angelique (@chengelis) December 1, 2020

That's an odd number of false positives, but I guess we're going to go ahead.

[After THE JUMP: coaching options are limited]

Sponsor note. Richard Hoeg. A lawyer. A podcaster. An explainer of goings-on. A person you can hire in the event you start a new business, or already have one. Here's his logo.

Contracts? Incorporation? He's got it covered. The machinations of the video game industry? He's all over it. You can do no better than Richard Hoeg, in these matters.

Should have got this up earlier. Michigan was in a tight battle with Georgia Tech at the top of the EDSBS charity bowl standings for a few days. Now they are… not.

I told y'all you were just gonna make em mad pic.twitter.com/ZuhFOQFuXf

— Holly Anderson (@HollyAnderson) August 12, 2020

We can claim no credit for this. But we can still push it over the goal line, which is currently about 11k away. This year I've commemorated a very special game, because as a society we are currently Rutgers watching a third string fullback score from 20 yards out.

Donate. It'll feel vaguely good for a brief time. And you will see the full picture of Spencer in overalls.

[After THE JUMP: nobody knows!]

Oh no.

Word is that Xavier Tillman will return to @MSU_Basketball & pull out of @NBADraft & that would be great news for Spartans plus for Xavier . He can elevate his stock for next year’s draft plus give MSU a super chance for a national title .

— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) July 15, 2020

Oh YES.

Ditto this as well. https://t.co/5rMjRhcCT8

— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) July 15, 2020

Looks like it's time to check in on the NBA Draft. The withdrawal deadline for early entrants who haven't signed an agent has been set for August 3rd at 5 pm Eastern. That applies to 12 of the 15 players with Big Ten ties listed below, including Michigan's Isaiah Livers.

Staying In

not much left to do here [Paul Sherman]

Maryland C Jalen Smith (So.)

While an expected loss—Smith could've come out after his freshman year—this leaves a huge hole in the middle for the Terps. Smith played 35+ minutes in most every important game last year unless he got into foul trouble, which was rare. His backups were mostly invisible in the few minutes they played.

Mark Turgeon surrounded Smith with a bunch of wings who topped out at 6'6", so there isn't a burly power forward to slide over—like Turgeon did with Smith when Bruno Fernando went pro. Maryland added grad transfer Colin Smith from Alabama, but he's a career backup who wasn't effective in the SEC, and there's no big man in the 2020 class.

Minnesota C Daniel Oturu (So.)

A loss of similar impact, except Minnesota is also significantly worse than Maryland in the first place. Minnesota may have a better replacement lined up, however, in Western Michigan grad transfer Brandon Johnson, who averaged 15 points and eight boards last year. He's not nearly on the level of Oturu as a post presence, however, and the returning backups are probably still a year or two away from being solid.

If seven-foot Drake transfer Liam Robbins, who ranked sixth in the country in block rate, is granted a waiver to play right away, the Gophers would regain a shot-blocking presence and be able to play Johnson at the four. Regardless, they'll miss Oturu's ability to do everything you'd want from a big man, including stretch the floor.

Ohio State C Kaleb Wesson (Jr.)

Wesson slimmed down and turned himself into a legitimate stretch five as a junior. He's another prospect internet scouts can't agree on; some have him as a mid-to-late second-rounder, some don't have him on their big boards at all. His loss leaves the Buckeyes forced to go the small, scrappy route.

Kyle Young, a 6'8" rebounding specialist, comes back after missing the latter portion of the 2019-20 season to injury. In his absence, Wesson's primary backup was 6'6" freshman E.J. Liddell, who performed surprisingly well under the circumstances but struggled to finish against Big Ten centers. While Liddell tried, neither showed the shooting acumen that allowed the Buckeyes to really space out defenses last year.

[Hit THE JUMP for the undecideds.]