Michigan offers a JUCO player (DT) for the first time in 27 years
Jeffrey M'Ba is a DT out of France who was once part of the class of 2019. He first got on Michigan's radar when they held a satellite camp in France and Michigan actually offered him a scholarship then (along with PSU, Maryland, MSU and more). M'Ba was supposed to transfer from France to play in the states but due to transcript/visa issues he was unable to do so. He deferred to the class of 2020 where he was committed to play for Virginia, but again transcript/visa got in the way. Eventually he made it to Independence Community College in Kansas, after which covid happened and messed up his plans again. This season he's blown up and has offers from several programs.
For Michigan to offer, they must see a path for him to get to Michigan despite coming from JUCO. And considering the route he's had to take to get there, he definitely does not seem like the typical JUCO student. He's listed at 6'6 305lbs so definitely would be a mammoth on the DL
October 19th, 2021 at 7:55 PM ^
Great call. Shaw was awesome in that '97 season
October 19th, 2021 at 8:55 PM ^
He was coaching in LA a while back and I covered one of his games. His team was outmanned but put up a much tougher fight against an OC power than they should have.
October 19th, 2021 at 9:00 PM ^
Looks like he’s now doing private coaching after working at a juco. https://highestlevel.net/meet-the-staff/
October 19th, 2021 at 9:05 PM ^
You are correct. He's also a chiropractor now whose office isn't that far from me.
October 19th, 2021 at 7:04 PM ^
MGo'Ba!
October 20th, 2021 at 10:00 AM ^
I would take him for his name, and his likely outrageous accent!
October 19th, 2021 at 7:08 PM ^
Woah . . . back it up.
Michigan held a satellite camp in France??
How did the SEC allow that to happen?
October 19th, 2021 at 7:29 PM ^
Plart Fallbun has said for years that France is ess see see country.
October 19th, 2021 at 7:33 PM ^
Michigan said they were going to Paris and the SEC only knows about the one in Texas.
October 19th, 2021 at 11:29 PM ^
Oh, there's one in Michigan too!!
October 20th, 2021 at 3:40 AM ^
And in Tennessee! Home of the World’s Biggest Fish Fry.
October 20th, 2021 at 4:35 PM ^
Paris - Pure Michigan
https://www.michigan.org › city › paris
Paris is located about 5 miles north of Big Rapids, home to Ferris State University. Paris Park is located at the site of the old Paris State Fish Hatchery, ...
October 19th, 2021 at 7:10 PM ^
Bet he is a baller to make that kind of history. Hope we get him.
October 19th, 2021 at 7:18 PM ^
Not so fast my friend…
Last JUCO was in 2007 so some wires got crossed here, still WILDLY uncommon
This is in the 3rd(?) response to the tweet. Wonder if it’s correct!?
Edit: Confirmed.
Michigan commitment #17 is an unusual one: JUCO linebacker Austin Panter. Michigan hasn't taken a JUCO since the days of Russell Shaw in 1997
October 19th, 2021 at 7:30 PM ^
Were the previous JUCO brought in as walk-on transfers and this being the first JUCO “offer”? Could be a potential explanation too.
October 19th, 2021 at 8:08 PM ^
Based on the article in the link, it was a scholarship.
October 19th, 2021 at 9:08 PM ^
Austin was on scholarship. He was also the juco player of the year.
October 19th, 2021 at 7:24 PM ^
I trust the football program folks have done their due diligence on assessing whether his JUCO credentials will get past Admissions.
October 19th, 2021 at 8:11 PM ^
You mean like they have for multiple other juco players and transfers that clearly show it’s a bullshit excuse?
October 19th, 2021 at 9:19 PM ^
The University of Michigan is well-known for being stingy in allowing transfer of academic credits from other institutions, especially from community colleges. While jucos like Russell Shaw and Austin Panter were admitted, two instances in the past 24 years is hardly a flood. Juco transfers have also been rare for the basketball team; the most notable one is Rickey Green from the mid-70s.
October 19th, 2021 at 10:16 PM ^
There are like 4 current juco players on the baseball roster right now. Juco transfers to high level teams are just rare overall
October 19th, 2021 at 11:21 PM ^
Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio St have 2 Jucos this year on their football rosters. Oklahoma has 6.
It’s not super common, but it’s also not super rare for the annual playoff contenders.
October 19th, 2021 at 9:42 PM ^
It's not a bullshit excuse. I knew numerous regular students who transferred in who basically were held back a year due to credits not transferring. It's a legit issue
October 19th, 2021 at 10:23 PM ^
That’s not remotely the same as denying admission and is actually extremely common. Basically no school wants to give a 120 credit degree to a student who takes less than 60 credits at their school for financial reasons. You’ll almost never be able to transfer more than 60 credits. I don’t know why people have convinced themselves it’s unique to Michigan.
It also has almost no impact on transfers because it would require an extremely specific instance of someone transferring who has already been in school 2 years, isn’t on a pro radar to go pro after year 3, and also burned their redshirt and/or cares about graduating in 4 years.
October 19th, 2021 at 11:04 PM ^
People make it sound like Michigan is like Northwestern in admissions but they are simply not. Michigan recruits the sample players MSU, OSU, Penn State, etc recruit.
The admissions stuff is an overblown excuse 99% of the time.
October 19th, 2021 at 7:24 PM ^
Word is he is seeking an M'BA degree.
October 19th, 2021 at 7:35 PM ^
Yeah I don’t know where they came up with first JUCO offer in 27 years, because that isn’t correct.
October 19th, 2021 at 7:41 PM ^
If at first you don't succeed . . . kudos to both Jeffrey and the UM staff for tenacity here.
October 19th, 2021 at 7:49 PM ^
I may have teared up a little. Is this real life?
Dtackle of the most Dtacklish proportions.
JuCO transfer (please let these be the flood gates that blow the doors off admissions)
And he is French so he can talk trash but still sound very cultured while doing it.
The Michigan Difference*
October 19th, 2021 at 7:49 PM ^
Harbaugh should shorten his name to R'Ba.
October 19th, 2021 at 8:48 PM ^
He probably will after he moves him to fullback.
October 19th, 2021 at 8:02 PM ^
It looks like the transfer office has equivalency for Kansas. Independence CC articulates to Kansas. So transitive rule applies. It is possible. Not sure what he studies but the articulation to Kansas pretty extensive. He seems to know the rules, and is working for eligibility. It helps probably that he failed at Virginia. Not his first rodeo.
It would be great for Michigan to reach out to JUCOs. There is a reason for these schools. Opportunity is not equal.
Let do it.
October 19th, 2021 at 8:12 PM ^
This is untrue. UM had a JUCO linebacker that had played 7v7 ball (in HS) somewhere in Kansas in the late Carr years. His name escapes me, and he didn’t play much, but it hasn’t been 27 years. Edit: His name was Austin Panter. Edit^2: His name was Robert Paulson.
October 19th, 2021 at 9:04 PM ^
It's a small thing, but he played 8-man football.
October 20th, 2021 at 9:30 PM ^
Yup. We live in an 8-man school district out here on the edge of civilization-Goessel, OMG Kansas. A kid from here started at K-State a few years back.
October 19th, 2021 at 9:07 PM ^
Edit^2: His name was Robert Paulson.
There's nobody by that name listed in the UM football roster database.
October 19th, 2021 at 9:31 PM ^
That may or may not be true. We're not supposed to talk about it.
October 20th, 2021 at 8:09 AM ^
It’s a Fight Club joke
October 19th, 2021 at 8:20 PM ^
I don't believe that's the first JUCO offered by M in 27 years. I recall the legend of Austin Panter.
October 19th, 2021 at 10:24 PM ^
It's not, but it is extremely rare. Panter in 2007 and Russell Shaw in 1997.
October 19th, 2021 at 8:57 PM ^
I do wonder if this signals perhaps a loosening of restrictions on certain credit transfers. I assume it's still pretty limited but especially with COVID-19 likely screwing up some admission decisions for students perhaps there will be a recognition that allowing in students who have done equivalent work at other institutions should be allowed.
October 19th, 2021 at 9:27 PM ^
Bienvenue, Monsieur M'Ba.
October 19th, 2021 at 10:34 PM ^
Did Lance Dixon have trouble transferring to Michigan from Penn State? He played at West Bloomfield for Ron Bellamy, and I thought he was going to be a Wolverine, but he ended up at West Virginia. Does anyone know what happened?
October 20th, 2021 at 11:02 AM ^
I don't believe academics had anything to do with Dixon not transferring to UM. Rather, my recollection is that the shift from Don Brown's defense (think VIPER) to McDonald's (think bigger LB's) was the reason UM's interest waned.
October 19th, 2021 at 11:00 PM ^
Wow, France? I would love to hear the story about how he got into football.
October 20th, 2021 at 10:58 AM ^
yes and he could test out of his language frequirement or LSA
October 20th, 2021 at 9:03 AM ^
Juco, no relation to Ronco....
rip mr popeil
October 20th, 2021 at 12:33 PM ^
We most certainly have offered jucos in the last 27 years. Austin Panter is one who actually committed. I'm sure they have been others we have offered.
October 20th, 2021 at 1:50 PM ^
Sounds like a cool story ... his size is awesome, and coming from France it's tempting to hope that we found a diamond in the rough. But after delving just a bit deeper I'm not pinning much hope on this.
Here's his 247 profile: https://247sports.com/Player/Jeffrey-Mba-46054841/
He currently does not appear on 247's Juco rankings for 2022, which is where he's now classified. Worth noting that the list only has 26 people. Maybe they're in the middle of updating it. Also worth noting that no one on that list is ranked higher than 3 stars. Nos. 24-26 are two stars.
The profile includes a link to Hudl clips. On those he looks slow to me, though I admit I don't have much experience watching such stuff. He makes a few nice plays but mostly by steamrolling much smaller guys. I couldn't tell whether that video was from France or Juco.
I'd say the most encouraging thing about him is his offer list, which includes USC, Arizona State, Nebraska, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Miami ....
October 20th, 2021 at 3:35 PM ^
If he plays and makes an impact, formal request to trade Mr. Brightside for Hanson’s MmmBop. (M’Ba-p)