Recapping: 2012 Commit Nik Stauskas

This is a recruit that I believe is going to surprise a lot of people over the course of the season.  He doesn't have the recruiting profile of players like Mitch McGary or Glenn Robinson III, but he is still pretty highly rated and brings some high expectations to Michigan.  Stauskas has been a long-term commit for Michigan and I had the chance to talk with him last summer (read here).  He's a great kid and one that I expect many fans will gravitate towards pretty early.

Stauskas is far from a one-dimensional player, but he certainly has one skill that sets him apart from other players and that's his shooting ability.  If there's one word that describes his shooting, it's sharpshooter.  He is deadly outside the arch and demands defensive attention on almost the floor.  If you leave him open, odds are that the ball is going through the net.  Stauskas has some other offensive skills, but his main weapon is his shooting.  He has a solid handle and ball handling skills, but I don't anticipate he will get a lot of time at the point, even though he is probably capable of playing the position pretty well.  His one knock is that he is not the best on the defensive side.  He's not a horrible defender, but he will need some improvement there if he wants to see a lot of time on the court.

Here are the basic listings for Stauskas:

	ESPN	Rivals	Scout	247Sports
Height	6’6”	6’5”	6’5”	6’5”
Weight	205 lbs	185 lbs	200 lbs	200 lbs
Position	SF	SG	SF	SG
Rating	4*	4*	3*	4*
Position Rank	#21	#13	NR	#20
National Rank	#76	#71	NR	#80

The first thing to note, as with all my 2012 class recap posts, is that the athletic website also has a listed weight.  They have Stauskas listed as 190 lbs, so a bit under what the recruiting sites have listed him.  To me, the contributions of Stauskas may be limited because he is primarily a shooter, but he is an extremely good one.  I note this because many recruiting ranks try to take all of their skills into account equally, even though they will primarily do one thing on the court.  Look at Ray Allen.  Yes, Stauskas should not be compared to Allen yet, but they are both primarily shooters.  Fans and analysts don't expect Allen to attack the basket.  That's not his role.  For the role Stauskas will adopt at Michigan, he is definitely a 4* talent to me.  He will need to get a little better at the other areas, particularly defense, but I think he is going to be very good.

As for this season, I think you will see Stauskas get a lot of playing time, but it will be in limited intervals.  When Michigan is sluggish on offense or needs to score a lot of points quickly, they will bring in Stauskas to light it up outside the arch.  This means he will probably get 5-15 minutes a game, but for a true freshman on a roster like Michigan's roster, that's pretty substantial.  The majority of the hype will be on GR3 and McGary, but I think Stauskas has the ability to make those contributions that make a good team into a great team.  Look for a pretty good season out of Stauskas.

Here's his highlight video: