2012 Recruiting Not Finished Yet. Caris LeVert Visiting Thursday

Photo Credit: NY2Sports

It appears that Michigan's 2012 recruiting isn't quite finished yet.  Caris LeVert, a shooting guard from Pickerton, Ohio, will be visiting campus on Thursday.  After Michigan officially withdrew their offer from Amedeo Della Valle, most assumed Michigan's 2012 class was complete.  A lot of this had to do with Trey Burke's return and Spike Albrecht's late commitment, but after LeVert decommited from Ohio University (the green one), Michigan has expressed interest in getting him to Ann Arbor.

When I originally heard Beilein and staff were pursuing LeVert, I was actually kind of perplexed.  Not because I thought it was a bad move, but because I didn't understand why the staff would want LeVert over point guard Amedeo Della Valle, who has now committed to Ohio (the red one).  As I argued when Della Valle's offer was pulled, I believe he would have been a great fit in Michigan's roster and helped to secure depth for the next few seasons.  With Burke's impending departure to the NBA and the uncertainty of first and second year college players, I thought it would be great to have another guy on the depth chart.

LeVert would be a great addition to the 2012 recruiting class and may seem lowly ranked, but I think with some development, he can be a key contributor to the Wolverines.  With Michigan's recent success in recruiting, it's rare that Michigan will have to rely on players like LeVert to carry the team like it did a few years ago.  With Derrick Walton entering campus in 2013, there's going to be extremely talented point and shooting guards on campus.  LeVert will likely have plenty of time to develop without being forced into action at either position, even though he's much more likely to play shooting guard.

However, Walton is not guaranteed to secure the point guard position, which is why I believe Della Valle was a better recruit to take than LeVert.  Regardless, there may be some room for him to make an impact at shooting guard for the Wolverines.  Nik Stauskas is another shooting guard that will be in the 2012 class and the potential for two solid players can only leave any fan excited.  Stauskas is clearly more prepared than Varis LeVert at this point, but with the way Michigan players have been entering the NBA Draft, it certainly seems like a good decision to try and recruit another guard for the team.

Nobody knows where LeVert will commit, as he's been eyeing up other programs such as Purdue alongside Michigan, but I think Michigan has a good shot.  Not only does Michigan seem in to be in great shape, but another player from his school is already coming to Michigan, Taco Charlton (4* defensive end).  It certainly can't hurt having someone from his school already coming to Michigan. I didn't expect the coaching staff to be recruiting anyone for 2012 at this point, but LeVert is a great option to secure guard depth for the team's future.

Michigan No Longer Recruiting Amedeo Della Valle

Earlier last week, Michigan's recruitment of Amedeo Della Valle ended abruptly.  There had been a good amount of excitement building for Della Valle as he was scheduled to visit campus on this weekend and was the only real point guard prospect remaining for Michigan in the 2012 recruiting class.  However, he tweeted this that Michigan had stopped recruiting him.  The move seemed as surprising to him as it has been to many fans of the program.

Although there were some obvious factors that led to this development, such as Trey Burke's return next season and Spike Albrecht's commitment, it is still surprising to see this sudden end to Della Valle's recruitment.  Beilein and the coaching staff seemed quite interested in getting a commitment from him, but that interest must have been outweighed by Burke's return and the potential to get some higher rated recruits in the 2013 and 2014 classes.

Now, the big question; is this a good or a bad move for Michigan?  A lot of people are going to say this is a good move for Michigan, but I actually disagree with this opinion.  Is this move that's going to destroy any Michigan team (present or future)?  Probably not.  However, I think it could have some unintended consequences and damages for the 2013-2014 season.

One might ask why I believe that Della Valle could have helped the 2013 Michigan basketball team.  The biggest reasons are depth and experience.  Take a look at what is expected to be the next two seasons point guard depth for the Wolverines:

Season	2012-2013	2013-2014
Starter	Trey Burke (So)	Derrick Walton (Fr)
2nd String	Eso Akunne (Sr)	Spike Albrecht (RS Fr/So)
3rd String	Spike Albrecht (Fr)	N/A

The big thing to note from this list is that I'm assuming Burke is going to go pro after next season and that there is a possibility that Spike is redshirted next season, although this is extremely far from being official.  We don't know how prepared Spike is for college ball and we can't assume Akunne's readiness after a season-ending injury this year.  However, I think all of these are relatively safe assumptions, but I wanted to make sure I noted them.

Now, let's look at the situation in 2013-2014 without Amedeo Della Valle.  Michigan would have two point guards on the roster.  Although these players would be talented, Michigan was faced with this problem in the past season and it led to insane amounts of minutes for Burke and little involvement from the bench.  Along with this, there is no way to know whether Walton and Spike will be productive point guards in college.  I think it's safe to assume that Walton will be at least a manageable at the point, but it's pretty tough to speculate he's going to be as good as Burke has been or that he's going to be awesome from the start of the season.

With this in mind, not recruiting Della Valle is essentially putting the entire point guard position for 2013-2014 in some jeopardy.  Yes, many recruits for Michigan have entered Ann Arbor and produced almost immediately, but there are many that haven't done well at the beginning of their careers.  Along with this, Spike has not been given a ton of love from the scouting reports and he is a pretty big question mark.  Yes, he's probably going to improve a lot over next season, but how good is he really going to be for Michigan?  I've been one of the few that have shown a lot of love for Spike, but I don't believe he's going to be a point guard that can dominate or control a game, he can just be a good distributor for the team.

Bottomline, without Della Valle, the 2013-2014 Wolverines are looking at a true freshman and a very lowly rated sophomore or redshirt freshman.  To me, that's a scary situation.  The team's probably going to be fine, but if Della Valle was on the team, you'd at least have two point guards on the roster with experience and at least Della Valle has some love from the scouting reports.  Like I said, this probably isn't going to ruin or effect any Michigan team in a significant way, but I think taking Della Valle is a better option than a higher rated 2013 recruit just because of the depth and experience issues for Michigan.  However, I guess time will tell whether Beilein and the staff made the right decision.

Photo Credit: EuroHopes

One More PG? Amedeo Della Valle Visiting This Weekend

Although Michigan basketball has been blessed over the last week with Spike Albrecht's commitment and Trey Burke's announcement, Michigan is still  recruiting point guards.  Whether this is to truly advance the position or simply to ensure point guard depth remains unknown, but what is known is that Michigan is actively pursuing some solid recruits and still has a good chance at securing them for next season.

The most likely candidate to commit has become Amedeo Della Valle from Henderson, Nevada.  There had been some discussion about other point guard prospects such as 2013 point guard Monte Morris, but he practically eliminated all speculation when he said, "Michigan still is recruiting me, but I'm not sure how that's going to work out".  Obviously, this probably has a lot to do with Spike Albrecht and Trey Burke returning to Michigan more than it has to do with anything else.

Regardless, Amedeo Della Valle has become the only legitimate option for the 2012 recruiting class and likely one of the few remaining prospects for Michigan over the next few seasons as well.  Certainly, a lot could change for the 2013 recruits, but there's no doubt Della Valle is going to be Michigan's last prospect for 2012.  Della Valle is 6'3" and weighs 180 lbs.  He is rated as a 3 star by both Rivals and Scout, but is listed as a point guard by Rivals and a shooting guard by Scout.  Personally, I see him more as a point guard in the Beilein offense, but he'll definitely be able to play both positions with some experience, which will be a major advantage for Michigan and Della Valle.

Della Valle will be on campus this weekend and I certainly think there's a great chance to get a commitment in the near future.  From what I've seen, it looks like he wants to make his decision by the end of April.  Whether this is to confirm the team rosters after NBA Draft, I don't know, but I don't see him waiting past the end of April.  He's being recruited by several other big name teams such as Arizona, Texas A & M, and Ohio State, so Michigan will have a recruiting battle on their hands if they are trying to secure a commitment.

Michigan certainly has the room to offer him, with two open scholarships following the three recent transfers and I think this would be a good place to use the scholarships.  Certainly, this isn't a recruiting battle that will make or destroy next year's Michigan team, but adding point guard and shooting guard depth would be very good for the next few years.  There's no doubt Burke will be going to the NBA soon and yes, Derrick Walton is coming to Michigan in 2013, but Michigan and Beilein are not trying to get into the same situation as they faced next year if Burke went pro, virtually no point guard depth.

Della Valle is a good point guard and what's nice is that he wouldn't have to play a lot next year and either he or Spike Albrecht could likely red-shirt next season.  Having at least one experienced point guard on the roster would be great, especially if Walton has a rough college transition, which is always possible.  Either way, Michigan has a great chance at landing him this weekend, when most are assuming Beilein is going to offer Della Valle a scholarship.


Photo Credit: Point Guard U

Michigan Recruiting Point Guards

With Trey Burke's recent announcement that he is considering entering the NBA Draft, there's been a lot of controversy surrounding who would be the replacement if Burke decides to leave Michigan.  As of now, because of transfer issues, Michigan doesn't have a clear-cut point guard that could fill in for Trey Burke next year.  Assuming Burke goes pro, Michigan only has one person that would at least be capable of replacing him right now and that's Eso Akunne.

Now, Akunne is a decent player and I think he could develop into a solid back-up for a guy like Burke, but he is not a guy you want starting at point guard for your team, especially not right now.  Yes, he's done well in a few games while here at Michigan, but he ended last season with an injury and never truly led the team from the point guard position like Burke.  Yes, if he's forced into the starting point guard position next year he'll likely have more help than Burke had this year, but he is not going to be able to dominate like Burke did.  He can contribute in some capacity, but I just don't see him as a game-changer like Burke, which will set this team back a lot.

As a result of this situation, Beilein and the coaching staff have begun a frantic search in an effort to find either a replacement for Trey Burke, or somebody that can play back-up now that Carlton Brundidge has left.  Brundidge was Burke's backup for much of the year, but has decided to transfer from Michigan.  Unfortunately, at this point, there aren't a ton of solid point guards left in the 2012 recruiting class.  Yes, there are a few guys that might be able to come in and contribute right away, but they are few and far between.

Now, there are some great guys in the 2013 recruiting class, but Michigan already has Derrick Walton coming in, who should be a great point guard for the Wolverines.  Along with this, any 2013 recruits won't be on campus for next season, which is the exact time that Michigan desperately needs a point guard replacement.  So, in order to make this frantic search a bit easier, I've highlighted some of the likely candidates to replace or back-up Burke next season:


Amedeo Della Valle
Amedeo is a 6'3" point guard out of Henderson, Nevada and is rated as a 3* recruit by Rivals.  He certainly is a talented player and his recruitment appears to be finishing.  If he decides to commit to Michigan, he probably won't get much playing time unless Burke goes pro.  I do think he has some potential to be a very solid player and has been recruited by some big schools including Gonzaga and OSU.  He probably will be commiting to a school within the next few weeks, but I can't see him signing to play with Michigan until he sees what happens with Trey Burke (I know that personally I would want to wait).  Beilein was actually visiting Amedeo last week.

Spike Albrecht

Albrecht hasn't received much publicity and is only 5'11", but he has shown some promise in a lot of games, including a game against Mitch McGary's team.  He was named the MVP of the AAA high school tournament and averaged 9 pts and 7 assists during the season.  Another important note is that he's from the same high school as Zack Novak and Novak's only had positive things to say about him.  He's also noted as having few turnovers and as being well conditioned (played 40 minutes in the AAA Final).

Derrick Walton 

Now, I only put Walton on this list because if Michigan doesn't land one of these two they are probably going to be relying on Eso Akunne to carry them through next season.  After that, I think Walton will come in as the starting point guard and make some major contributions.  Walton is 6'0" and is rated as a 4* recruit by Rivals.    He is also credited with having a great basketball IQ and as a true point guard by Scout.  I think he'll work out to be one of the best incoming point guards in recent memory, even including the sensational season Burke just had for the Wolverines.  However, if Michigan's point guard depth depends on Walton, they're going to be in major trouble for next season.


Photo Credit: AnnArbor.com, Draftology, MGoBlog, NY2LA