Michigan Senior Day Thoughts

Photo Credit: Thomas Beindit

Sunday is Senior Day for Michigan. Read about it below:

Michigan Senior Day Thoughts

Previewing The Roster: Guards

I'm reaching the end of basketball preview season and I've already went through Michigan's wings and bigs for this year. Last up are the guards.  Michigan's guards should be outstanding this year and have repeatedly received love from the basketball analysts and national media.  Michigan loses very little at the position and brings in a few players that have the chance to make a major impact both now and in the future.

Last season, Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway, and Stu Douglass dominated the position.  Once in awhile, Beilein would bring in Matt Vogrich or Eso Akunne, but this was a position primarily dominated by those three players.  Douglass will be gone, but all the other guys are back for the season.  This was Michigan's strongest positional group last season and the loss of Douglass shouldn't be too significant of an impact for the position and team, especially with the recruiting additions.

New recruits that could make an impact the position this year are Spike Albrecht, Nik Stauskas, and Caris LeVert.  Glenn Robinsion III could get a little time at the 2 spot, but I don't see him doing anything significant at the position.  I think he's a much better fit at the 3 and he does play the 4 in the smaller lineup for Michigan, so I don't see him being at the 2 for very long, if at all.  So after adding the new recruits, that gives us 7 players that will likely be making contributions in the backcourt for Michigan this season.

Previewing The Roster: Eso Akunne

Michigan basketball suffered numerous injuries last season, but one of the more significant ones was the injury that sidelined Eso Akunne for the remainder of the season.  Was this a major factor in why Michigan struggled in some of the later season games?  Not likely, but Akunne had definitely improved going into last year and actually had more playing time last year than the year before, despite playing in fewer games. Those kind of improvements are important, especially when a player doesn't get the full year to gain experience and improve.

Going into this year, the Wolverines are still in search of a capable backup point guard.  Trey Burke has solidified the starting role, but he was forced into playing ridiculous minutes last year.  Akunne was his primary backup last season and when he went down with injury, the lineup had to make some major adjustments to be able to get Burke off the court.  This year, there are a couple more candidates to fill this backup point guard role, but the primary candidate is still Akunne.  If he can recover from his season ending injury and come back, he could get some substantial playing time.

Previewing The Roster: Josh Bartelstein

One of the lesser known players on Michigan's 2012-2013 roster is Josh Bartelstein.  Not only because he is clearly a "depth" player, but also because his slight contributions have actually been decreasing during his career.  He may not get time in any significant games this year, but he does play an important role for the team in terms of depth for both this season and beyond.

Bartelstein will be a senior, but has done little during his career.  His first year was the 2009-2010 season, but he played in just 5 games and averaged 2.6 minutes.  He played in 11 games last year, but his average time decreased to 1.3 minutes per game.  One could argue this is because Bartelstein took a step back, but I I would credit this more to circumstances.  If you look at last season, many of the games were close for long segments of time, which makes it hard to get bench players like Bartelstein on the court.

Previewing The Roster: Matt Vogrich

Well, we're starting to get to that special time of year again.  When college football season is roaring and college basketball is just around the corner.  With that in mind, we're officially going to start previewing the team that will take the court for Michigan this season.  Arguably, the best way to do this is to go through the entire roster.  There's no specific order for our roster previews, but we're starting with one of Michigan's more prominent role players, Matt Vogrich.

Vogrich will be entering his senior season with mixed expectations and performances.  He was a 3* recruit when he committed to Michigan back in 2009 and has improved largely from his freshman season.  However, he took a step back in his junior year.  Not just in production, but he played an average of 3.3 fewer minutes per game last year than he did the year before.  Typically, when a player's time is reduced from their sophomore to junior year, it's a sign of one of two things.  Either newer players are stepping up and taking the playing time, or the player has taken a step back.  Unfortunately for Vogrich, there wasn't much roster transition at his spot last year, which probably signals that  it was more of a step back.

Key 2012 Recruit Deciding Wednesday

Photo Credit: DeCamp

After wrapping up his latest visits and his Michigan visit last Thursday, Caris LeVert will be making his college decision this Wednesday according to UMHoops and his high school head coach.  Is this a good or a bad sign for Michigan?  As I said before his visit last Thursday, I think Michigan is in great position to get a commitment from LeVert.  Not only because of his potential role in Michigan's program over the next few years, but also because he has some unique connections to the school.

Another Pickerton Central recruit has selected Michigan and LeVert would likely feel more comfortable with a school where he knows at least some other individuals.  Taco Charlton, a 4* defensive end recruit, currently goes to the same school as LeVert and has been tweeting recently in regards to LeVert's decision.  From what's he has tweeted so far, it certainly looks pretty good for Michigan.  There is always a possibility he ends up somewhere else, but if he's not in Ann Arbor next fall, I would be very surprised.

He is currently ranked as a 3* by Rivals and ranked as a 2* by ESPN.  Personally, I think this could be one of Michigan's greatest recruiting steals and think he has the potential to be a lot better than many speculate.  Several other schools are interested including Big Ten school Purdue, which shows that he is considered at least a Big Ten quality player.

Along with the potential to improve while enrolled at Michigan, he has a unique opportunity because of the depth situation.  Michigan has two other guards in the class, Spike Albrecht and Nik Stauskus, but Michigan will probably be short-handed at the position for the next few years, especially if Michigan players continue going pro at their current rate.  Eso Akunne will be graduating after this season, Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway, Jr. will probably be headed to the NBA after this season, and there's a good chance some of Michigan's future players at the position including 2013 point guard commit Derrick Walton could be leaving early for the NBA.  Obviously, there's no guarantee when people will be going to the NBA, but I think there's going to be a lot of potential for playing time if LeVert picks Michigan, which most anticipate he will this Wednesday.  Either way, we'll keep you posted.

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