Five Impressions From Michigan's Italy Trip

An article composed for Wolverine247 of 247Sports looking at how Michigan's team performed on their international trip to Italy and some impressions from the trip.

Five Impressions From Michigan's Italy Trip. http://t.co/yBlDNrPd4O | #GoBlue
— Thomas Beindit (@tbeindit) August 28, 2014

Postgame Thoughts: Minnesota - Zak Irvin Comes Up Big

Photo Credit: Thomas Beindit

Huge win for Michigan.  Read at the link below:

Postgame Thoughts: Minnesota - Zak Irvin Comes Up Big

2013-2014 Michigan Basketball Preview: Wings

Photo Credit: Laura Pratt

A nice breakdown of one of the strengths of this year's basketball team.  Can the wings live up to their performance last year?

2013-2014 Michigan Basketball Preview: Wings

2013-3014 Michigan Basketball Preview: Guards

Here is a nice breakdown on Michigan's guard situation for the 2013-2014 season. The Wolverines will be looking to replace two NBA 1st round draft picks

http://michigan.247sports.com/Board/59424/Preview-PointShooting-Guard-22261539/1

Michigan Basketball: A Scholarship Update

Photo Credit: Thomas Beindit

In early June each year, Michigan basketball begins offering the next cycle of recruits.  This June, Beilein and his staff began offering the class of 2015 recruits.  As of now, only a handful of recruits have received offers including Luke Kennard, Jalen Coleman, and Jalen Brunson.  However, something that is incredibly important, but often gets swept under the radar, is the scholarship situation.  Michigan has finished recruiting in the 2013 cycle, but the 2014 and 2015 cycles are in full swing, which makes this an interesting discussion.  So let's take a look at where things stand:

2014 Cycle:
Currently, Michigan is set to have 10 scholarship players for 13 open spots for the 2014-2015 cycle.  This means that the Wolverines can take up to 3 commits in the 2014 class.  As of now, Michigan has 2 commits in the class (Austin Hatch & Ricky Doyle) and 1 open spot.  With numerous offers out this begs the question of how Michigan will make room for potentially 2 or 3 recruits for 2014 class.  The clearest answer can be found on the current roster.  Mitch McGary and GR3 nearly left Ann Arbor following the 2012-2013 season for the NBA Draft.  In all likelihood this will happen following the 2013-2014 season, which would give Michigan 5 open slots for the 2014 and beyond.  With 2 recruits already committed, that means the Wolverines could add 3 recruits to its 2014 class assuming McGary and GR3 leave following the season as expected.  However, I'm not completely convinced Michigan will max out the scholarship slots for 2014.  Verdict: 4 member 2014 class

2015 Cycle:
As we get farther out in the predictions, things always become tougher to predict.  There are some major questions about how the 2014 class will end, but there are even more about the 2015 class.  If we continue using the verdict listed for the "2014 cycle" that means Michigan will start the 2014-2015 season 1 scholarship short.  This team would feature a bunch of seniors and Derrick Walton and Zak Irvin as sophomores with an even bigger chance of a jump to the pros.  It's hard to believe that the 2014-2015 season will end without at least one player jumping pro.  This brings the scholarship numbers to roughly 10 out of the available 13 for the 2015-2016 season.  It wouldn't be too difficult to imagine another person jumping pro or transferring, which would open up 4 slots for this class.  Many of the players look committed now, but if they aren't getting playing time in roughly 2 seasons and Michigan lands some big 2014 recruits, they may start looking around for playing time.  With this in mind, the class will probably end up around the same size.  Verdict: 4 member 2015 class

2016 Cycle:
If predicting the 2015 class wasn't hard enough, for some reason I've taken the challenge of looking at 2016, which is nearly impossible.  Using the predictions listed above for the 2014 and the 2015 classes (which will probably prove faulty), it would leave 3-4 open scholarship positions for the 2016 class.  This depends on whether one of the older players transferred or one of Irvin or Walton jump pro as listed in the 2015 description.  For this, we'll just assume that it was not a transfer and both Irvin and Walton jump pro.  This would leave Donnal as the only person on the current roster left for the 2016-2017 season.  This gives you an idea of how far we are looking into the future.  Along with Donnal, there would be 4 scholarship players from 2014 and 4 scholarship players from 2015.  So this leaves a class of 4 assuming none of the 2014 or 2015 recruits leave, which seems to be a virtual lock to occur.  For instance, if Michigan lands Devin Booker, will he make it through 2 full seasons and not jump to the NBA?  Seems unlikely.  With this in mind, here's a way too early 2016 prediction.  Verdict: 5 member 2016 class

Michigan Looks To "Size Up" In The NBA

Photo Credit: Thomas Beindit

Michigan basketball hasn't been in good shape for a long time.  Entering the 2011-2012 season, the Wolverines hadn't won a Big Ten championship since the Reagan administration and hadn't made a Final Four appearance in nearly 20 years.  Over the last two seasons, Michigan has erased these deficits and truly returned the Wolverines to national relevance.
However, one of the gaps that still exists is in the NBA.  Michigan has produced a bunch of quality NBA talent during its history, but right now, that talent pool has largely dried up.  Though the NBA ranges somewhere between 360-450 players at a time (varies due to roster size), Michigan only has 3 players on NBA rosters.  Along with this, they only have 1 player who has been a major contributor; Jamal Crawford.

Sure, Darius Morris got the chance to start a few playoff games and Juwan Howard was on the Miami Heat when they won the NBA title last year, but neither of these guys are exactly all-star caliber right now.  I won't minimize the significance of making an NBA roster because it's extremely difficult, but in terms of evaluating Michigan's performance in the NBA, being a contributor or on the bench is a pretty big difference.  If the Wolverines really want to increase the strength of their program and its relevance at the national level, putting quality players in the NBA is one of the biggest steps.

The good news is that Michigan is set to take a big step this year in achieving this goal.  They only have two players in serious consideration for this year's draft (Trey Burke & Tim Hardaway, Jr.), but both of these guys are in good position to get drafted and make an NBA roster.  Burke has been projected as an NBA lottery pick and Hardaway appears aimed to go somewhere in the 2nd round.  That is not only a big jump for Michigan simply in the number of NBA players for the program, but also in the number of quality players.  Burke has a very high probability to start in his rookie season and although Hardaway will probably fall into more of a Morris role, depending on the team, he might be able to log some solid minutes.

What's also significant is that this year's draft should inject some youth into Michigan's NBA players.  Howard is certainly nearing the end of his NBA career and even Crawford was drafted in 2000.  That gives Michigan just one player on an NBA roster that has been drafted in over a decade.  This really doesn't matter that much year to year, but it definitely increases the odds of Michigan having solid players in the future considering the typical length of NBA careers.

Plus, to go along with what should be a great NBA Draft for the Michigan Wolverines this year, they have a bunch of solid NBA prospects on their roster next season.  Not only will Michigan have two players that would have easily been drafted this year (Mitch McGary & GR3), but they are adding Zak Irvin who has the potential to be a one and done type of player, adding Derrick Walton who could certainly be drafted in a few years, and have a few guys like Nik Stauskas who will probably get on an NBA roster at some point.  If things continue at this rate, Michigan is going to have a big presence in the NBA not just in the next year, but 5-10 years down the road.

Michigan has definitely been making positive steps in rebuilding its program.  They've been making the NCAA Tournament, winning conference titles, and winning tourney games.  Michigan has also drastically improved its recruiting and is now bringing in top talent.  The only thing left to take Michigan's program to the next level is increasing its role in the NBA.  The Wolverines are in a good position to start fixing that this summer.

Updating The 2013 ESPN100's Michigan Commits And Targets

In some of the better news of the offseason for Michigan basketball, ESPN has released their updated rankings for the 2013 class.  This takes all of the summer play that has occured into account so they can adjust their rankings.  Although these rankings are not cemented and are just about guaranteed to change before the players get on campus, this is when the list starts to get pretty solidified and it's much rarer to see players move too far up and down.  The scouts have finally gotten a good look at just about everyone and have seen for themselves whether they are the real deal or not.

Just a few quick reminders.  First, I have generally found that ESPN's basketball recruiting coverage has been the best of all the major recruiting services.  It's not perfect, but it has been the best.  Other services have done some great things and I think that they have improved in some areas, but overall, I still give the nod to ESPN.  The most important thing, however, is to compare where recruits are placed on different lists.  If a person uses just one or two services, they are probably going to get a limited idea of a recruit's potential.  Combining different recruiting services, offer lists, and videos seems to be the bes method for review.  You can see all the major scouting rankings for each class here.  Regardless, here are the rankings for the ESPN100 in 2013:

Updating 2013 Commit Zak Irvin

Another year and another big commit from Indiana.  In recent years, Michigan has built its teams and recruiting classes off players from Indiana.  A few years ago, two low ranked recruits named Zack Novak and Stu Douglass joined the Wolverines.  They were some of the key factors that got Michigan back to the NCAA Tournament after a decade long drought and to a Big Ten title in 2012.  Michigan then followed by signing its highest rated recruit in the 2012 recruiting class, 5* Glenn Robinson III, who is also from Indiana.  With such strong success recruiting the state of Indiana, it only made sense to bring in another highly rated recruit, Zak Irvin in 2013.

Irvin has great size at 6'6" and is extremely talented on the offensive side of the ball.  He's been called "aggressive" and is cited as a great 3-point shooter.  For Beilein's offense, this is obviously a major advantage for Irvin.  The only area that he probably does need to work on is his strength.  In fact, he actually got bumped down to junior varsity level because his coaches believed he needed to work on his strength.  Now, this shouldn't be a major concern since his school has enormous depth and talent (He actually went to school with 5* MSU commit Gary Harris).  However, if Irvin wants to make an immediate transition to the college game, he will have to work on this weakness.

Breaking Down 247Sport's Top 100 2013 Recruits For Michigan

Another set of rankings is out, which means another breakdown.  To me, breaking down these lists is important because there are often some pretty surprising findings and they give a better impression of Michigan's recruiting success.  Somebody may think a certain school or player is doing great because of a certain set of rankings, but if taken with the full body of evidence, that conclusion may not be so accurate.  With 247Sports' newest set of rankings for 2013's Top 100 basketball recruits, it only makes sense to dive in and see where Michigan's top commits and targets have placed.


Now, to preface this breakdown a bit more, I would just like to point out my general findings on these types of rankings.  I have nothing against 247Sports, but in my experience, I think ESPN's basketball recruiting coverage is the best in the market.  Does that mean they are 100% accurate?  Of course not.  They, like every other recruiting service, make major mistakes.  This is why it's better to look at as much info as you can find.  247Sports may not be quite as established or as good as ESPN in terms of ranking basketball talent, but they may actually spot something another recruiting service misses, which can really make a difference in evaluating a specific player.  So, here are the rankings for the Top 100 2013 recruits in the nation according to 247Sports :

New 2013 Rivals150 Boosts Michigan Recruits

Rivals has updated their ranking of the top 150 basketball players in the nation and their latest move definitely is a good one for Michigan.  Michigan's 2013 class already has four commitments and was recently ranked #2 in the nation by ESPN.  Obviously, with a class ranking that high, Michigan will be bringing some great players to campus in 2013.


As I pointed out in the past, some of the recruiting services haven't done the best job at evaluating Michigan's 2013 recruits.  Yes, there will always be some subjectivity, especially between different services, but some of the differences have been quite dramatic.  For instnace, 2013 Michigan commit Zak Irvin is well within the top 100 players in the country for both ESPN and Rivals, yett Scout has him outside of the top 100.  Some of these irregularities just don't make much sense.

2013 Prospect Vitto Brown Visits Michigan

Michigan's summer basketball recruiting continues to pick-up with a flurry of visits occurring today.  It's already been reported that 2013 Michigan prospects Zak Irvin and Mark Donnal along with 2014 prospect Devin Booker were all visiting Michigan today.  However, the most intriguing visit is from Ohio power forward Vitto Brown.  


Brown is a 2013 prospect and hasn't received a lot of attention from the major scouting services.  Although he does have some decent ratings on some of the sites, for the most part he's not close to some of Michigan's more hyped 2013 recruits such as Derrick Walton and Mark Donnal.  Despite this, Beilein has consistently went after some of the recruits that fall under the radar and I think that could be happening with Brown.  

Scout's 2013 Rankings Hurt Michigan

As I wrote about earlier, Michigan's 2013 basketball recruiting class has been receiving a lot of love from the recruiting services.  ESPN has ranked the class #2 in the nation and as the best in the Big Ten.  Scout has expressed a similar sentiment, but not quite as positive.  Scout has put Michigan's 2013 class as #6 in the nation, but as only the 3rd best in the Big Ten, behind Purdue and Indiana.

I'm not one that claims Michigan's recruits are always underrated like many analysts seem to do, but I would like to point out the differences between ESPN and Scout's rankings.  ESPN's basketball coverage has almost always been superior to Rivals and Scout, so I tend to lean towards their rankings, but that's not the only reason I think ESPN's rankings are more accurate for Michigan's 2013 recruiting class.

Michigan In Position For Big ESPN100 Haul

We all know that Michigan basketball's 2012 recruiting class brings a lot of great players and talent to Ann Arbor next year, but what about Michigan's future recruiting classes?  A few weeks ago I went through Michigan's recruiting chances in 2014, but what about 2013?  Well, ESPN has released their list of the top 100 players in the 2013 recruiting class and Michigan is looking very good.  Here are the Michigan commits and targets on the list:

COMMITS

Derrick Walton - #39 - PG - 4*
Walton has been committed to Michigan since August 1st of 2011 and brings some great talent to Ann Arbor.  Not only should he be the point guard that replaces Trey Burke when he eventually goes pro, which will likely be after next season, but he's an outstanding player.  He will be a great fit at the point, has great ball control, and really understands the game very well, which translates well to John Beilein's offense.  If Walton doesn't hit the ground running in 2013, I will be pretty surprised.




Zak Irvin - #61 - SG - 4*
This is a ranking that actually surprised me.  I knew Irvin wouldn't be higher than Walton and doesn't deserve to be a top ten recruit, but I really think he deserves to be higher than #61.  He is extremely talented and I think he's going to be an impact player for years to come at Michigan.  To me, if any of Michigan's players are going to blow it, it will be Irvin.  He is very talented and I do think that he's underrated on this list for what he brings to Ann Arbor.




Mark Donnal - #65 - PF/C - 4*
Donnal is a HUGE player.  Standing at 6'9" and weighing 225 lbs, he's easily Michigan's largest commit for 2013.  I think in the future he'll be a great big man for Michigan to accompany Mitch McGary.  Donnal and McGary are sure to be dominant up-front to accompany the tremendous talent of guys like Walton and Glenn Robinson III.  Bringing in this interior presence is really going to bring Michigan's team to the next level.  Donnal might be a little slower to develop, but he should have a little time with Michigan's current depth.

TARGETS

James Young - #5 - SG - 5*
Young is a very exceptional player and the only 5* recruit that Michigan is deeply pursuing according to most sources.  He's the type of player that can completely re-define a team, even as a freshman.  If there's one player beyond Michigan's current 5 commits that I would love to get, it would be Young.  He's also being deeply pursued by schools like MSU and OSU, so it'll be interesting to see what impact he has on the conference if he chooses a Big Ten school.




Demetrius Jackson - #31 - PG - 4*
Jackson is from Indiana and has an amazing amount of talent for any school.  He may not have as much raw talent as Young, but he's a very talented point guard and definitely has the ability to run an offense effectively.  The big question mark is whether he would want to commit to Michigan with Derrick Walton in the class who is also a point guard.  Personally, I don't see him as a likely commit, but hey, crazy things happen on the recruiting trail.




Dominic Woodson - #57 - C - 4*

Woodson, like current Michigan commit Mark Donnal, is a big guy.  He stands at 6'9" and weighs 265 lbs.  Similar to Jackson, the big question is whether he will want to commit to Michigan since they already have a talented center in Donnal.  With their size they will both probably play the same position on offense, so there would be a huge debate about who got playing time and at what position if both Donnal and Woodson committed.  This is another target that I don't see committing, but there's certainly a chance since Michigan appears to at least be a consideration right now.



Reggie Cameron - #67 - PF - 4*
Cameron is a very talented player and one that has at least a little potential in securing.  He's 6'7" and 210 lbs and would be a great fit alongside Donnal and McGary if he decided to commit.  He's from New Jersey and Michigan has been able to recruit some of the northeastern players so that's definitely not something that will exclude Michigan from landing a commitment.  The big question mark is whether Michigan will be able to beat out the numerous schools that are currently pursuing Cameron including NC State, Florida, and Villanova.


Jaren Sina - #75 - PG - 4*
Sina is a very talented point guard and could be a major pick-up for Michigan even though Derrick Walton is already committed.  He is from New Jersey and is 6'2" and weighs 175 lbs.  Other schools pursuing him are Syracuse and Virginia.  There are some other big name schools trying to get him so it will be an uphill battle for Michigan to say the least because of Walton's current commitment (not a bad thing).




E.C. Matthews - #85 - PG - 4*
Matthews is a point guard even though he's a 6'4" athlete.  He would certainly be a lot closer to a player like Darius Morris than Trey Burke.  The question mark again would be whether he wants to commit to Michigan despite another very talented point guard already being in the class.  This certainly wouldn't be a guarantee he wouldn't commit, but this is one that Michigan probably won't land.




Monte Morris - #94 - PG - 4*
Morris has been pursued by Michigan, but will probably not commit since he's being pursued by schools like Indiana and suffers under the same point guard issue that many of the other targets on this list have experienced.  He is very talented and could probably play at most places, but with Derrick Walton already committed, I don't think Morris will end up at Michigan, even though it would be great to have a player with his talents.






Devin Williams - #96 - PF - 4*
Williams is a recruit that I could definitely see committing to Michigan.  At 6'8" and weighing 220 lbs, I think he would be a great fit alongside Donnal and McGary and Michigan seems to be in solid shape right now.  He's from Ohio and battling schools like Illinois and Wisconsin will be a challenge, but he's definitely a guy I could see wearing the maize and blue starting in 2013.  Williams may not be very high on this list, but he's a player that has a great amount of talent and certainly would be a great pick-up for Michigan.