Just interesting to revisit how it all went down. The 2016 class consisted of:
4* #65 Zavier Simpson
4* #108 John Teske
3* Austin Davis
3* Ibi Watson
Watson transferred after last season's run to the title game. At this time last year Simpson was benched in favor of Brooks, which is really hard to fathom given where he is now. Teske played 3 minutes per game his 1st year, 12 minutes last year, and is a starter playing just under 25 minutes this year. Davis redshirted his first year and averaged 3 minutes per game last year. He's up to 5 minutes this year. He may only ever be a backup, but he's got 2 years after this year.
On June 15, 2014, Michigan made its 1st three offers to members of the 2016 class:
1. 5* Tyus Battle. He committed to Michigan in May then decommitted because, in the words of his father Gary, he wanted his son to play for a "big time program." Now a junior at Syracuse, Battle has averaged 11.3 ppg, 19.2 pp, and this year 18.0 ppg. He's a good player.
2. 5* Derryck Thornton. Thornton committed to Duke, which convinced him to reclassify to the 2015 class. He struggled and played sparingly his freshman year, which should have been his senior year in high school. He transferred to USC and sat out a year. Last year he was a back up player and averaged 3.8 ppg, 1.2 apg, 1.4 rpg, shot 31% from three and 36% from the field. This year he is a starter and averages 9.5 ppg, 4.2 apg, 3.0 rpg, is 5 of 9 from three, and shoots 47% from the field.
3. 5* Cassius Winston. Michigan waited and waited for Winston, who per Balas wanted to go to Michigan. Michigan would not wait longer and snagged Zavier Simpson, who stopped by Ann Arbor on his way back from a visit to Wisconsin. Two days before his commitment Simpson had released a list of final four schools (Illinois, Iowa State, Miami, Wisconsin) that did not include Michigan. Winston has been a good player at MSU. Probably not as good as Battle has been at Syracuse, IMO.
Michigan was also pursuing Kevin Huerter, who is now in the NBA. Michigan wanted him to reclassify to 2017 as did Syracuse. Per an ITF, Huerter was sort of a backup option in 2016 "if Cassius Winston were to pass."
Michigan was also interested in Miles Bridges. Per an ITF:
I'm sure Michigan kicked the tires or pursued several others, but that's all I've got for ya.
4* #65 Zavier Simpson
4* #108 John Teske
3* Austin Davis
3* Ibi Watson
Watson transferred after last season's run to the title game. At this time last year Simpson was benched in favor of Brooks, which is really hard to fathom given where he is now. Teske played 3 minutes per game his 1st year, 12 minutes last year, and is a starter playing just under 25 minutes this year. Davis redshirted his first year and averaged 3 minutes per game last year. He's up to 5 minutes this year. He may only ever be a backup, but he's got 2 years after this year.
On June 15, 2014, Michigan made its 1st three offers to members of the 2016 class:
1. 5* Tyus Battle. He committed to Michigan in May then decommitted because, in the words of his father Gary, he wanted his son to play for a "big time program." Now a junior at Syracuse, Battle has averaged 11.3 ppg, 19.2 pp, and this year 18.0 ppg. He's a good player.
2. 5* Derryck Thornton. Thornton committed to Duke, which convinced him to reclassify to the 2015 class. He struggled and played sparingly his freshman year, which should have been his senior year in high school. He transferred to USC and sat out a year. Last year he was a back up player and averaged 3.8 ppg, 1.2 apg, 1.4 rpg, shot 31% from three and 36% from the field. This year he is a starter and averages 9.5 ppg, 4.2 apg, 3.0 rpg, is 5 of 9 from three, and shoots 47% from the field.
3. 5* Cassius Winston. Michigan waited and waited for Winston, who per Balas wanted to go to Michigan. Michigan would not wait longer and snagged Zavier Simpson, who stopped by Ann Arbor on his way back from a visit to Wisconsin. Two days before his commitment Simpson had released a list of final four schools (Illinois, Iowa State, Miami, Wisconsin) that did not include Michigan. Winston has been a good player at MSU. Probably not as good as Battle has been at Syracuse, IMO.
Michigan was also pursuing Kevin Huerter, who is now in the NBA. Michigan wanted him to reclassify to 2017 as did Syracuse. Per an ITF, Huerter was sort of a backup option in 2016 "if Cassius Winston were to pass."
Michigan was also interested in Miles Bridges. Per an ITF:
Finally, on 2016 forward Miles Bridges of Huntington, W.V., Prep … he is a good friend of Winston’s, but we expect him to end up at Kentucky. Their sources are extremely confident they’ll land the elite forward, soon to be ranked in the nation’s top 10.
I'm sure Michigan kicked the tires or pursued several others, but that's all I've got for ya.
