Beilein is operating in his wheelhouse of players ranked 40-150. And he's succeeding. IMO, this past season helped, too.
When you're wooing mid level 4 stars and below, the player development angle is magnified. DJ blowing up and getting #17 draft spot did not go unnoticed. If a kid is, say, the number 10 player in the rankings, he is confident of that first round slot and wants exposure most of all. He wants the best chance of a deep tourney run in that expected one and done year. Development is a factor, but not the key factor. But the #75 kid knows that his future depends on developing his skills in an environment with lots of opportunity. Beilein delivers that.
Our run to the B1G title and sweet 16 was emotional and showed Beilein in a new light, getting emotional about the crash and sprayed with water in the wild locker room celebrations. We all know that Beilein is real, genuine as can be. But a lot of the world doesn't get to see that.
The Johns recruitment was an interesting one. Brandon is a bright kid with physical tools to succeed in the right environment. Few recruits have been better suited to what Michigan offered. We knew that. He knew that. His family knew that. But he hadn't pulled the trigger despite a bunch of offers to other high quality forwards. It's hard to know exactly what pushed him to decide, but I'm putting my money on his realization that Beilein made it known that he would not wait forever - whether explicit or implicit. There was no other school that he was in love with, none that had the same relationship that he had with Michigan - including MSU. His mom loved Michigan, too. Maybe he didn't want to face her if he lost his chance with Michigan by waiting? This one ended as it should have.
I don't know if Beilein pulled the Nance offer, but, at the very least, he knew about Johns' commitment and most likely the decision by Currie to re-classify to '18 when he chose Northwestern. He'd be competing with both of them for PT. I'm not one of those glad to see him go. Beilein would have turned him into a helluva player.
With DD, Currie and Johns (all three in state kids) in the fold for '18, we're going to have a great class no matter who completes it. Highest priority, IMO, would be one the shooting guards like Tyson and Locke. You cannot have too many shooters in today's game.
Iggy and Hunter are both great gets at 3. Landing either would be the capper to an amazing 5 man class. Our last one got us to the NCAA title game.
When you're wooing mid level 4 stars and below, the player development angle is magnified. DJ blowing up and getting #17 draft spot did not go unnoticed. If a kid is, say, the number 10 player in the rankings, he is confident of that first round slot and wants exposure most of all. He wants the best chance of a deep tourney run in that expected one and done year. Development is a factor, but not the key factor. But the #75 kid knows that his future depends on developing his skills in an environment with lots of opportunity. Beilein delivers that.
Our run to the B1G title and sweet 16 was emotional and showed Beilein in a new light, getting emotional about the crash and sprayed with water in the wild locker room celebrations. We all know that Beilein is real, genuine as can be. But a lot of the world doesn't get to see that.
The Johns recruitment was an interesting one. Brandon is a bright kid with physical tools to succeed in the right environment. Few recruits have been better suited to what Michigan offered. We knew that. He knew that. His family knew that. But he hadn't pulled the trigger despite a bunch of offers to other high quality forwards. It's hard to know exactly what pushed him to decide, but I'm putting my money on his realization that Beilein made it known that he would not wait forever - whether explicit or implicit. There was no other school that he was in love with, none that had the same relationship that he had with Michigan - including MSU. His mom loved Michigan, too. Maybe he didn't want to face her if he lost his chance with Michigan by waiting? This one ended as it should have.
I don't know if Beilein pulled the Nance offer, but, at the very least, he knew about Johns' commitment and most likely the decision by Currie to re-classify to '18 when he chose Northwestern. He'd be competing with both of them for PT. I'm not one of those glad to see him go. Beilein would have turned him into a helluva player.
With DD, Currie and Johns (all three in state kids) in the fold for '18, we're going to have a great class no matter who completes it. Highest priority, IMO, would be one the shooting guards like Tyson and Locke. You cannot have too many shooters in today's game.
Iggy and Hunter are both great gets at 3. Landing either would be the capper to an amazing 5 man class. Our last one got us to the NCAA title game.
