... about how Moe feels about U-M.
When Beilein left, I would have scoffed at the idea that Franz might still come. There was (and is) no guarantee that the program under Juwan will closely resemble the program Moe knew under Beilein. In any number of ways—fundamental skill development, style of play, team culture, on-court success, player development, player-coach relationships, and who knows what else—the program won’t be the same. That’s not to say it’ll be worse, just unknown.
Franz really has no reason to expect that Michigan under Juwan will be more like Michigan under Beilein than Gonzaga, Indiana, Arizona State, and any number of other programs are. Yet he never considered anyplace else. Why?
First, there’s no question that Juwan deserves credit here. There are plenty of things Franz could have seen or heard from Juwan that might have caused him to decide that the uncertainty and accompanying risk were too great to justify walking away from a known good situation with Alba.
But it isn’t realistic to think that this happened because of Juwan—that Juwan is the reason Franz is coming to Michigan. They’ve never met face-to-face, after all. That’s not a knock on Juwan; it’s just an acknowledgement of pretty obvious reality.
It’s pretty inescapable that the reason Franz chose Michigan, and never seriously considered any other school, is Moe’s experience there, and his family’s feelings about it. But the really interesting thing to me is that Moe’s love for his Michigan experience is something that he apparently doesn’t mostly and specifically tie to Beilein, because if he did, it’s hard to see how Franz would still come. This isn’t their in-state school we’re talking about.
Obviously, even for an athlete, a college experience is about a lot of different things, and a coach is just one of them. But for a lot of athletes, it seems to be the biggest thing of all. Just look at how often players and recruits leave when there’s a coaching change.
I doubt we’ll ever hear an elaborate rundown of the things Moe loved so much about Michigan that he still encouraged Franz to come despite the coaching change. But whatever they are, I think Franz’s commitment shows that they are substantial and they run deep.
When Beilein left, I would have scoffed at the idea that Franz might still come. There was (and is) no guarantee that the program under Juwan will closely resemble the program Moe knew under Beilein. In any number of ways—fundamental skill development, style of play, team culture, on-court success, player development, player-coach relationships, and who knows what else—the program won’t be the same. That’s not to say it’ll be worse, just unknown.
Franz really has no reason to expect that Michigan under Juwan will be more like Michigan under Beilein than Gonzaga, Indiana, Arizona State, and any number of other programs are. Yet he never considered anyplace else. Why?
First, there’s no question that Juwan deserves credit here. There are plenty of things Franz could have seen or heard from Juwan that might have caused him to decide that the uncertainty and accompanying risk were too great to justify walking away from a known good situation with Alba.
But it isn’t realistic to think that this happened because of Juwan—that Juwan is the reason Franz is coming to Michigan. They’ve never met face-to-face, after all. That’s not a knock on Juwan; it’s just an acknowledgement of pretty obvious reality.
It’s pretty inescapable that the reason Franz chose Michigan, and never seriously considered any other school, is Moe’s experience there, and his family’s feelings about it. But the really interesting thing to me is that Moe’s love for his Michigan experience is something that he apparently doesn’t mostly and specifically tie to Beilein, because if he did, it’s hard to see how Franz would still come. This isn’t their in-state school we’re talking about.
Obviously, even for an athlete, a college experience is about a lot of different things, and a coach is just one of them. But for a lot of athletes, it seems to be the biggest thing of all. Just look at how often players and recruits leave when there’s a coaching change.
I doubt we’ll ever hear an elaborate rundown of the things Moe loved so much about Michigan that he still encouraged Franz to come despite the coaching change. But whatever they are, I think Franz’s commitment shows that they are substantial and they run deep.
