Michigan's freshmen have arrived on campus, minus Caleb Houstan (playing for Team Canada in the FIBA U-19 tournament), and the consensus after their arrival ... "this team is absolutely loaded."
It will be more loaded, of course, if Hunter Dickinson decides to return for another season. The sophomore center still hasn't announced and has continued to work out for teams approaching the July 7 deadline (tomorrow), and it's clear he was serious about leaving if he found the right situation — specifically, a "guarantee" that he'd be an early to mid-second round pick.
That's tough, of course. A team can say one thing and do another on Draft Day, so it's essentially a leap of faith. At the same time, his logic kind of makes sense. He's older for his grade, approaching 21, and it might be that he'll never be a first-round pick given his limitations in today's NBA. He's not a great athlete, isn't a shooter and will have trouble defending today's NBA bigs.
All the buzz leading up to today has been that Dickinson would join DeVante' Jones in coming to U-M. We still think that's the most likely decision. Michigan sophomore Jace Howard sent a bit of a scare into the fan base with a since-deleted tweet that said, "I'll miss him" or something to that effect, but there's nothing to indicate that was about Dickinson.
In fact, we would't expect him to do something like that and give his friend's plans away.
We should hear something today either way.
As for the rest of this group ... veteran Eli Brooks has had a great summer so far, and he's going to be the leader in the locker room. Brandon Johns has been putting in the work to up his game and hold on to his job, and he'll be pushed.
This freshman class is as good as advertised, better in some areas. The biggest surprise — shooting guard Kobe Bufkin, who is "much better than we thought he'd be ... and we thought he'd be pretty good," according to a source close to the team.
The kid was a McDonald's All-American, after all.
Isaiah Barnes is one of those kids who will look better in two months that he does now, in the words of another close to the program.
"You see him at first and think, 'I'm not sure,'" he said. "But he's got a high ceiling, and the more you see him, the more you feel like you know what he is ... and he has a chance to be good.
"The first time I saw Cole Bajema, I thought, 'I'm not seeing it.' That didn't change after a week, and it didn't change after a few months. That's not the case with Isaiah."
Forward Moussa Diabate is "crazy athletic," as we already knew, but it's been on display. This is a kid whose upside and work ethic will make him a star someday. All of them, in fact, are in the gym together working first thing in the morning, eager to get going. There's a great rapport.
Forward Will Tschetter needs to adjust to the speed of the game, but he can stroke it and is going to have a role at some point. His IQ is outstanding.
Frankie Collins — not quite the alpha coming in some expected him to be. Assistant Phil Martelli said this spring he thought Collins was kind of like Xavier Simpson in that he'd be that guy who made up for his shortcomings (shooting) in other ways — specifically, by being an elite passer and a bulldog on defense — but keep in mind, Simpson wasn't great his first year. In fact, the coaches were looking at other point guards in case they had to recruit over him (fact) because they just weren't sure about him.
Collins is just getting started, so no reason at all to panic here. He's also an outstanding athlete, and he's had some really nice moments.
Watch for more on hoops in the days to come ...
It will be more loaded, of course, if Hunter Dickinson decides to return for another season. The sophomore center still hasn't announced and has continued to work out for teams approaching the July 7 deadline (tomorrow), and it's clear he was serious about leaving if he found the right situation — specifically, a "guarantee" that he'd be an early to mid-second round pick.
That's tough, of course. A team can say one thing and do another on Draft Day, so it's essentially a leap of faith. At the same time, his logic kind of makes sense. He's older for his grade, approaching 21, and it might be that he'll never be a first-round pick given his limitations in today's NBA. He's not a great athlete, isn't a shooter and will have trouble defending today's NBA bigs.
All the buzz leading up to today has been that Dickinson would join DeVante' Jones in coming to U-M. We still think that's the most likely decision. Michigan sophomore Jace Howard sent a bit of a scare into the fan base with a since-deleted tweet that said, "I'll miss him" or something to that effect, but there's nothing to indicate that was about Dickinson.
In fact, we would't expect him to do something like that and give his friend's plans away.
We should hear something today either way.
As for the rest of this group ... veteran Eli Brooks has had a great summer so far, and he's going to be the leader in the locker room. Brandon Johns has been putting in the work to up his game and hold on to his job, and he'll be pushed.
This freshman class is as good as advertised, better in some areas. The biggest surprise — shooting guard Kobe Bufkin, who is "much better than we thought he'd be ... and we thought he'd be pretty good," according to a source close to the team.
The kid was a McDonald's All-American, after all.
Isaiah Barnes is one of those kids who will look better in two months that he does now, in the words of another close to the program.
"You see him at first and think, 'I'm not sure,'" he said. "But he's got a high ceiling, and the more you see him, the more you feel like you know what he is ... and he has a chance to be good.
"The first time I saw Cole Bajema, I thought, 'I'm not seeing it.' That didn't change after a week, and it didn't change after a few months. That's not the case with Isaiah."
Forward Moussa Diabate is "crazy athletic," as we already knew, but it's been on display. This is a kid whose upside and work ethic will make him a star someday. All of them, in fact, are in the gym together working first thing in the morning, eager to get going. There's a great rapport.
Forward Will Tschetter needs to adjust to the speed of the game, but he can stroke it and is going to have a role at some point. His IQ is outstanding.
Frankie Collins — not quite the alpha coming in some expected him to be. Assistant Phil Martelli said this spring he thought Collins was kind of like Xavier Simpson in that he'd be that guy who made up for his shortcomings (shooting) in other ways — specifically, by being an elite passer and a bulldog on defense — but keep in mind, Simpson wasn't great his first year. In fact, the coaches were looking at other point guards in case they had to recruit over him (fact) because they just weren't sure about him.
Collins is just getting started, so no reason at all to panic here. He's also an outstanding athlete, and he's had some really nice moments.
Watch for more on hoops in the days to come ...
