The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1242051
MAY 2020 THE WOLVERINE 5 yet. No lasting memory, no signature moment, but he has stabilized the program and his recruiting is pretty good. George Jones • B-. The positives are he returned stability to the pro- gram, is continuously ranked in the top 25, has top-10 re- cruiting classes, finally put Sparty and Domers back in their place, has three 10-win seasons, was within a hair of going to a Big Ten Title Game and CFP in 2016. That OSU game changed the course of the program. The negatives are no divi- sion or conference titles — and, no, I don't count sharing a division title as winning a division title if they don't go to the conference title game. No CFP. 0-5 against the [Buck- eyes] with the last two games b e i n g c o m p l e t e e m b a r - rassments. He's 1-4 in bowl games, his record on the road and against ranked teams is horrible and the lack of de- velopment in Shea Patterson, who was supposed to take us to the next level. scheins • B or B-. Are we better? Yes, much better than we were and really only trailing OSU (maybe, I repeat maybe, PSU) in the Big Ten. But we are no- where close to OSU or elite, and that is what you ulti- mately get judged on at U-M. He's done a solid job thus far, but needs to take the next step somehow, which will not be easy at all. kindjeffrey • I'll give Coach Harbaugh a C because he's proven to be nothing more than an aver- age coach. ATLDavid • B- and I am not going to waste my time on a long- winded post explaining it. Solid B+ or A- off the field. blue_in_chicago On the basketball recruit- ing class finishing first among Big Ten squads ac- cording to Rivals.com — at No. 13 nationally — despite news that five-star target Josh Christopher, who was thought to be favoring U-M, picked Arizona State and five -star Isaiah Todd de - committed from Michigan to turn professional right before the signing period began … • I watched Terrance Wil- liams play this year and they had him pretty much han- dling the center position. They didn't have a true cen- ter on his team. He is a better player than his stats and will do well playing more of a for- ward spot. mishigan77 • Still an excellent class. Defi- nitely feels like we got some quality program guys. SouthpawBlue6 • It's a decent class. But if we had added the two we lost, all of us could safely have made non-refundable Final Four reservations in India- napolis for 2021. There is one item of prestige assured for us, though — we will be the defending Big Ten champs at the 2021 Big Ten Tournament. Wichita Blue • Honestly, Zeb [Jackson], Terrance, Hunter [Dickinson] and Jace [Howard] all seem like no -nonsense, serious guys with a bit of nasty to them. Hopefully, MSU (and other B1G) fans will hate these guys, which would mean we will be winning a bunch of games with them. buttaball • At the end of the day, any- one who is disappointed in this class has unreasonably raised expectations. Juwan Howard had one summer to recruit the 2020 class. A lot of teams are already finsh- ing off their recruiting cycle during the summer, not start- ing it. The fact that despite this he still ended up with the four-person class he did while hanging on to Franz [Wagner], Cole [Bajema] and Zeb [who committed to John Beilein] is really a testament to his recruiting ability. This is going to be a bless- ing for the long-term con- struction of the roster, but in the short term losing Christo- pher stings. Eli [Brooks] is the only legitimate ball handler. Good teams have good guard play. This roster currently only has one known commodity at guard. ejallstar • Ver y solid class. Hope - fully, the majority of them are around for three or four years and don't have delusions of grandeur that push them elsewhere. pickles24 • When I started watching Hunter and Zeb, these com- parisons jumped out at me. Hunter Dickinson = Juwan Howard He is clearly taller than How- ard, but their games are very similar to me. He is a skilled big man who plays with an edge and some attitude. Good post moves, k nows how to use his body. Can shoot outside a little. Zeb Jackson = Jimmy King. Zeb is a lot more athletic than I expected. He can shoot the three, run the floor and get his head up on the rim. He is more of a runner, slasher and leaper than a spot-up shooter. He will make some highlight-reel plays getting off of the floor. Terrance Williams = Iggy Brazdeikis Terrance is a very tough, physical player. He will slash to the basket and is not afraid of contact. He actually seems to like it. He is a guy who is not tall, but seems very com- fortable playing inside. Looks like he will be a tough de- fender. Jace Howard = Stu Doug- lass/Zack Novak I don't have a feel for Jace yet. He seems like a smart, fundamentally sound grinder. Good defense, high IQ, not afraid to make a play or take a big shot. First guy on the floor to get the loose ball, leader. BlueMonster • Very impressive first class for Howard. I'll be interested to see who he targets for the next cycle. RyanRob03 • Love what Hunter's coach said about him. He will im- merse himself into the uni- versity — football games and other sports events. He will be all about the university. After this past week, he's the exact type of player I hope Juwan goes after and gets. Great talent and a team, pro- gram guy. ghbucs Join The Conversation! Use Code BLUE60 60-Day Free Trial At No. 34 nationally, 7-2 cen- ter Hunter Dickinson is the Wolverines' highest-rated signee in the 2020 basketball recruiting class. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM