The Wolverine

June-July 2015

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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2015 BASKETBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY CHRIS BALAS I n a way, the 2014-15 basket- ball season was the year of Murphy's Law for head coach John Beilein and his coach- ing staff. They lost three starters to the NBA, including one in big man Mitch McGary who likely would have returned had the NCAA not suspended him for a year, essentially forcing his hand. Five games into the season, the Wolverines led eventual NCAA Tournament No. 1-seed Villanova by nine points down the stretch and were a few missed free throws from pulling out a win. At that point, they still seemed primed to do what Beilein teams have done throughout the years — continue to improve and make a run. Sophomore guard Derrick Walton injured his foot in the game, how- ever, and wouldn't be close to 100 percent again before shutting it down for good in February. Junior Caris LeVert, too, was lost to his own foot injury, missing the last 12 games of the year. While young talent such as Aubrey Dawkins and Muhammad-Ali Ab- dur-Rahkman improved immensely — and Michigan did, too — it wasn't enough to make the NCAA Tourna- ment. Injuries happen, of course, but in large part, the coaches were also vic- tims of their own success. Of all the NBA entries, Beilein said following the season, they only expected one — McGary — to be a potential early de- parture candidate. Instead of return- ing a veteran team that would have been favored (with Wisconsin) to win the Big Ten, Beilein faced a rebuild. He still views his players' success as nothing other than a positive. "We were just very blessed in that we were able to find young men where it was either in their DNA, or their passion for the game made them special," he said. "They were probably just under- rated coming in. That's how I see it. The top 100 ratings for high school players are not as accurate as people may think it would be, both ways. We happened to get a couple of guys over STAYING THE COURSE Head Coach John Beilein Sticks To His Principles On The Recruiting Trail

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