The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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BASKETBALL RECRUITING ables, but he has elite intangibles and feel for the game. He makes great de- cisions, he pushes his teammates to be better and there's a good chance that we currently have him a bit under- valued at No. 86 in the class of 2016." The rest of the group is a solid "foundation class," Bossi added. "Teske is a slender but skilled big man who has good upside once he fills out and hits a Big Ten weight room. "Davis is a rotational big who they can afford to bring along slowly, while Watson is a bit of a late-blooming wing scorer and perhaps the X-factor of the class." BEILEIN CONTRACT EXTENSION SHOULD HELP RECRUITING Beilein, meanwhile, addressed the fact that Michigan, after signing four prospects in 2016, will have 14 on scholarship for 13 spots next season if nobody leaves. He was also the one who got the ball rolling on a two-year contract extension, which he said was important to U-M's recruiting efforts. "You look at attrition to the NBA and the high volume of transfers, and it's changed college basketball," he said. "Over-signing is something that we decided to do. We have a plan that's in place. Hopefully, we have no attrition … if there isn't, we have a plan for that." Beilein wouldn't share the plan, however, noting it was an internal matter. There had previously been talk of one of the signees potentially going to prep school for a year to make room, but there's been no con- firmation as to whether or not that's still the idea. Regardless, the Wolverines will move on to the 2017 and 2018 classes (and beyond) with a solid group of recruits the coaches believe can help them win plenty of games in the near future. There were rumblings he might have lost one — Highland, Utah, small forward Brendan Bailey (6-7, Rivals.com's No. 48 senior nation- ally), who committed to Marquette — over concerns that Beilein wouldn't be there for his four years. Bailey was slated to go on a two-year mission and join a program in 2018. He wasn't the only one who had questions, Beilein said in explaining why he pursued a two-year contract extension through 2021-22, one that came with a salary bump from $2.45 million annually to $3.37 million. "A lot of recruits asked, 'Will you still be coaching Michigan four, five, six years from now?'" he recalled. "I would not be doing it if I didn't plan on doing it and wasn't excited about doing it, and I don't think the univer- sity would have allowed me to have such a contract if they didn't believe in it, as well. I think we have great chemistry between all of us." His son, Patrick, said he could see his dad signing another extension in the future. "I'm happy for him," he said. "I know he has a lot of basketball left in him. I think that takes it to 68 [years old], and I wouldn't be surprised if he