The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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NOVEMBER 2017 THE WOLVERINE 53 2017-18 BASKETBALL PREVIEW The veteran coach noted the fresh- man class might be one of the most 'ready to contribute' groups he's had. "They're just really good kids, and what I'd say are all three are bas- ketball players," he said. "Not just basketball athletes; they're basketball players, all three, but you won't get me to talk about one over the other. "Will they play? That's a better question around November, and then we'll ask the same question in the Big Ten season. What I like is all three have instincts. "Sometimes other recruits, or guys I didn't recruit, we had to teach them some of those instincts. These three seem to have a sense about what the next play is. You won't always see that all the time." — Chris Balas BEILEIN AGAINST IMMEDIATE TRANSFER ELIGIBILITY During the offseason, news got out that the NCAA could consider a rule change that would allow college bas- ketball players to be eligible to play immediately following a transfer if they met a certain academic standard. "I don't think it's a good idea at all," Beilein said in a press confer- ence in October. "I joked to one of my mid-major guys that are out there and said, 'This is perfect, we'll just go out and recruit off all of your teams. As soon as you got a good player, we'll go get them.'" Beilein isn't the first coach to come out against the idea. Baylor's Scott Drew told ESPN that it "would be the worst rule ever" and Indiana's Archie Miller told Scout. com that it "would cripple teams and programs." Alabama football coach Nick Sa- ban also spoke out against the pro- posed change. "How can you plan a roster or a team when every player is a free agent at the end of the season?" Sa- ban asked. Beilein echoed their thoughts. "I mean how crazy is that?" Beilein said. "We wouldn't have to deal with the AAU guys, we'd just look at the MAC All-Star team. It's not going to work. "I hope we don't go in that direc- tion. That's not right, to do that to the mid-majors and low-majors, or to each other." He then gave an example of how it could look in football, if Michigan and Michigan State just decided to flip quarterbacks after the season. "Won't that be fun?" Beilein said. "… It can't always be equal oppor- tunity." He continued by saying that if a rule like this is passed that you might as well not play with referees and should give every player a trophy and cupcakes no matter if they win or lose. The argument for the rule change is that players should be given the freedom to change schools, just like any other college student can or simi- larly how a college coach can leave a school at any time to accept a job at another program. However, Beilein's worry is that the separation between the big schools and small schools could become even wider, because anytime a good player emerged at a smaller school, a larger one like Michigan would come along and scoop them up. "This is life," Beilein said. — Andrew Vailliencourt forward] Duncan Robinson saw plenty of action last year, the rest of the ex- pected rotational pieces did not," it wrote. "That, combined with the de- partures of two members of his coach- ing staff [Jeff Meyer and Billy Donlon], leaves Beilein with a sense of uncer- tainty about the upcoming season." Street & Smith's is quite high on sev- eral individuals players, though, listing Wagner to its lone all-conference team and Robinson to its "all-sharpshooter" unit. It also named Simmons to two different lists — its "all-newcomer" squad and its "all-defense" team. The outlet is especially high on Wag- ner, calling him Michigan's "difference- maker." "The NBA told Wagner to spend an- other year developing, so the skilled big man will try to make his inside- out game more consistent and his rebounding more robust," it noted. "Last year, Moritz took the progress he made at the end of the '15-16 cam- paign and turned it into a season-long success story. He showed the ability to hit the three ball, handle himself in- side, play some defense and rebound. Now, he must become more consis- tent, get control of his emotions, build strength and become a leader on the team." ESPN.com is even higher on Wagner, calling him the 22nd-best player in all of college basketball. "Before last season, Wagner had made a grand total of two three- pointers in his college career," ESPN. com explained. "I'll spare you the 'life comes at you fast' reference, but one year later this same player very nearly entered the draft before deciding to return to Ann Arbor for his junior season. The 6-foot-11 Wagner added perimeter range to his game last sea- son while (oh, by the way) converting 66 percent of his tries inside the arc. With teammate D.J. Wilson deciding to take a shot at a pro career sooner rather than later, John Beilein will be relying on Wagner to post healthy in- creases in both minutes and defensive boards." Finally, even though he didn't pro- vide a detailed analysis of how he thinks Michigan will per form this season, CBSSports.com's Jerry Palm projected the Wolverines to make the NCAA Tournament as a No. 10 seed in his preseason bracketology. — Austin Fox Freshman Isaiah Livers was not Michigan's highest-ranked recruit in the class of 2017 — he was listed a three star by Rivals.com — but has already impressed in practice and looks worthy of immediate playing time. PHOTO COURTESY ISAIAH LIVERS