Bball News

The next signing period is approaching.  Everyone is stuck in nowhere's ville.  You could do worse than at least a year at Michigan.

These decisions happened in reverse:  Josh Christopher is coming so DDJ is leaving.  It is a fine line for all to negotiate, but ultimately the leaver or leavee bears the burden.  They are out, need to find a new home, and WILL sit out for a year.  It is not about hardship in anyway; it is about being the last man out and doing it volutarily.

Same goes for Colin Castleton.  Hello Isaiah Todd.

What a juggling act. 

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Update to the roster, apparently Jace will walk on.  Jaron Faulds is a walk on too.

This just in:  Colin Castleton too.  Don't know why, he would suffer long stretches on the bench.  He was simply not used.

More to the point, it appears Juwan has a plan.  Maybe inviting all the crummy guys back--in Nunez' case, with a 4-year scholarship, there isn't much you can do except intentionally injure him--is the smart thing given the room.

David DeJulius entering the damn spaceship (i.e., in the portal) and getting inquiries means it is happening.  He is a good player but he could very well not have been the guy to lead the team.  He is more like Davis and Nunez in that he is nice to have around too, but not quite where things could be.

I have written about this many times before, under Beilein the roster was almost always thin and in that respect the roster has to be upgraded.  A bunch of good players is a start.  Now let's see if it comes together as a team with championship potential.

In some ways MBB has to forget the old system.  Only Howard knows at this point.

I do not like the whole testing the waters and agent thing.  What is it, now you can hire an agent and still return to school?  It depends what you are in it for.  The rule still holds, if you are first round and a guaranteed professional, go.  But if you are on the fence, make up your mind.  Half-assed is no way to do anything, especially when, whether you realize it or not, others are involved.

What happens afterward is anyone's guess and ex-Michigan players are all over the map.  Tractor Traylor is dead.  Rumeal Robinson went to prison.  Derrick Walton hangs on professionally with 10-day contracts.

There are those with solid careers after bugging-out.  I wonder how it affects Franz, because brother Moe is one who has a healthy NBA career going on now.  We cannot count Duncan Robinson because he stayed more than four years in college.

The moral of this story?  Remember Lupi Valez, I mean, Adrien Nunez?

You cannot get sued and lose if you didn't do anything wrong.

Even if you are terrible, you cannot be kicked off the team if you haven't done anything wrong.  Nunez and Davis fit in.  If you survive, and that is not easy on and off the court, it is a four year scholarship.  A coach could make life so miserable for someone that they would want to leave, theoretically.  Howard has done the right thing.

The fifth year for Davis is an indication that the future status of Castleton was known.  Not so much that there would be room for him (Davis), but that no other experienced bigs were returning.

David DeJulius too could have stayed.  He can shoot and he can drive and there is no reason to think he is not a very good passer too.  That is a subtle comparison to Zavier Simpson.  You never know in these situations because everyone says the right things, but I have to think DDJ's leaving is because his growth--no pun--is stunted at Michigan.

It is tough to see them go, but expect when there are problems and there have been none on the basketball team since the days of Frieder and Fisher, it is the player-student's choice.

For the team it means a lot more Eli Brooks next year.  Right now there is no one else.