Wolverine Wednesday: A Very Deep Poole

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Jordan Poole hit one huge shot as a freshman and the expectations went through the roof.  

I've watched a ton of Michigan Basketball the last two years and my eyes don't lie even though my head wants it to.   I believe many Michigan fans feel this way about Jordan Poole.   He hit a historic shot in the NCAA Tournament, that sprung the Wolverines to the Final 4 and the National Championship game and will always be remembered for that shot. 

Jordan is a great kid, full of emotion and swag.  His videos are funny and is the prefect guy for this social media world.   It's hard not to like him as a person and a basketball player. 

What gets lost is Jordan Poole didn't have a strong freshman year, he averaged 6 points per game in 12 minutes per.  Everyone expected a break out sophomore year for the talented shooter.   This season he averaged 33 minutes but only scored 12.8 per game.  He almost tripled his time on the floor and only scored 6 more points per game.   

Jordan recently decided he was declaring for the NBA Draft and would get the information on his draft status.  The NBA season isn't over and ESPN ranks Jordan very late in the second round prospect.  He may or may not get invited to the NBA Draft Combine, which is still to be determined.  ESPN even recently had a 2020 draft projection and had Jordan late in the first round after next season.   

You would think this points to signs that heading back for his junior year might make sense.  Not for Jordan or his father, as Jordan announced he was staying in the draft after he signed up for a $40 video greeting service.  Which would make him ineligible to play college basketball.  

Jordan's father has been very critical of Michigan's offense and the use of the Zavier Simpson as the primary ball handler and not putting his son in enough pick and rolls.  He also wanted Jordan to show his ball handling skills more often in the offense.   He recently gave an interview to the Athletic on why Jordan is leaving the program.  

Jordan's father isn't a 100% wrong, but he is watching his son through his fathers eyes and not an NBA Scout or Coach.  Michigan's offense was poor at times this year and changes need to be made this off season.   It's clear Jordan's camp feels Jordan won't develop with those new changes under Coach B.   I'm also sure they are informed on Jordan's NBA rankings, which means there is a strong possibility he ends up in the G-League or in Europe.  Which is professional basketball obscurity.    Yes, players have come out of that process but not many.  

My eyes this year, saw a player that was still developing his game.   I saw his shot to be very inconsistent and his ball handling needing work.   He was starting to develop his dribble drive game which looked promising.   I'm not going to knock his decision of trying to make a living playing basketball, I just hope it was an informed decision rather than an emotional one.   I also hope it was his and not his fathers.