Michigan Friday: Cornerback is a Concern

Reports came out yesterday that Will Johnson had knee surgery this off season and might not be back for the start of the season or will play sparingly in the first few games.  If Will can't go, that means Michigan would have 2 holes at the starting CB positions.  

Some good news is that the Don Brown CB transfer Josh Wallace was on campus yesterday and presumably still on campus today.  Let's hope Jimmy and Jesse Minter are putting on the hard sales pitch.  Josh is very much needed at this point in the off season. 

Jimmy spoke yesterday at a Detroit Event that used to be Sound Mind Sound Body.  He had a couple comments:

-Expects offense to be 50/50 run/pass

-The Shemy situation has changed the way they vett staff and coaches.   "Once I became aware of things that were offensive -- offensive to me, offensive to other members of our team -- [we acted]," Harbaugh said, according to MLive.com. "We didn't want that mindset around."

"I read the report myself," Harbaugh said. "We have a company that vets that -- social media -- and they came back and [cleared him]. We've got a new company doing that [now], but they've got to be better.

"I'll take responsibility for that," he said. "If somebody can find that in a day, then we have to be better ourselves."

• In the something to watch file: ND, Miami, ASU, and USF are now members in the AAU (Association of American Universities).   For those that follow this situation, membership in the AAU has been (unwritten rule) prerequisite for entry into the Big Ten.  All current Big Ten members except Nebraska are in the AAU.  Nebraska was removed from the AAU in 2011. 

• Ray J went to Baylor

Michigan Thursday: Do Wolverines and Peacocks Mix?

As we keep mentioning here on the BHB, word is NBC is pissed at the Big Ten because of its late November no night game rule.  As I posted yesterday, they are also starting the season with 3 bad primetime games (I guess WVU @ PSU is not bad).  MSU and Penn State also threw NBC a bone as they will play on Black Friday in Detroit at Ford Field.  

Now, in what I can only consider another concession to NBC, Michigan's opener against East Carolina (𝅘𝅥𝅮 good times never seem so good) is going to be on the NBC streaming service Peacock.  Sign up and watch Michigan Football and re-runs of Law and Order.   I don't love this; in fact, I don't like it all. 

Michigan first 4 games times and TV:

East Carolina Noon Peacock 

UNLV 3:30 CBS 

Bowling Green 7:30 BTN

Rutgers Noon (TBD) 

Those are 4 games that should have a noon start and BGSU in primetime, is just silly.   That is just BTN getting its Michigan primetime game before the inventory dries up.  

• Pistons pay a ton of money to an NBA coach that couldn't win with CP3, KD, and Book.  Good luck with the Pistons roster. 

• Speaking of basketball, with guys pulling out of the NBA Draft last night hopefully open a few opportunities for Juwan to grab a few transfers.  Michigan Basketball needs them or next season is going to be rough. 

• Ray J is expected to announce his transfer decision at noon today.  Michigan is not expected to be a factor in his decision.  

• Michigan is favored by 36.5 points against ECU

Wolverine Wednesday: Josh Wallace from Don Brown Land Visiting

Michigan would still like some experience at cornerback next season.   They have 5-star Will Johnson on one side and a question mark on the other side.  Will is very talented but still in his second year of college football.  Michigan has good safeties, Sainstril has the slot locked down, but Michigan still would like one more experienced corner.  

To the transfer portal they go and are now looking at UMass CB Josh Wallace.  Josh's stats per Maize N' Brew: Appearing in 36 games for the Minutemen over his career, Wallace tallied 99 solo tackles, 137 total tackles, seven tackles for loss, three interceptions and defended 24 passes. Last season, he recorded 41 tackles, three tackles for loss, a fumble recovery, two interceptions and eight pass breakups.

There are plenty of connections back to Ann Arbor, we know UMass head coach is Don Brown and their LB coach is former Wolverine Mike McCray.   I assume that is a positive for Harbaugh, even though Brown was let go (in a long overdue decision).  Josh also played at DeMatha Catholic, where Hunter Dickinson played basketball. 

Josh does have some options and has portal offers from the likes of Oklahoma, VT, Oregon State, Penn State, Iowa, Indiana, and Michigan State.

Sounds like a talented corner and one we would like in Ann Arbor.  We also know he understands how to play man coverage! Josh is expected to visit Ann Arbor this week and is expected to be a grad transfer.

• I wonder why NBC is so pissed at the new Big Ten contract?  Their first 3 weeks include these beauties of primetime games: West Virginia at Penn State, Sept. 2, 7:30 p.m. ET, (Biff Bowl!) Charlotte at Maryland, Sept. 9, 7:30 p.m. ET, and Syracuse at Purdue, Sept. 16, 7:30 p.m. ET

Michigan Tuesday: Happy for Duncan

Duncan Robinson made NBA history a couple years ago as a member of the Miami Heat.  He was the only D3 player to ever start an NBA Finals Game.  Lebron ended up being too much for the injured Heat in the Orlando Bubble.  Duncan since then signed a huge new contract and was regulated to the bench.  His shooting all of sudden became inconsistent and his defense was a liability.   The Heat struggled all year long and barely made the playoffs after going 1-1 in the play-in games.  

Then Tyler Herro gets hurt and Duncan's time on the floor and role all of sudden gets elevated in the playoffs.   Jimmy Butler and Duncan's bench buddies start playing well and now the Heat is headed to the NBA Finals again.  Duncan had a high point total of 22 in Game 3 of the East Conference finals and finished with 10 points last night as the Heat closed out the Celtics in Game 7.  For example, last year in the Heats final playoff game vs. the Celtics, Duncan did not play.  Great bounce back Duncan, keep playing well and be confident in that jumper!   

• Michigan will need a big year from Kris Jenkins on the defensive line next season.  Kris is up to 309 pounds in this off season. 

• Paul Chyrst ends up at Texas as an offensive analyst.  Some projected he might end up on Harbaugh's staff since they seem friendly. 

• Former Michigan WR commit Markus Allen who ended up at Wisconsin, recently got arrested. 

• Has anyone else noticed that Jake Butt and Devin Gardner are sideline reporters for Fox's USFL coverage? Love to see former Wolverines making it covering football!

• 5-star WR in 2024 Ryan Wingo will be visiting Ann Arbor June 9-11.  Ryan is rated as the #2 WR in the class as hails from St. Louis.