Michigan Tuesday: New Michigan Jordans and Summer League Stats

The NBA Summer league started quietly last night and former Wolverines Jordan Poole, Duncan Robinson, and MAAR all took the floor.    Lets start with first round Jordan Poole:  played 25 minutes went 3-12 and 0-6 from 3 point range, finished with 6 points.

Duncan Robinson played 20 minutes shot 5-8 and 3-5 from 3 point range, finished with 17 points.  
MAAR played 21 minutes, shot 0-4 and 0-2 on 3's, finished with 0 points.

It's interesting that MAAR is playing for Coach B and the Cavs. Jordan didn't hit any 3's, which is not ideal and Duncan who is clearly now comfortable in the NBA, played very well in limited minutes.

A few years ago after Michigan signed the Jordan contract they released a very limited friends and family release of the Jordan 5 "Fab 5".   These are highly collectable and there is one pair on StockX for $12,500.   The last pair that sold on that site was $8,000.    I think we all would like a pair of those.

A similar "Michigan Inspired" Jordan 5 will release on Saturday.   They are very similar but different.  See below:

Fab 5 Model:

Jordan's that release on Saturday:

Note, there isn't any Michigan branding on the ones releasing on Saturday.   Though sneakerheads are calling it a Michigan edition.

• Coach Gattis top remaining 2020 offensive recruits include: WR Roman Wilson, WR Brenden Rice, TE Theo Johnson, RB Lawrence Toafili, and OT Andrew Raym.  Things are looking solid for Wilson and Rice at WR.  Theo seems to be trending to Iowa, Raym trending to Oklahoma, and Toafili to FSU.   If you didn't know, Brenden Rice is Jerry's son. 

Michigan Thursday: Hat Tip To The Baseball Team

The Michigan Baseball Team lost last night in the National Championship final.  It was a great run and each one of those players should be proud.   A 3 game series is set to show which is the better team and that's exactly what happened.   I hope this is the first step in Michigan Baseball becoming a national baseball power.   Congratulations to the entire team on an incredible run!

Us Michigan fans are starting to feel like we are always the bridesmaid and never the bride.

• Fab 5 two NC games 
• Beilein's two NC games 
• 2 game changing questionable calls in the OSU game - PI penalty hitting Troy Smith on the sideline and JT Barrett's jump first down call. 
• Michigan Baseball National Championship run this year

I know Michigan has won Championships in other sports but these are the ones that are burned into my memory.  

Now to the good news! 

Jimmy and staff early on targeted two top recruits in this class.  The first was clearly instate DE Braiden McGregor (already committed) and second was Illinois WR AJ Henning. 

AJ Committed yesterday afternoon! 

AJ is the top rated player in Illinois and ranked the 80th player in the nation by 24/7's composite.   He is the 16th WR in the country but services don't rank Outside WR's vs. Slot WR's and AJ is clearly a slot and one of the top slots in the country. 

AJ's offer list included the likes of Alabama, ND, Georgia, PSU, Miami, BC, LSU, Ohio State, Stanford, and many more.   If your looking for a face for the #speed in space offense AJ might be it.  

He has elite speed as he runs a 4.4 forty.   Welcome AJ! 

• As expected DJ Jones committed to NC and WR Jay Brunelle went to ND. 

• Don't forget that 4 star RB Blake Corum is announcing this afternoon.  I will leave this here:

Michigan Thursday: 2 Fab 5 Members Attend Football Practice

Jimmy is not afraid to invite anyone to practice that can share an experience or advice with his young team.   We have seen former NFL Wide Receiver Chad Johnson and now Fab 5 members Juan Howard and Jimmy King, who visited with the players on Wednesday.


Howard and King met with the team after practice Wednesday. Speight said they told the players “to be comfortable being uncomfortable.”


“It was really cool,” Speight said. “That’s what blew me away. We grew up watching those guys and they’re legends around here, and Juwan came up to me and was like, ‘Can I get a picture with you? My son’s going to love this.' I said, ‘Yeah absolutely,’ but I didn’t want to act too shocked. That’s the Fab Five, you know. That was a cool moment.”


On a side note, a friend of the program and Pro Wrestling legend Rick Flair is in a serious medical condition in an Atlanta hospital.   We hope Rick continues to get better and is back on his feet soon.

• Speaking of the Fab 5.  The special Fab 5 Jordan's that were released awhile ago are selling for $20,000 on eBay.  If anyone wants to send me a pair for my birthday, please feel free to!  :-)

• CBS announced its pre-season All American team- Michigan didn't have any players on the list.  Florida has three 2nd teamers:  Martez Ivey-OL, Duke Dawson - CB, and Eddy Pineiro - Kicker.

   

Wolverine Wednesday: Life is Like a Punt - It Has It's Up and Downs

I'm sure that is what Michigan punter Will Hagerup is thinking today.  Yesterday, he got good news and bad news.  He is re-instated to the Michigan Football program and will sit out the entire 2013-2014 season.  This is the Darryl Stonum punishment if you are looking for a reference.  

This is Will's third and last chance as a Wolverine.  He was suspended back in the Rich Rod days and now has been away from the Michigan Football program since last season.   If he is a good student athlete and a good teammate the next 12 months he will complete his eligibility in Ann Arbor. 

Let's hope Will has solved his problems and can move forward.

• There has been talk from the Jaguars organization that Denard will get 10-15 touches a game, which includes kick off returns.

• 2014 RB Jonathan Hilliman announced a top 7 of: Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State, Rutgers, Stanford, Boston College and Vanderbilt.  He is ranked 3 stars by Rivals but has a 4 star offer sheet.

• Lawrence Marshall will be back in Ann Arbor this weekend.  WOTS is he is a MSU lean.  This weekend might be the tipping point for the Wolverines.

•  Chris Webber's disassociation from U of M is officially over.  Let's hope this story has a positive ending.

• Kaleb Ringer has moved to Big Rapids to live and work out with his brother.  He hasn't made a decision on his next school yet.

• A great profile of Jordan Kovacs on Miami Dolphins web site.  They say he has a great shot at making the team.   Having the owner as a big fan doesn't hurt either.   Remember when I joked that Stephen Ross probably wanted to sign Kovas?  Well, I was right.  Ross called Kovacs and asked him to sign a free agent contract with the Dolphins. 

Michigan Friday: Nook Gets a Ring

I have no idea how Juwan Howard got the nickname Nook or Big Nookie  is what we used to call him during his Fab 5 days.  The scoreboard used to put up his nickname when he made a basket and I'm not 100% sure what it was, but it was something close to Big Nook?

With that said, I couldn't be happier for him that he finally is getting a Championship Ring.   Sure he was a role player at best and mostly a "locker room" vet to help the Heat from getting to up or down with the Big 3 in town.   Juwan is a class act and deserved a championship after all he went through at Michigan and 18 years in the NBA.   I'm sure he will play "until they kick him out" but the end is near and whether he retires this summer or next, he will leave the game a Champion!  Congrats!

• There were two Wanglers at Michigan's camp this week.  Jared and Jack, I assume they are brothers and son of former Michigan QB John Wangler.  Can anyone confirm?  Jack is a 2013 WR and Jared is a 2014 Safety.

Michigan Tuesday: Has Writer's Block

Not too much making news today, so I will just give you my random thoughts on a number of topics.  You better hide the young children when you start to walk around in my brain.

Tressel knew too much - (about the trading of OSU gear for Tattoo's like 8 months before it was reported)  Big headline which will have little impact.  Of course he knew early and of course it happens at a lot of schools.  The NCAA will slap someone in Columbus on their hand and everyone will move on.  Maybe the "Vest" might have to sit out a instate MAC game next year.   The thing to really consider is, when will OSU have done enough for the NCAA to come to Columbus with a fine tooth comb?  I would guess it's probably getting pretty close.  The one thing the NCAA doesn't like is being lied to.

You know what will push College Football to a Playoff System? The current Bowl System will. What? Might be your first reaction.  Brian at Mgoblog did a good piece today on how Universities are losing money on Bowl Games.   UConn lost $1.8M playing in the Fiesta Bowl last year and there is no way a MAC team makes any money attending any bowl.    The issues is the Bowl's are making teams buy a ton of seats and hotel rooms that go un-filled.  Which equals huge loses. 

Back to why this will equal a Playoff System.  Everyone who owns a calculator and has a business degree knows any and all networks would back up the Brinks Truck for a College Football Playoff System.  It could be bigger then the Basketball Tournament.  The only reason the Bowl System stays intact is due to the University Presidents liking that their 6-6 club gets to play one more game in El Paso every year.   If those Presidents now are starting to lose $2M per trip, how excited are they going to be to play in those games?  I'm guessing not too excited.  If their "league" has revenue sharing and the top teams can play in the playoffs, split the big payday and everyone will get their share.  Now the a 6-6 President has more money and can  hire Rich Rodriguez next year.   See how it works out for everyone?  I'm sure even Les Miles could work out a contract extension or pay raise under this system.

Big Ten Coach of the Year:  I don't have a problem with Purdue's  Matt Painter winning the award.  He was able to keep his talented team together and in the top 15 all year with the loss of Robbie Hummel on the first day of practice.    With that said, the best coaching job in the Big Ten and maybe in the nation was done by John Beilein.  If he gets this team in the tournament, somebody should recognize him for taking a team expected to finish 10th in the Big Ten to 4th  (in a talented Big 10) and to the Big Dance.

Crying after a loss:  I actually don't have a problem with it and I much rather players show emotion after a loss then joking around and talking about which clubs they are going to hit that night.  People show emotion in a number of ways (watch American Idol if you question that) and showing emotion after a tough loss makes me know that you care about the game and your teammates.    It sucks to lose and if you don't feel pain after a difficult loss in an important game then you don't love what your doing.

Some might say that (outside of Denard) that the 2010 Football Team could have taken the losses a bit more seriously.  I have a feeling that won't be an issue under Coach Hoke. 

Fab 5:  I hope the new documentary is done well.  I know they will have to mention Ed Martin but that time was special at Michigan and I hope they capture what the Fab 5 meant to college basketball and not about a guy running numbers and trying to get close to athletes by paying them money under the table. 

Michigan's Fab 5 and The Media

I don't really get too much in the NBA until this time of year when the games get more intense.  As I was watching SportsCenter and TNT's coverage of the playoff, I started to think about how well the Fab 5 has done after basketball when it comes to getting jobs in the media.   We all know they were the center of media coverage during their Michigan recruitment, Final 4's, Time Outs and even the Ed Martin scandal.   But most of the 5 have gone on to solid basketball careers off the floor.  Let's take a quick re-cap of what all the Fab 5 members are doing these days.

First off, Juwan Howard is still in the NBA and playing for the Portland Trail Blazers.  He is averaging 6.0 points and just over 4 boards a game.   Juwan is now 37 years old and has had a 15 year NBA career, which is very impressive.  Congratulations Juwan, I hope you continue playing!

Chris Webber also had a 15 year NBA career and has also seen some success off the court as well.  He is a regular on TNT's studio coverage and also an analyst on NBA TV's Gametime live.  As you may also recall, CWeb has a Charity called the TimeOut Foundation and has an impressive collection of African artifacts that he started collecting in 1994 when he joined the NBA.

Jalen Rose had a 12 year career in the NBA and has become a regular NBA analyst on ESPN's Sportscenter.  I also learned during research for this post he also did a couple of stints as a sideline reporter for TNT as well.  Rose is also the owner of Three Tier Entertainment, an independent, LA based management and production company. Created in 2007, Three Tier Entertainment is heavily involved in the development of television and film projects and also manages talent including directors, actors and screenplay writers.  Many expect Jalen to get into coaching a some point and maybe even as an assistant coach for the Wolverines.  Talk about a guy that could recruit and mostly in Metro- Detroit!

Jimmy King was not as lucky as his Fab 5 teammates during his NBA career. Jimmy only played two NBA seasons with two teams the Toronto Raptors and the Denver Nuggets.  Jimmy bounced around other professional leagues for a few years as well.  He was the CBA MVP in 1998 and won a bronze medal representing the US in the 1998 FIBA World Championships.   Even though Jimmy didn't have a high profile NBA career he as also found away to make a few dollars in the media.  Jimmy did Michigan Basketball games on the radio for the 2008-2009 season and also did a few Michigan Basketball games on The Big Ten Network last year. 


Ray Jackson is the final member of the Fab 5 but he never made it to the NBA.  He was cut in 1995 by the New York Knicks and a year later cut by the Detroit Pistons.  Ray did play some professional basketball getting drafted in the 3rd round of the CBA draft by the Grand Rapids Hoops.   A highlight of Ray's professional career was that he was named the CBA Rookie of the Year during the 1995-1996 season.   During an interview with Yahoo Sports in 2007 Ray said: "It took me a long time to get over the fact that I was the only one that didn't make it to the NBA from the Fab Five, but I'm over it because I'm back home and I'm happy with what I'm doing with my life."  Ray lives in Austin, Texas and runs a moving company and youth non-profit organization called Rise Up.