The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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76 THE WOLVERINE NOVEMBER 2017 BASKETBALL RECRUITING In short, there will be room. Castleton's addition, should Mat- thews stick around all three years (again, many think it's unlikely), would also fill up the 2019 class, though U-M will likely continue to recruit as though there will be two or three spots. Nunez is prepping this year, but there's still a good possibility he'll redshirt during the 2018-19 season and have freshman eligibility in 2019. Brooks can play both point and shoot- ing guard, and Poole should be estab- lished as the team's starter at the two. Watson is an X factor here, as well, and that includes this season. Has he improved to the point that he can contribute this year or next? He's got the athleticism with a 44.5-inch verti- cal jump, but his future will be deter- mined on how much he improves lat- erally and how well he shoots the ball. Simpson — who changed the spell- ing of his name from Xavier back to Zavier, which is on his birth cer- tificate — has improved dramatically in the offseason, we've heard, and should factor into the rotation. This is a talented roster, so minutes will be tough to come by, especially considering Beilein rarely goes beyond eight or nine deep. Brazdeikis, how- ever, should play immediately. He can play the three (small forward), and will probably start there should Matthews flourish and leave early, and also the four. It's safe to say Beilein could have plenty of options for his 2019 recruits. COLLEGE BASKETBALL SCANDAL WON'T AFFECT MICHIGAN The Big Ten is off to an impres- sive start in 2018 recruiting with six teams among the nation's top 16 as of Oct. 17 — Michigan State at No. 1, Maryland at No. 6, Michigan at No. 7, Indiana at No. 9, Northwestern at No. 15 and Ohio State at No. 16. Michigan's quartet of four-star recruits tie for the second-most of any team in the nation. MSU has five four-stars, while Notre Dame is the only other team that also currently has four committed. The conference is largely consid- ered one of the cleaner leagues in the country, and it appears as if most of its teams will emerge unscathed from a scandal that has rocked the college basketball world. An FBI probe into illegal recruiting led to indictments at Louisville, Oklahoma State and Au- burn, among others, with Louisville head coach Rick Pitino getting fired in the aftermath. Michigan head coach John Beilein, recently named college basketball's cleanest coach in a CBSSports.com poll of his peers, confirmed with a grin that the FBI hadn't called him. He also said he had no interest in kids who wanted anything other than a great education and basketball program. He also made it clear he is all about the integrity of the sport, without go- ing into specifics about the programs that were busted recently during an FBI probe. Louisville, of course, beat U-M in the championship game of the NCAA Tournament in 2013. "If people are committing felony crimes in our business, then get them the heck out of our business if that's what's happening," he said. "I guess I was surprised because the FBI was involved. If the FBI's involved, it re- ally must be serious. "How isolated is it? I do not think it is rampant among NCAA coaches. I don't think the sky is falling in col- lege basketball. I think there are cer- tainly some rogue coaches. Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I can't believe there's too much of that going out there. That's just me talking." He might be surprised when it's all said and done. The FBI appears to just be getting started, according to reports, and several more programs will likely be affected. "College basketball is my life, and it should be clean," Beilein contin- ued, adding any prospects or their parents looking for extra benefits are immediately scratched from the re- cruiting board. "They know it's not happening here, so we don't even have to deal with it … and no, it might not get us some recruits. Well, we don't want those recruits that come for any other reason than what Michigan is all about. "I'm not trying to put ourselves up on some pedestal. Most programs are doing it this way. I believe that deep in my heart. Most of us are doing it, but some apparently weren't." He's not taking a victory lap, but no- body would blame him if he did. Dirty recruiting has been going on for years, and it's been college basketball's worst kept secret, regardless of how many people didn't want to believe it. Today Beilein stands tall as the guy who has had success and won titles despite swimming with the sharks. He's who many thought Lance Arm- strong was before the cyclist was ex- posed as a fraud — a guy who was so much better than his peers that he was able to overcome those that took performance-enhancing drugs — only Beilein has remained clean. Many, including CBSSports.com's Gary Parrish, didn't think it possible. "I didn't think a by-the-book coach was a good fit at Michigan — a place that historically needs to recruit De- troit to be successful, a place that once enrolled and celebrated the Fab Five," he wrote. "I knew Beilein was great. I just didn't think he was a great fit at Michigan … "But it doesn't matter. Because he's been terrific while leading the Wolver- ines to seven of the past nine NCAA Tournaments — a run that includes three Sweet 16s, two Elite Eights and an appearance in the 2013 national title game. … And that's just about the greatest compliment he could receive — that he's flourished without chang- ing and won big without cheating." In hindsight, he and his coaches have been some of the best recruiters in the country all along. ❏ On The Web For regular reports on Michigan basketball recruiting plus videos of U-M commitments and targets visit TheWolverine.com. Beilein was singled out as college basket- ball's cleanest head coach in a poll of his peers conducted by CBSSports.com. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN