U of M Basketball Recruiting Discussion

[*JD*]

Chatman is going Shane Morris for M Basketball:

Joe Stapleton @joe_stapes
Chatman said he's going to start recruiting fellow 2014 swingman Donte Grantham. The two bonded during visit for Notre Dame game.
1:12 AM - 2 Oct 2013

[Deuce]

Grantham and Chatman? At first I was like "weird", then I remembered this is not the NBA and you can play 2 SFs in your starting 5.

[WM Wolverine]

Really nice addition. SF type was needed more than a backcourt type. Imagine the staff will still take Grantham, we'll find out soon.

[hack]

Actually it looks like Beilein had scheduled that in-home visit. In retrospect, we were golden once he came off that weekend uncommitted. I hope he swung by Vegas to see Zimmerman, too.

[lineygoblue]

So you basketball nuts help out this casual basketball fan a bit...

Is this a big coup for Michigan, or is this about an average "get" or what?

Does this make Izzo and/or Matta sit up and take notice? ..

Info please... :-)

[hack]

Well those two I'm sure have already taken notice, so to speak. The versatility he supposedly comes with sounds great. They see him on the perimeter and not as a stretch 4, and it appears that there are bulkier kids like Donnal and Doyle they see down low. Though Doyle looks more like a 5 but that's just my guess. IMO if the kid's dribble is worthy, that's great. But in a general sense I certainly like it because he's a top-50 recruit from the west coast and that puts the program's name in lights in precisely the way we'd want it to be for now and the future.

IMO what would REALLY make the rest of the conference wary of Michigan is another McGary in the pipeline -- a five-star recruit at C with legitimate NBA size and skills.

[iam416]

I'm not sure why either Matta or Izzo or any other coach would be concerned about another school's recruiting. If, however, that is the case, then Beilein is shitting his depends over Matta's 2014 class and looming 2015 and 2016 classes.

[hack]

Nobody's afraid of OSU in basketball. Everyone runs a clean program in the conference and generally thrives save for OSU, which cheats and still can't get a leg up. You exist and are tolerated, because maybe one day you'll return to the ranks of the admirable. But you're not fooling anyone. You are inferior.

[iam416]

[hack]

We should make a black-sheep-of-the-family emoticon for talent.

[*JD*]

More on Chatman.

http://www.umhoops.com/2013/10/02/2014-four-star-wing-kameron-chatman-michigan-is-just-the-place-for-me/#disqus_thread

[*JD*]

So you basketball nuts help out this casual basketball fan a bit...

Is this a big coup for Michigan, or is this about an average "get" or what?

Does this make Izzo and/or Matta sit up and take notice? ..

Info please... :-)

He's rated as high as 23 in one scouting service (Scout) and is top 50 across the board. I'd say that's an above average get. Maybe not as huge as McGary was (#2 at the time of his commitment) but as highly-rated as any other commitment Beilein has landed since coming here.

Also, as Hack pointed out, landing somebody that lives 2,400 miles away and beating out Arizona make this one special.

Aside from rankings and location, he's a very talented player. In that article I posted, his dad talks about how he's played SG/SF and also some PG. He's an excellent rebounder at a thin 6'7" and his dad said he's still growing some. He's left-handed and has drawn some comparisons to Jalen Rose.

Chatman also has said he's going to put his recruiting hat on. He got along very well with Grantham on their Official visit and he said they talked last weekend. Grantham is supposed to announce this Friday. It's already a very good week for Michigan but could be a great one.

[hack]

I'm skeptical of the PG business, but he for now looks like a nice heady wing player/glue guy, in terms of helping out on the boards, making the right pass, and creating some assists from a place other than the PG position. If Irvin stays more than a year, however, we're in a situation in which Irvin and Stauskas are likely to be locks on the wing. Depending on how much thickness LeVert adds, he could suck up all backup wing minutes. Unless Walton is a bust, there are no PG minutes as long as Albrecht is here. I could see Chatman at the 4 if he pans out and Beilein goes with the ``put your best 5 on the floor'' strategy. Especially if Zimmerman doesn't come, or another top C prospect.

But this is all just guessing. Also, no talk of what he does on D yet.

[*JD*]

Not a great interview (from July) but an interesting part around the 2:30 mark.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLwiQY5Jvko"]LeBron James Skills Academy: Kameron Chatman - YouTube[/ame]

[*JD*]

I'm skeptical of the PG business, but he for now looks like a nice heady wing player/glue guy, in terms of helping out on the boards, making the right pass, and creating some assists from a place other than the PG position. If Irvin stays more than a year, however, we're in a situation in which Irvin and Stauskas are likely to be locks on the wing. Depending on how much thickness LeVert adds, he could suck up all backup wing minutes. Unless Walton is a bust, there are no PG minutes as long as Albrecht is here. I could see Chatman at the 4 if he pans out and Beilein goes with the ``put your best 5 on the floor'' strategy. Especially if Zimmerman doesn't come, or another top C prospect.

But this is all just guessing. Also, no talk of what he does on D yet.

Yeah, Dylan was umhoops.com was saying he might be a good fit at the 4, because I guess JB likes the 4's taking the ball to the left side of the court. If he grows to 6'9", like his dad speculated, he's highly unlikely to play any PG. It's nice having another guy that can handle the ball and pass, though.