A Commit, a Loss, Two Wins, and a Championship

What a last week we have seen surrounding Michigan Athletics!  We have a lot to cover, so let's get right to it.

Commit #13

In a strange turn of events, Coach Hoke took another commitment for his class of 2013 without a second to go with him.  In this case, just the one will do nicely.  On Saturday (2/25), Patrick Kugler became lucky number 13 to join the class of '13 somewhat out of the blue.  Kugler is a 6'5" 280 pound OL from Wexler, PA (North Allegheny) and is currently rated four stars and the number 54 overall recruit in the nation by Rivals.  He is the fifth OL to join this class.

I really shouldn't be surprised by anyone committing to the Wolverines the way Coach Hoke and the rest of the staff are recruiting these days, but I will admit that Kugler was really not on my radar.  I didn't even know he was visiting until the day before and knew that it was expected to be a split trip with Saturday being spent in A2 and Sunday scheduled to be a day in East Lansing.  In fact, the scuttlebutt I was hearing had Kugler leaning towards Sparty with a possible commitment to the Green and White coming on Sunday.  Things have a funny way of changing when a recruit gets to campus in Ann Arbor though, and Patrick pulled the trigger for the Maize and Blue instead and cancelled the rest of his weekend trip, never even making it to EL.

On to the kid himself.  Word is that Coach Funk has told Kugler all along that he was recruiting him to play Center.  This is very good news as that really gives this class a full OL across the board.  With Kugler at Center, Bosch and Dawson at Guards, and Fox and LTT at Tackles, the line is set.  More importantly, we can rest a little easier knowing the heir to the all important Center position has been identified and secured.  I like this choice for Center because this kid is technically sound and smart, which shouldn't be much of a surprise considering his dad is the OL coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  I love coach's kids, especially on the OL.  He is a little taller than your average Center prospect and he will have to learn the position as he is the LT on his HS team, but I expect he will be able to handle the transition.

Let's have a look at some film.  This isn't going to be a great indicator of his future as playing Tackle and Center are very different, but this will give you an idea of his general ability.

The first couple of minutes on this reel are him playing DT, which isn't going to help much with his evaluation other than to show that he is a strong kid that can just throw ball carriers to the ground when he gets his hands on them.  Shows some good penetration and a good nose for the ball, but just looks uncomfortable on defense.  Anyway, to the offense.  Powerful kid with solid technique and a nasty streak.  Knows his assignment and takes care of it.  Would like to see a little more foot speed when he pulls or gets out in front of a screen.  Standard 'needs to add weight and get stronger' comment, but does show an ample frame for about 20 more pounds.  Hopefully he can add that weight/strength and get a little quicker at the same time (or at least not lose any quicks he has now).

Kugler had a significant offer list, as you might expect from such a highly ranked prospect, which included the likes of Arizona, Boise State, Cal, Cincinnati, Florida, FSU, Iowa, Maryland, Miami, MSU, UNC, ND, PSU, Pitt, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia among others.  Welcome to the class Patrick.

Going Forward

So does that close the door on OL recruiting for 2013?  Probably.  If Ethan Pocic or Laremy Tunsil want to join the fun, I would suspect they will be welcomed, but they may be the only ones.  M has 5 very good players and fills out an entire line group with who they have.  If you are not a super talent, you are probably out of luck if you want to go to U-M.  I will have a recruiting breakdown a little later tonight or tomorrow that will address the rest of the class in a bit more depth.

Senior Night Stumble

Also on that Saturday, the men's hoops team hosted Purdue on Senior Night attempting to close out an undefeated home slate for the season.  This was supposed to be a night to celebrate the careers of Stu Douglass and Zack Novak as well as a perfect home record.  Instead, what we all witnessed was what can happen on any given night.  Okay, that's a little thick with the cliche, but it's the truth.  The Wolverines sleepwalked through an embarrassing 75-61 home loss to a mediocre Purdue team and reminded us that things can go sour quickly in the game of basketball.

I'm not going to dwell long on this game, partly because it's a little depressing to do so (not to mention fruitless), but also because this was over a week ago and bigger and better things have happened since.  In a nutshell, Michigan was outshot 50% - 42%, shot under 30% on 32 three pointers, and went to the free throw line four times to Purdue's 16.  It was a strange game to watch.  I really don't have much else to say about this game.  Novak, Burke, and Hardaway were the only players in double figures and were also the only players with double digit attempts.  Blah.

Hardaway Returns

I have been pretty down on Tim Hardaway, Jr lately.  I was pretty critical of his performance against NW in this space recently.  He shut me up last Thursday night in Champaign.  Hardaway had 25 on 6-7 shooting (including 4-4 from beyond the arc plus 9-10 from the line) and Trey Burke added 21 in a 72-61 road win against Illinois.  Hardaway was all over the floor.  He was athletic and aggressive and did what he wanted to do while staying in rhythm and playing within the team.  And it was everything I thought it could be.

This kid can play.  He has the talent and the skills.  Last Thursday proved it.  If he can replicate that performance, Michigan becomes an extremely dangerous basketball team.  Good thing the calendar reads March.

Burke is going to be a steady force for this team.  He will make some Freshman mistakes, but not too many, and he will score and run the offense.  When you add Hardaway to that - doing what he's capable of doing - then everyone else on the floor becomes that much better and a little more open.  Here's hoping that he can maintain what he has found again.

Finale

The regular season finale at Penn State was yesterday afternoon and there was a lot on the line.  A win and and a Spartan loss meant a share of the first Big Ten regular season Championship since 1986.  Yes folks, this program had won a National Championship more recently than a Big Ten title.  While most of us had our thoughts on the OSU-MSU showdown later that afternoon, Michigan still had a road game to win or that later clash didn't matter.

Penn State has been in a battle with Nebraska all year for the cellar spot in the Big Ten, but we all know anything can happen when you're on the road in a conference game.  While M sorta cruised out to a big lead, I think we all knew that the Lions would make a run and make us all sweat a little.  And they did.  They chipped and chipped and chipped and next thing you know it's a five point game late in the second half.  Burke hits a huge four point play to push it to a 10 point lead, but PSU hits a four point play of their own on the very next possession.

This was way more tense than it needed to be, but the good guys prevail 71-65 and set the stage for the unthinkable.  We all had to root for Ohio State to win.  I preferred to think of it as rooting for Michigan State to lose, but that's just semantics.  Mgoblue.com had a great piece on the team watching the end of that game back in Ann Arbor after their flight home.

Congratulation guys.  You earned it.

mgoblue.com