Michigan Basketball: Recapping This Offseason’s Departures
Michigan basketball has had a few players opt to transfer, and at least one assistant coach is on his way to another job. Let’s pin these moves down for what they are.
It’s been quite a hectic offseason for Michigan basketball, and there aren’t a whole lot of happenings being delivered in a good light.
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John Beilein caught a lot of trash from some fans last offseason when he allowed—or maybe he pushed—Max Bielfeldt to walk away and play his final season elsewhere. That decision looked questionable when Michigan was having troubles in the post and Bielfeldt was playing really well for Indiana.
Had that whole episode not taken place, what we’re looking at now is still definitely scrutinized, but not with that negative context.
Anyway, here’s what’s happened so far this offseason. Also, you’re probably overreacting.
Spike Albrecht walks
Here was the first domino to fall. Albrecht, loved so dearly by Michigan fans, decided to pursue a medical redshirt after hip surgeries forced him to sat last season, effectively giving him one more year to play college basketball.
Beilein at first limited where Albrecht (and Ricky Doyle) could transfer, but that has since been lifted.
It obviously would have been great if the Wolverines could have kept Albrecht on board, but that simply wasn’t practical. Michigan was already one scholarship over the limit without Albrecht accounted for. There simply wasn’t room, and he had to transfer.
In fact, Michigan still needed more attrition to follow.
Ricky Doyle follows Albrecht
Of all the moves affecting Michigan this offseason, Doyle’s transfer is definitely the one fans have decided they can live with. Doyle just didn’t pan out for the Wolverines; by the end of the season you could say he was the No. 3 big man, behind Moritz Wagner.
This move was significant, though, because it put Michigan right at 13 scholarships, the NCAA limit.
Aubrey Dawkins leaves to play for his dad
Unexpected, but not surprising, was the announcement that Dawkins had been granted his release from the program and looking to transfer to Central Florida, where his father is the new head coach.
Dawkins was a high-flyer and (mostly) efficient shooter, though he didn’t play significant minutes for the Wolverines.
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The biggest implication here is that Michigan now actually has one scholarship spot it can still use. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to it. Funny how in the span of hardly any time at all, Michigan went from one scholarship too many to one scholarship short.
LaVall Jordan leaving to coach Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Beilein has had a very good batch of assistants with him at Michigan, one of them being LaVall Jordan (also known as the best dressed assistant coach in the country). It was only a matter of time before he would be on his way out to prove himself as a head coach.
Beilein could do a couple things with this opening on his staff. He could go after Darrius Nichols, a current assistant at Florida who played for Beilein at West Virginia. Then there’s Beilein’s son, Patrick Beilein, who’s currently the head coach at Le Moyne and previously served as an assistant at Michigan.
Bacari Alexander to leave for a head coaching job?
Bacari Alexander is most famous for his locker room speeches and Tweet blitzes with motivational quotes, and he may be following Jordan out the door to a head coaching gig.
There’s currently an opening at Detroit Mercy, where Alexander played and served as an assistant. There are also reports that he’s in the mix for the opening at Wisconsin-Green Bay.
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Alexander is another one of those cases where it’s just a matter of time. If this is the offseason he leaves, that means Beilein is looking for two new assistants to join him.