12
Thursday, July 13, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS
Deron Irving-Bey over the
span of a couple weeks.
Similarly, most of Michigan’s
top targets this year appear
to be waiting to make their
decisions after taking official
visits in the fall.
“Once the season hits, guys
want to take their officials,”
Lorenz said. “The elite guys,
everyone
is
jockeying
for
position with those guys, so
you’re going to see things kind
of slow down. Some guys want
to see how teams perform in
season.”
There
are
a
couple
prospects,
however,
whose
timelines may be shorter than
those of their peers. According
to Lorenz, McGrone and four-
star
linebacker/defensive
back Shayne Simon, of New
Jersey, may decide before the
summer ends. Michigan is
battling Notre Dame for both
prospects, and in the case
that either (or both) decide
to pick the Fighting Irish, the
Wolverines appear determined
to continue recruiting until
the bell.
“I know they’re basically
biding their time with Notre
Dame,” Lorenz said. “At least
from their standpoint, I don’t
think they expect Notre Dame
to have a great season. I think
they may be able to try to pick
off a couple of (Notre Dame’s)
guys.”
While
Michigan’s
2018
class
may
not
have
the
high-end
star
power
that
came with previous classes,
the fact remains that the
coaching staff has hit on
most of their top targets thus
far — even if the recruiting
rankings may not ref lect that.
Furthermore,
they’re
still
heavily in the race for many
of their remaining targets,
such
as
defensive
tackles
Tyler Friday, Rick Sandidge
and Michael Thompson, wide
receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown,
Muhammad, McGrone, Simon
and
defensive
back
Josh
Jobe, among others. That has
the
Wolverines
potentially
primed for a big finish this
winter after getting off to a
quick start that Lorenz grades
highly.
“I’d probably say a B+, A-
type
grade,”
Lorenz
said.
“I
know
(DeSoto,
Texas
cornerback) Gemon Green is
only a three-star, but he was
literally at or near the very
top of their cornerback board.
Might not have the rating
or ranking, but Michigan’s
ecstatic about having a guy
like that on board. Same
with
(Georgia
cornerback)
Myles Sims, who’s a guy that
Michigan
targeted
early,
immediately, and got.
“Joe Milton was the first
quarterback that Pep Hamilton
offered. … That’s always a huge
win. Then to get (Ryan) Hayes,
(Jalen) Mayfield, Emil (Ekiyor),
all very significant pickups.
They’ve kind of done what they
set out to do so far.”
coaches as a first-team all
Big Ten player. Flaherty, a
career 38 percent three-point
shooter, could bring long-range
shooting and leadership to the
national roster.
Not to be outdone by her
counterpart, Thome pitched
in 25 points in the WNIT final.
Thome averaged 7.1 rebounds
per game and shot 61.3 percent
from the field on the season,
ranking in the top 10 in Big Ten
in both categories. Thome was
a model of consistency in her
sophomore
season,
starting
all 37 games and scoring in
double figures in 35 of them.
She became just the third
sophomore in school history
to reach 1,000 points. This
is her first USA basketball
invitation.
Thome and Flaherty are both
coming off seasons in which
they were named to the first
team All-Big Ten and the WNIT
All-Tournament team.
The inaugural tournament
will
include
Australia,
Canada
and
Japan,
in
addition
to
the
United
States. The round-robin style
tournament will take place
from August 12-15, and will
feature exclusively college-
aged athletes.
Both Thome and Flaherty
figure to be crucial components
of a team next season hungry to
avenge what they perceived to
be an NCAA Tournament snub.
The appearance would have
been the first in the program’s
history.
But under the guidance of
reigning Big Ten Coach of
the Year Kim Barnes Arico,
the program appears to be
unequivocally
headed
in
a
positive
direction.
Flaherty
and Thome’s invitations are
yet another example of the
talent that is starting to stream
into and develop inside the
program.
BASKETBALL
From Page 11
FOOTBALL
From Page 11
CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily
Junior guard Katelynn Flaherty was invited to the USA Basketball Women’s U23 National Team Training Camp.
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Coach Jim Harbaugh has put together a strong 2018 recruiting class so far.