WILL BEILEIN START DOING "SLEEP-OVERS"?

Whatever happened to John Beilein? Seems like he was the hottest thing going just a short time ago. Now it looks like he's headed the way of the "Pet Rock".

Okay, maybe more like the "Hula Hoop". You know, a novelty toy that you pick up every so often to play with, just to remember what it was like when you first got it. But not something that would entertain you on a regular basis.

My, how the Mighty have fallen! Tom Izzo was playing second-fiddle to Beilein in the minds of so many Michigan fans, and now it looks like fiddling might suit the Old Apple Farmer better than coaching basketball.

The word out of Ann Arbor is that UM is "as good as they can be right now". The head coach says his players aren't the problem, it's not a lack of effort, they're just not good enough. They need to get better, or they need to get better players. Lord only knows, if Beilein could just get some talented freshmen, he'd send these good-for-nothings packing before they get a chance to sniff their senior seasons in yellow-and-blue.

The Wolverines had their mini-run and now it's over. They finished atop the conference standings and made it to the third weekend of the Big Dance. They sent players to the NBA, many in the First Round. They literally eliminated "Senior Day" since their young players were so darned good. But not so much anymore, eh?

Look what happened to basketball recruiting at Michigan since those glory days of yesteryear:

2013 Recruiting Class:  This group was ranked #11 by 247-Sports. That's a good enough group to build a successful program if you can score this high every year.

2014 Recruiting Class:  This group was ranked #27 by 247-Sports. That would be like an "inbetween recruiting year" for Tom Izzo. You can survive with classes like this, provided they are surrounded by better groups.

2015 Recruiting Class:  This group was ranked #106 by 247 and was unranked by Rivals. This is a "dead-class". You really can't have this happen more than once per decade in a successful program. And you need to follow it up with a super-haul the next season.

2016 Recruiting Class:  These guys just signed last November and got a ranking of #25 by 247-Sports and #28 by Rivals. It's another inbetween-class, not a huge problem by itself, but look at the ranking of the previous group. The only way a program could sustain success with two or three groups like UM has recruited would be to score a Top Five class the following year.

So what can John Beilein do to improve his recruiting in order to salvage his program? This brings us to the main thrust of the question currently facing University of Michigan Men's Basketball:

Should John Beilein start doing

"sleep-overs" to get better players?

The UM folks think it's fine,

and it seems to be working for Jim Harbaugh.

Heck, the Catholic Church built their dynasty on the same principles, and they seem to be surviving just fine.

Maybe John Beilein should grab his most colorful jammies, pack up his overnight kit, and start working the Midnight Circuit, ala Coach Jim. Beilein knows a lot of campfire songs from his apple-picking days, so he can serenade the young hoopsters to dream-land while regaling them with glorious stories of shooting 50 three-pointers in a single game. To help them relax and fall asleep, he can assure them they will not be expected to play defense at UM. If the academic challenge of a four-year degree from Michigan seems too daunting, he can explain that he's not looking for a full four years from anyone; just a couple of seasons, then move on before you get too old.

We expect Beilein to pick up the ball right where Jim Harbaugh left it for him. If the Wolverines get better in the future, maybe Harbaugh won't spend time in the visitor's locker-room at half-time while his home team is getting a butt-kicking on the court.

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