Wolverine TV podcast: Deciphering Michigan football assistant coach comments and basketball after another transfer
On this episode of TheWolverine.com podcast, hosts Clayton Sayfie and Anthony Broome decipher comments from Michigan Wolverines football assistant coaches Ron Bellamy (wide receivers) and Grant Newsome (tight ends) and discuss the basketball staff’s pursuit of transfer Jose Perez out of West Virginia.
Michigan basketball has pursued several different transfers this offseason and only landed three, with two scholarship spots still available, but Perez appears to be a solid option.
“It’s July 6,” Broome noted. “This is probably option L, M, N, O or P — somewhere in that area — for Michigan. But at this point, I think you’re just adding pieces. You’re adding the best pieces you can to upgrade your roster.
“My thing is, I feel like you have a bunch of guys on the wing now that can’t shoot. I hope they can defend — that’s all I’ll say. I think this is a Michigan team that will have to win ugly next year. The parts that they have — I think they might have to San Diego State it up, so to speak.”
Perez sat out at West Virginia last season after his waiver for immediate eligibility was denied by the NCAA. He’s seeking his fifth school, following stops at Gardner-Webb, Marquette, Manhattan and West Virginia.
Perez had a 33.3-percent usage rate at Manhattan in 2021-22, his last season of playing in games, which ranked 18th in the nation. The Michigan target shot just 26.1 percent on threes but cashed in on 44.5 percent of his twos and 80 percent of his free throws. Both hosts believe his not-so-impressive shooting numbers have more to do with playing a larger role than what was ideal more than anything else. Plus, he’s intriguing as a passer and rebounder.
“With Perez, he’s not terribly efficient. It’s more of a workload. It’s more of what he had to take on. I don’t think they’re going to need him to be what he was at Manhattan or Gardner-Webb. That’s the biggest thing — if there’s competition and depth on this roster, you’re going to give yourself the best chance to piece together the best lineup you can.”
“He shot 26.1 percent on 111 three-point attempts,” Sayfie noted of the Michigan target. “That’s obviously not very good — but taking 111 threes shows he had to be the most featured players there.
“He averaged 19 points a game, 4.5 assists, 3.2 rebounds, shot 45.5 percent on twos … But when I look at his profile, something that stands out to me was his freshman year, way back, at Gardner-Webb. His usage rate was lower than it was later in his career at Manhattan, and he shot 36.6 percent on 134 three-point attempts in a lesser role. So we could see that play out at Michigan.”
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