Michigan Monday: All Yax Does Is Win Championships

Ok, nobody ever remembers who win the NBA Summer League Championship.  I even saw one in person like 5 years ago when I was in Vegas for a work conference.  I have no idea who even won that game.  

Last night Yax and the Golden State Summer League team won the Summer League over Boozer and the Memphis Grizzlies.  Yax finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 3 turnovers while shooting 9 of 18 from the field and 2 of 6 from 3.  This performance wrapped by a strong summer league by the former Wolverine who averaged 13.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.4 steals and 2 turnovers.

As we expected, Yax looks like he is ready to contribute to Warriors next season, no matter what LeBron decides.  

For you golf fans, the Open was interesting, I feel bad for Sam "Rug" Burns.  He keeps getting so close, if he just shoots even par yesterday he is the champ.  You have to applaud Fox for making a birdie on 18 the hardest hole on the course.  

Breaking news: Warde is out at the end of the year and report is expected to be released today which seems to shine a negative light on the athletics department.   More to come as the news breaks today. 

Michigan Thursday: Congrats to Jim Abbott

Jim Abbott is a Michigan legend and one of the most elite athletes you will ever see.  He was not only an All American Pitcher for Michigan but a very good MLB pitcher and he did it all with just one hand.   Jim also won the James E. Sullivan award in 1987 awarded to the nation's the top ameutur athlete.  

Last night, ESPN did not let us forget the greatness of Jim Abbott and awarded him the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance. A well deserved honor for a truly great Michigan Man!

• Is today the day we say goodbye to Warde? The Regents are supposed to meet today. The Free Press requested the report and summary of findings. U of M has denied the request. There are also reports that Michigan does not intend to release any information from the report this week.

Wolverine Wednesday: Warde's World

Warde decided to go on the radio to do what he always does. Which is deflect and try to prove to everyone that he has done a tremendous job as AD the last 10 years.  It would be interesting project for someone with a ton of time to do an Excel worksheet with one column of Warde's successes and the other side with his high profile issues he has had over those 10 years.   

I think the failure side would greatly outweigh the successes.  Yes, 2 National Championships are a big deal but he had some outrangouss issues under is watch.  

Let's summarize what he said on the radio:

• He is proud of what he accomplished over 10 years
• The reports of his demise are not true and leaked to the press by people who don't want him in this role.  The social media reports of his firing is "nonsense"
• He deflected the question on active buyout conversations 
• He hasn't seen the investigation results or been briefed on what they included 
• There is going to be advertising in the Big House moving forward 

The best thing for Warde and Michigan is to figure out a buyout and move on.  He is not a leader and is either not understanding the situation or flat out lying to all Michigan fans.  Either way its horrifically wrong.   His firing or leaving is way overdue and the longer he stays in the role the worse its going to be the Michigan Athletics Department.   It's time for the Regents and Michigan's President to step up and do the right thing.  

The WSJ is reporting is that Warde told Sherrone not to travel with his assistant in 2024.  We know the relationship went back to 2022 and that there were plenty of "rumors.  Warde went ahead anyway and hired a guy with no head coaching experience and rumor mill of problems as Michigan's next head coach coming off a National Championship.  Worst possible move and he should lose this job just over that. 

• Luckily there is World Cup on today and the British Open on deck, or this would be the worst day in sports.  You can always tell the worst day in sports every year because the ESPY's are on.

Michigan Tuesday: LJ Heads Out of Town

Well, Mike Boynton almost did it, he almost saved the entire roster but LJ Cason the future star of the program decided to take his injury year and future years to play somewhere else.  The strong rumor is Miami where they have a new young head coach and LJ can be closer to home.  

This is a loss for the program but not so much for Boyton who is on a 2 year prove it contract.  LJ was expected to miss all of next season rehabbing from his ACL injury.  Recent reports (before Dusty left) maybe had him joining the team midyear.  There was even a video late last week of LJ working out with the team.   

My guess is Miami dropped a bag of cash on LJ to miss most of the year and to continue his playing career.  An offer Michigan probably didn't match due to him spending most of the year in the trainers room.   LJ was also very loyal to Dusty and maybe also needed a fresh start after he left.  

• Warde is on the radio with Sam Webb this morning to discuss his future as Michigan's AD.  Here are a few quotes from a guy that is completely missing the point:  “Don’t believe everything out there. … I think I’ve been fired by social media three time. It’s nonsense. It affects my staff and my family." ---- “people who don’t want me here” are leaking info to the media that his job is in jeopardy. "People with zero knowledge of what’s going on are talking about things are happening. I wish we got to the point in society where people put their names to things." On him being in buyout conversations: "I've had several conversations over the last 6 or 7 months about the future and things that have happened, different opportunities and different ways it could go." He says he's not certain about what the future holds for him but feels "confident" in the work he's done at Michigan over his tenure as Athletic Director.

As we have spoken before, there are all types of leaders. The ones that don't understand the environment or the issues is the worst type. They think they have done a great job as the organization is burning around them. I guess we will see what the Regents do, but this is unbelievable take by a guy that just had a $11M investigation done on his watch. I wouldn't hire this guy to lead a lemonade stand.

• With all the news lately, I forgot to include an important commitment from last weekend (thanks to BHB reader Jon!). We welcome Lincoln Mageo to the 2027 class! Lincoln is a 6'4 280 pound interior OL from Oceanside CA. He had offers from the likes of AZ, Utah, Ohio State, Texas, CAL, USC, UCLA and many more. This is a great win for the new Michigan staff and a player many programs wanted late in the 2027 cycle!