If One Player Could Have Unlimited Eligibility – Michigan

Today, on the Barstool Rundown, Dan “Big Cat” Katz proposed the idea of each college sports team getting unlimited eligibility for one player. The video is here. The segment starts around the 10-minute mark. I decided to apply this concept to Michigan football, basketball, and hockey.

The rules:

1. Must select a player that could realistically still be playing. So Tom Harmon, Ty Law, Desmond Howard, Glen Rice, Chris Webber, etc. are out.

2. Must select a player that would realistically use the unlimited eligibility. Big Cat brought up the idea talking about Tim Tebow, so marginal pro players can be selected. Highly successful pros can not. Tom Brady, Charles Woodson, Trey Burke, Jack Johnson, Carl Hagelin, etc. are out. For basketball, players playing overseas can be selected. Players who were once significant contributors in the pros, but are not anymore can be selected.

3. This was Big Cat’s rule: the player stays with the school, not the coach. Ohio State can not select Tim Tebow, Michigan can not select Andrew Luck. (Luck also falls under rule #2, but you get the point.)

So, without further ado, here we go…

Hockey: Shawn Hunwick. Zach Nagelvoort and Steve Racine both struggled last year, and there’s not much reason to believe the goaltending situation will be a whole lot better this year. While having Hunwick back wouldn’t fix all of Michigan’s problems, it would help a lot.

Basketball: I still say if the 2012-13 team had had Darius Morris, they win the national championship. Manny Harris would be a great pick here, and I really liked Zack Novak. But this year, Michigan could really use a proven big man, so I’m going to go with Jordan Morgan here.

Football: I would love to have Denard Robinson back, but he can’t be picked here. I went back and forth on whether or not Chad Henne could at this point, but I decided he was out, too. (If he doesn’t see the field for a couple years, he’s available here.) I thought about taking Stephen Schilling, as the offensive line wasn’t particularly good last year, but getting another year older and having Tim Drevno as offensive coordinator should help a lot there. Jim Harbaugh is going to run the football, and none of the running backs currently on the roster has really separated themselves from the pack, so I thought about taking Mike Hart. However, with as much potential as there is on the roster and Harbaugh as coach, someone should be able to step up. Michigan is really thin at receiver. Amara Darboh would be a fine #2 option, but I’m not sure how he’ll handle being the #1 Michigan will count on him to be. So, I’m going with Mario Manningham.

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