Michigan Fans should Pay attention and root for West Virginia

West Virginia is in the Sweet 16 with a bunch of players nobody else wanted, except John Beilein

The same type of players John Beilein is recruiting right now.

West Virginia is also running a similar offense to which Michigan should be running in the very near future.

West Virginia is what Michigan could be in 3-4 years as a basketball program.

Look, Michigan isn't a place where high profile players want to come to play at. Chrysler Arena is a crappy place to play; all the players know Michigan is a football school; and Michigan hasn't been to the tournament in forever. Not Exactly a recipe for successful recruiting years. And everyone knows basketball is all about recruiting.

But Beilein seems to be the exception to the rule. He almost recruits like a mid-major coach. He gets players who are 3 star recruits and puts them together in a team situation, run his style of basketball, and they win games. And apparently they have tournament success.

Now granted Duke was a very weak 2 seed, but shit, the Sweet 16 is the Sweet 16. I would be thrilled if we just made the tournament as a 12 seed. Let alone win two games. And Xavier is a beatable team for them; WV could easily be in the Elite 8.

And really, the players he has are pretty interchangeable. Is Joe Alexander that good of a player? He is a good player, but nothing special. Michigan could easily recruit a player like him from the stockpile of 3 star players. Learn the system, get the players who fit the system, and suddenly we are a decent team: A tournament team. And that is a step right? Is Michigan ever really going to become a National Championship threat? Probably not in this decade. But, I would be happy with a run at a Big Ten title and a few tournament wins.

That is what West Virginia is currently enjoying.

Why can't we be that team in a few year? Michigan wearing glass slippers? If West Virginia is the outline of what we could become, then we just need to be patient. Beilein's system seems to work, it just needs time and players.