University of Michigan basketball strength and conditioning coach Mike Curtis is headed to the University of Virginia where he’ll join new head coach Tony Bennett’s staff.

Curtis came to Michigan this year and by all accounts made a significant impact. He brought NBA experience to the Michigan bench and his loss will no doubt be felt. DeShawn Sims stands out to me as the guy who probably made the biggest gains through the strength program. There is no doubt that his increased strength allowed him to gain confidence playing inside this year.

In the end the chance to coach at his alma mater was just too great of an opportunity for Curtis to pass up.

“It was a difficult decision to leave a great institution like the University of Michigan and a fine coach in John Beilein, but the state of Virginia and the University are, and always will be, home for me. I am eager to utilize my experiences both at the University and professionally to better prepare our basketball athletes for their experiences in the Atlantic Coast Conference and beyond.”

• Bartelstein takes long way to join U-M basketball program
  Bartelstein profile article with quotes from MLive
• Zeigler watching MSU closely, gets new offer ($)
  The Pac 10 comes calling — no more wondering if certain schools are going to offer.
  
• VIDEO: Zeigler, McCallum, Petros pace Team Detroit ($)
• 17s Step Up
  Nate VanArendonk, 2010, 6-foot-10, out of Grand Haven is one to watch. Steve Bell tells me he’s gathering interest from Michigan, Wake Forest, and Dayton. An intriguing prospects but probably just one to watch at this point.
  
• Contemplating the Under-the-Basket Charge
  No semi circle but the rules committee has come up with a recommendation. KJ breaks down the potential effects.
• Student season tickets for U-M hoops are WAY up
  I’m working on an article about Crisler/tickets but 650, 450, 1400. That’s impressive, the bandwagon is filling up.
• April Wasn’t Live, But it Was Still Important
  NERR on the lack of coaches at April AAU events along with a Smotrycz mention

Tim Hardaway Jr.

According to Sam Webb in a recent Detroit News article, Michigan is the number one school at this point for Tim Hardaway Jr.

While Moses Morgan and Will Regan continue to drift in other directions, Tim Hardaway Jr. appears to edge closer and closer to the top of Michigan’s board. The higher (officially offered) tier appears to be Trey Zeigler, Casey Prather, and Ray McCallum but Tim Hardaway Jr. is no doubt nipping on their heels.

As expected, according to Hardaway’s coach, Hardaway is being recruited to play a similar role as Manny Harris.

“They are looking at him as a Manny Harris type,” said Brown. “He’s somebody who can come in right away and be a big guard who can rebound, run off some screens, and hit the three. I think the 1-3-1 (defense) fits him well too because he’s so long.”

Hardaway makes it clear that Michigan is his leader and also seems to have decided on a timeframe.

“He’s a great coach and he’s really interested in me,” the younger Hardaway said of Beilein. “I trust him with everything — with all my decisions. He is just a great coach. (Michigan) is definitely on top of my list. No question about it. I am going to start cutting down schools when school starts back next year and have my decision at the end of basketball (season) or maybe during.”

Make sure to read the whole article because there are plenty of quotes from both Hardaways. The Wolverine recently posted some video highlights ($) from the Boo Williams tournament, I’m not sure if they say more about Hardaway’s abilities or the level of play at some AAU tournaments.

Hype Machine

Another pre-season top 25 and another mention of Michigan. This time it’s Luke Winn from Sports Illustrated, Winn has Michigan at #17 in his post-draft power rankings. I think the 15-25 range is a much more accurate assessment of where Michigan should be ranked next year.

The Big Ten should be very strong. Winn has 5 other Big Ten teams in the top 25: MSU (2), Purdue (7), Ohio State (11), Minnesota (22), Illinois (23). My early impression is that Ohio State is rated too high at 11 and Minnesota is too low at 22.

APR

The Michigan basketball team appears to be in the clear in regards to graduation rates. All of the Michigan sports teams came through with passing APR marks. The men’s basketball team’s score of 944 was the lowest of any team at Michigan. This is a bit disappointing but understandable because of the way the APR is setup, a program is hit hard by transfers and early NBA draft entries. While we haven’t had any NBA draft departures, there have been plenty of transfers over the last several years.

It can always be worse; Indiana’s basketball team receieved a score of 866 which falls far short of the NCAA-required 925. Indiana saw the problem coming and made sure to accept their scholarship penalty a year early, you know the year when they returned something like one scholarship player.

King Solomon

California big man Richard Solomon continues to receive high-major interest. Solomon has played well with the Compton Magic early on this summer and according to a pair of recent ($) Scout.com updates ($), his recruitment is starting to take off across the country with Pac 10, Big Ten, and ACC interest. Michigan is involved but at this point it appears that Solomon has yet to trim his list.