Moe Wagner became U-M head coach John Beilein's ninth NBA draft pick this evening when he was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 25th overall pick, further enhancing the Wolverine head man's impressive ability to develop talent.
Wagner came to Michigan as a four-star recruit from Germany in 2015, so the fact that he turned into a professional selection isn't necessarily surprising.
However, Beilein has taken several athletes who were much less heralded than Wagner out of high school and has molded them into professionals as well.
Here's a look at the previous eight NBA draft picks Beilein has developed during his time in Ann Arbor:
Of the nine draft picks, three of them — Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway and Caris LeVert — were rated as three-stars out of high school, and all three were taken in the first round.
Perhaps even more amazingly, only two of the players on the list (Glenn Robinson and Mitch McGary) were tabbed as top-70 players out of high school (although Wagner was not given a numerical ranking due to residing outside the U.S.).
The average star rating of Beilein's nine draft selections has been just 3.7 — Darius Morris, Nik Stauskas, D.J. Wilson, McGary and Wagner were four-stars, the aforementioned trio of Burke, Hardaway and LeVert were three-stars, and Robinson was the lone five-star of the bunch.
Beilein's Nine NBA Draft Selections as Recruits
Another amazing aspect regarding all nine of these players is how quickly each of them developed under Beilein.
Only one — LeVert — stayed all four years at Michigan, while Wagner, Wilson and Hardaway left Ann Arbor after three-year stints.
Meanwhile, Robinson, McGary, Burke, Stauskas and Morris all departed after just two seasons — ironically enough, Beilein has not had any one-and-dones during his 11-year tenure at U-M.
It's safe to say that as many as six of the nine athletes — Wilson, LeVert, Stauskas, Hardaway, Burke and Morris — were strongly expected to be four-year collegiate players out of high school, seeing as how they were all rated outside the top-70 nationally during their prep days.
Wagner was a bit of an unknown coming from Germany, though, so the fact that he only stayed three years isn't necessarily a surprise.
Finally, Robinson was a five-star and McGary was just five spots away from being a five-star, so that the tandem only resided two years in college didn't come as a shock to anyone.
It's also fair to expect Michigan's draft success to continue in 2019.
Although a lot can obviously change between now and next June, redshirt junior guard Charles Matthews — who backed out of this year's NBA draft at the final hour — will be heavily expected to depart after next season, and become the 10th Wolverine to be selected under Beilein.
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