Zak Irvin

WolverineNation Mailbag

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Football season, you are so close. Teams are in pads. Scrimmages are happening. Kickoff of the first week of the season is less than three weeks away. This means more questions about actual football in this week's mailbag.

Michigan's unique recruiting philosophy

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The Michigan assistant coaches heard the questions in the beginning. They understood. In some ways, they wondered themselves. John Beilein revamped his coaching staff in 2010, hiring two new assistants and promoting a third.

Biancardi: The Class of 2013 Dream Team

Paul Biancardi picks his 10-man Dream Team from the Class of 2013 basketball recruits.

Decision of freshmen bolsters U-M, Beilein

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan started the week with the expected defections of its starting backcourt to the NBA. It'll end it by likely remaining in the preseason top 10 for 2013-14 anyway.

Michigan will be OK with Burke leaving

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- In some ways, Michigan knew this was coming for a year -- from the day Trey Burke said he would return for his sophomore season with the Wolverines. But much like Darius Morris before him, Trey Burke leaves this Michigan basketball program in much better position than when he entered.

U-M commits excited about Final Four

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Derrick Walton Jr. and Zak Irvin will be teammates next season. This past weekend, that bond grew a little more. As their future school, Michigan, upset Kansas in the Sweet 16, decimated Florida in the Elite Eight and made its first Final Four since before the recruits were born, they texted each other all weekend.

Watch: Telep likes U-M class

Big Ten's top freshmen and '13 recruits

There are two opposite but equally interesting stories in the Big Ten this season: Michigan, the team full of freshman shooters who can run the floor with ease, and Indiana, the team with five veteran starters and a spark-plug newcomer off the bench.

Roundball recruiting

With Michigan having back-to-back home games and basketball season rapidly approaching, WolverineNation caught up with some of the basketball recruits who have been or will be visiting campus lately to gauge their thoughts on the Wolverines.