The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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APRIL 2019 THE WOLVERINE 13 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS 1 Former Michigan player has timed a faster 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine than Devin Bush Jr. since 2000, according to pro-football-reference.com: cornerback Leon Hall in 2007 (4.39). Bush's 4.43 tied wideout David Terrell (2001) and run- ning back Denard Robinson (2013) for the next best, but Hall and Robinson both weighed less than 200 pounds, while Terrell checked in at 213. Bush, meanwhile, officially tipped the combine scales at 234 pounds. Bush's 40.5-inch vertical jump was the top mark recorded by a Wolverine in the last 20 combines, while cornerback David Long had U-M's best three-cone drill during that time period (6.45 seconds). Full NFL Combine results can be found on pages 47-49. 2 Former Wolverines are currently viewed as top-25 draft prospects by nearly every major analyst: linebacker DEVIN BUSH and defensive lineman RASHAN GARY. Here is where some of the biggest names in the business have the duo on their big boards, as of mid-March: Expert (last update) Bush Gary NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah (March 11) 14 9 ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. (Feb. 24) 20 5 ESPN's Todd McShay (Jan. 29) 18 6 The Athletic's Dane Brugler (March 15) 12 8 Bleacher Report's Matt Miller (March 15) 24 6 3rd Michigan's rank, a c c o r d i n g t o the @NFLDraft Twitter account, among all schools for NFL Combine "med- als," where a top-three finish among a position group is awarded a gold, silver or bronze medal. U-M tied for second nationally with four firsts, to go along with a silver and four bronzes for a total of nine medals. 6 Wolverine wrestlers were awarded top-eight seeds for the NCAA Championships, which were contested in Pittsburgh March 21-23. A top-eight finish earns grapplers All-America honors, and the Wolver- ines haven't had more than five All-Americans since setting the record with six in 1965. 6.3 Assists per game averaged by junior point guard Zavier Simpson in the regular season, which ranked second in the Big Ten. That is the most for a Wolverine since Trey Burke posted a clip of 6.7 in the 2012-13 season en route to Na- tional Player of the Year honors. Simpson led the league with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.2 at the end of the regular season. 10 Straight wins to open the women's lacrosse season. The Michigan program, now in its sixth season, had never won more than seven games in an entire season. During the record-setting start, it knocked off five ranked teams: No. 25 Dartmouth, 11-10 in double overtime; at No. 14 Colorado, 8-6; at No. 9 Denver, 12-10; No. 25 Towson, 12-11 at home; and No. 19 Penn State, 12-9 in Ann Arbor. 31 Was where freshman Ignas Brazdeikis wound up on Sports Il- lustrated's countdown of this year's top 50 players in college basketball, updated March 14. "The fiery lefty from north of the border never looked like a freshman during his debut season in Ann Arbor, stepping into a high-usage role early and serving as the constant for a Michigan offense that went missing at times down the stretch," the outlet wrote. 48 Was where senior quarterback Shea Patterson ranked on Athlon Sports' countdown of the top 50 players nationally for the 2019 football season. Patterson was the 11th quar- terback to make the cut, while senior cornerback Lavert Hill was listed among the 20 players deemed "the next tier." By The NUMBERS PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN