The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MAY 2019 THE WOLVERINE 45 MICHIGAN BASKETBALL tion so far after he was selected with the eighth overall pick, while Burke was chosen at No. 9. All of Beilein's first-round draft picks have stayed at Michigan at least two seasons and four out of seven played at least three seasons for the Wolverines. In addition to those first-round picks, former Michigan guard Darius Morris was selected in the second round in 2011 before playing four seasons in the NBA, while Glenn Robinson was also a second-round pick in 2014 and reportedly signed a two-year, $8.3 million deal last sum- mer with the Detroit Pistons. Before Beilein's arrival, Michigan did not have a player selected in the first round from 2001 until Burke and Hardaway were both first-round picks in 2013. Twice Beilein produced two first-round picks in the same season, which hadn't happened at Michigan since 1997. — Andrew Hussey ZAVIER SIMPSON AND JON TESKE PROVIDE STABILITY FOR MICHIGAN After winning 63 games the past two seasons, Michigan heads into the offseason with a ton of uncertainty surrounding next year's roster. Redshirt junior wing Charles Mat- thews and sophomore guard Jordan Poole have made it official that they are leaving Michigan, while fresh- man forward Ignas Brazdeikis has entered his name into the draft pro- cess with a chance of returning to school. No matter if Brazdeikis also leaves early, Michigan head coach John Beilein is confident in next year 's team with Zavier Simpson and Jon Teske both returning for their senior seasons. "Zavier and Jon, if they're the only ones that are back from the starting group, that's two pretty good pieces, and it's better than not having them," Beilein said. " T h e y ' re a l l a b o u t w i n n i n g . They've won a lot of games now in three years. They know what it takes. Everybody is going to develop, and everybody is getting better. I know we'll have enough people." After earning second-team All-Big Ten honors this past season, Simpson wants to continue his development this offseason. "I want to work on my body — in- side and outside — and make sure I'm putting the right things inside of it," he said. "I also want to score the ball more with my jump shot, especially midrange and from deep." Simpson was one of Michigan's leaders this past season, but he knows he has more to give in that area. "I'd like to show better leadership skills as far as leading by example and vocally," he said. "It's important next year to win a conference cham- pionship and some awards for the University. I'm extremely confident because I'm going to be on the team next year. I'm a team player who can get the other guys going. I can also win, and my résumé shows that." With Simpson back, the Wolverines return one of the best defenders in the conference. This past season, he was named to the Big Ten's All-De- fense team. Another strong defender for Mich- igan next year will be Teske, who nearly also put his name in the NBA Draft process but decided against it. "At the end of the day, I wanted to come back to get my degree and get back to the national championship game," he said. The big man has lofty expectations for next season even though the Wol- verines may lose some key pieces. "With our core group coming back, we'll be just fine," Teske said. "We also have a young group of guys who are hungry to play, and we're looking forward to leading them by example." Teske and Simpson will be Michi- gan's leaders regardless of who does or does not return. They have learned a lot from the players that have come before them. "The foundation has been built with guys like Muhammad[-Ali Ab- dur-Rahkman], Duncan Robinson and Moe Wagner, and we'll continue to build it," Teske said. "We've been to three straight Sweet 16s and will continue to win at a high level and have fun doing it." — Andrew Hussey 2018-19 MICHIGAN MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent Result Nov. 2 Northwood^ W, 90-58 Nov. 6 Norfolk State * W, 63-44 Nov. 10 Holy Cross* W, 56-37 Nov. 14 at Villanova$ W, 73-46 Nov. 17 vs. George Washington# W, 84-61 Nov. 18 vs. Providence# W, 66-47 Nov. 23 Chattanooga W, 83-55 Nov. 28 North Carolina& W, 84-67 Dec. 1 Purdue! W, 76-57 Dec. 4 at Northwestern! W, 62-60 Dec. 8 South Carolina W, 89-78 Dec. 15 Western Michigan W, 70-62 Dec. 22 Air Force W, 71-50 Dec. 30 Binghamton W, 74-52 Jan. 3 Penn State! W, 68-55 Jan. 6 Indiana! W, 74-63 Jan. 10 at Illinois! W, 79-69 Jan. 13 Northwestern! W, 80-60 Jan. 19 at Wisconsin! L, 64-54 Jan. 22 Minnesota! W, 59-57 Jan. 25 at Indiana! W, 69-46 Jan. 29 Ohio State! W, 65-49 Feb. 1 at Iowa! L, 74-59 Feb. 5 at Rutgers! W, 77-65 Feb. 9 Wisconsin! W, 61-52 Feb. 12 at Penn State! L, 75-69 Feb. 16 Maryland! W, 65-52 Feb. 21 at Minnesota! W, 69-60 Feb. 24 Michigan State! L, 77-70 Feb. 28 Nebraska! W, 82-53 Mar. 3 at Maryland! W, 69-62 Mar. 9 at Michigan State! L, 75-63 Mar. 15 vs. Iowa% W, 74-53 Mar. 16 vs. Minnesota% W, 76-49 Mar. 17 vs. Michigan State% L, 65-60 Mar. 21 vs. Montana+ W, 74-55 Mar. 23 vs. Florida+ W, 64-49 Mar. 28 vs. Texas Tech@ L, 63-44 ^ Exhibition; * Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall Of Fame Tipoff Tournament, Campus Round; $ Gavitt Tipoff Games; # Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall Of Fame Tipoff Tour- nament in Uncasville, Conn.; & ACC/Big Ten Challenge; ! Big Ten Game; % Big Ten Tournament at Chicago; + NCAA Tournament at Des Moines, Iowa; @ NCAA Tournament at Anaheim, Calif. Michigan's First-Round Picks Under John Beilein Player Rivals Rivals Years Draft Pick Ranking Stars at U-M (Year) Tim Hardaway Jr. — ✪ ✪ ✪ 3 24 (2013) Trey Burke 142 ✪ ✪ ✪ 2 9 (2013) Mitch McGary 30 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 2 21 (2014) Nik Stauskas 71 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 2 8 (2014) Caris LeVert — ✪ ✪ ✪ 3 20 (2016) D. J. Wilson 86 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 3 17 (2017) Moritz Wagner — ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 3 25 (2018)