The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1123063
JUNE/JULY 2019 THE WOLVERINE 15 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS First-Year Expectations Should Be Tempered By Brandon Brown John Beilein turned the Michigan basketball program into a true contender. For the last handful of years, the Wolverines have been in the mix for Big Ten titles and played in two national championship games. The program is humming, and suc- cess has become a guarantee. Now, everything is changing. John Beilein is in Cleveland, coaching the Cavaliers, while former Fab Fiver Juwan Howard is running the show in Ann Arbor. He has been getting support from some of the sport's biggest names, including Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, who played with Howard in Miami, but there's a tough reality to face — Howard has never been a head coach and whoever followed Beilein was going to face some tough sledding. The Michigan alum is popular, has a lot of connections on a lot of levels and might be able to recruit pretty well, but there are a lot of ifs surrounding his abili- ties as a head coach. He's been groomed for six years as an assistant for the Miami Heat, but that's nothing like what he'll do as a head coach in college. Michigan fans seem to be pretty excited about the hire, but they need to remain level headed. Howard might struggle to figure it out for a while, or he might surprise a lot of people and excel right away. No one knows, so expectations need to be tempered and realistic. What is that? Another question mark. If you think Howard will run the team at Beilein levels in year one, you might be disappointed. Howard is going to get his shot, but Beilein- type success likely won't be instant or automatic. U-M Has The Talent And Culture To Compete In Year One By Chris Balas Michigan head coach John Beilein was scrambling in search of talented players when Jordan Poole and Ignas Brazdeikis bolted early for the NBA, and even if he remained at the helm his team would have had a hard time winning at the highest level without another player or two. Shooting guard will be an issue — junior Eli Brooks is now the favorite to start there — and is an area new head coach Juwan Howard will need to shore up. Securing top-100 signees Cole Bajema (shooting guard) and forward Jalen Wilson should be his first priorities — and he has already done the first. But let's be clear: there are two players on this roster who are among the best defenders in the Big Ten in senior point guard Zavier Simpson and senior center Jon Teske, and both were on All-Big Ten teams last year. Junior Isaiah Livers is set to take his game up a notch and cer- tainly has the potential to be an All- Big Ten guy, and last year's freshman class should only improve. Center Colin Castleton was starting to come around, forward Brandon Johns has incredible potential and guard David DeJulius was earning more playing time by the end of the season. We asked Simpson several weeks ago when Poole and Brazdeikis an- nounced their intentions if his expec- tations for next year's team would go down given their departures, espe- cially with redshirt junior Charles Mat- thews leaving. He responded immedi- ately with a resounding "no," noting he knew how to win and had confidence in his teammates to follow his lead. Given the culture that's been estab- lished, we're with him. As the football program has coined over the years, "the expectation is for the position." POINT ❙ COUNTERPOINT WHAT ARE EXPECTATIONS FOR JUWAN HOWARD IN YEAR ONE? Rising-senior point guard Zavier Simpson gives new head coach Juwan Howard a major piece to build around moving forward. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL DID YOU KNOW... Your home address will be automatically changed to the mailing address on file with the US Postal Service? ALL addresses are cross-referenced with the USPS National Change of Address database. It can take up to 7 days for the USPS to update your address in their database? To prevent missed issues, please notify the US Postal Service ASAP. Your postal forwarding order expires in 60 days or less? Most forwarding requests expire in 60 days and DO NOT always include periodical mail. Issues are discarded at their discretion. You should call your local post office to verify your delivery address? Don't assume the post office knows your vacation or moving schedule. AVOID COSTLY DELAYS & REPLACEMENTS! Wolverine Customer Service: 1–800–421–7751 We are happy to assist, but due to privacy laws all postal address changes must be completed by you.