The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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Certainly, McGary proved the toast of the Big Dance, in terms of freshman performers. He averaged 14.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per game over the course of Michigan's six-game surge to the title contest. He led the Wolverines with a dozen steals over that span, while energizing his teammates with crisp outlet passes and an infectious enthusiasm. Robinson, meanwhile, shot 64.6 percent in the tournament, averaged 12.7 points and 5.5 rebounds, and showed flashes of a growing assertiveness. Both have room to grow, Beilein assured, but each features skills aplenty. "They brought us unplanned buckets through hustle and athleticism that had been sorely needed," Beilein said. "Mitch and Glenn gave us tremendous improvisation in scoring through rebounding, hustle and cutting into open areas. Most of our shots were taken by Tim and Trey. We will need Mitch and Glenn to take more shots and still have that same hustle — it helps them become better all-around players, and then we are a better team." The head coach is hardly alone in that assessment. ESPN college basketball analyst Dan Dakich thinks enough of Michigan's brain trust to give the thumbs up to his own son, Andrew, joining Beilein's boys as a preferred walk-on in the fall. Dakich, of course, has seen Beilein work wonders. The former Indiana player and coach briefly accepted the West Virginia job more than a decade ago, but opted out, leaving the door open for Beilein. "He took the biggest mess I've ever seen and turned it into an Elite Eight squad," Dakich said. "I'm not betting against John Beilein, ever, since that point on. They lost Darius Morris and [DeShawn] Sims, and everybody expected them to drop off. Evan Smotrycz left, a starter, and next thing you know, they go to the final game." There's no question losing Burke hurts, Dakich insisted. The ESPN analyst, though, sees Beilein as somewhat of a Bo Ryan, whom folks count out in the Big Ten only to be surprised on an annual basis. Don't think for a moment the Wolverines lack returning talent, Dakich noted. He sees a very good one with incoming freshman point guard Derrick Walton, and the entire college basketball world witnessed the Spike Albrecht show in the first half of the NCAA title game. No need to feel sorry for the Wolverines, Dakich cautioned. "Derrick Walton is really good," he said. "We saw him in AAU, and he's really good. Obviously, Spike got so much better during the course of the year. McGary is going to be as good a big guy as there is in the country. Robinson should be as good a wing guy as there is in the country. I think Michigan's in pretty good shape, Trey Burke or no Trey Burke." Obviously, Beilein will focus his efforts on seeing how much better all of the above can become, to say nothing of sophomore-to-be Nik Stauskas, rising fifth-year senior Jordan Morgan, incoming freshmen Zak Irvin and Mark Donnal, and others on the squad. Beilein and his coaches know how much hard work went into