The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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FEBRUARY 2021 THE WOLVERINE 13 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS 22 In the country is the number USA Today tagged Michigan football with in its 'way too early' rank- ings ahead of the 2021-22 season. This may come as a surprise, with U-M finishing the 2020 campaign with a 2-4 record. "There's still a matter of how they're going to compete even for second place in the Big Ten East," Erick Smith wrote. "J.J. MCCARTHY, one of the nation's top quarterback recruits, could be the answer to concerns at the position if Joe Milton and Cade McNamara can't seize the job. Better play from the offensive line will help whomever is behind center." BY THE NUMBERS PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL "Guys have goals, but everyone understands those goals won't come unless we all lock in as a team and into the Michigan culture. Coach [Juwan] Howard talks about buying in — everyone from top to bottom has bought in, even the managers and the support staff. Everyone here just wants to win. Guys aren't trying to score 30 every night and shoot 30 shots; we just want to win and enjoy each other's success. We play team basketball — that's what we do here at Michigan." — Senior forward Isaiah Livers following U-M's 82-57 beatdown of No. 16 Minnesota Jan. 6 "They play so hard. When you watch this Michigan group compete, it's honestly really impressive. Defensively, they get after you. Offensively, think about this — [senior for- ward] Isaiah Livers might be their third or fourth option, and he would star on so many college teams. With that said, he embraces his role and plays it really well." — Big Ten Network analyst Robbie Hummel on U-M basketball "Some of the defensive linemen Michigan signed were pretty good. I saw [Suffield (Conn.) Academy four-star de- fensive end] Kechaun Bennett last year and liked him a lot. [Mansfield (Mass.) High three-star defensive end] T.J. Guy is an underrated player and so is [New Monmouth (N.J.) Mater Dei two-star defensive end] Dominick Giudice. They're all under- rated and blue-collar, tough, aggressive ball players who are productive. Guys like that almost always make it." — Longtime national recruiting guru Tom Lemming on the defensive linemen U-M signed in its 2021 recruiting class PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM 30 30 Is where Michigan bas- ketball sophomore guard FRANZ WAGNER checked in on the latest 2021 NBA Draft big board by ESPN.com's Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz. He was labeled a prospect that is "creating buzz" by excelling at the col- lege level. While much of the at- tention has been placed on fresh- man center Hunter Dickinson, the writers believe Wagner is the better pro prospect this summer. "After a slow start to the season offen- sively, Wagner has blossomed in Big Ten play, shooting the ball effectively from the perimeter, scoring opportunistically inside the arc and becoming a key playmaking cog in Michigan's well-spaced and highly efficient offense," Givony wrote. "A deep NCAA Tournament run could easily solid- ify Wagner as a first-round pick, although it wouldn't be shocking if he decided to run it back for his junior year at Michigan (like his brother [Moe] did) since he's y o u n g e r t h a n many freshmen such as [Gon- zaga freshman] Jalen Suggs and [ U S C f re s h m a n ] Evan Mobley. "Michigan is slated to enroll the No. 1 recruit- ing class in college basket- ball, and could be viewed as early favorites for the national championship if Wagner (and Dickinson) return to the fold." "When God blesses you with the height of 6-10 and can move the way he can move out there on the floor, gosh darn it, you better use it. He's very much a student of the game, soaks up everything you coach him up to do, and you just love guys like that." — U-M assistant coach Saddi Washington on sophomore guard FRANZ WAGNER during the Inside Michigan Basketball radio show Jan. 4