The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JUNE/JULY 2021 THE WOLVERINE 33 2021 BASKETBALL RECRUITING ISSUE help bring more talent to join him in Ann Arbor. That's just the kind of kid he is, Michigan assistant coach Phil Mar- telli said recently, and why he and so many others believe the scouts are sleeping on Tschetter a bit. "If he does on the basketball side what we think he can do here … we're all going to be in a movie about his life someday," Martelli said. "His repertoire is going to be really in- valuable. You just know Will is going to have an impact like a [freshman forward] Terrance Williams … he is going to impact winning." By now, most who follow Michigan basketball recruiting know of Tschet- ter's backstory. A legit farm boy like graduating fifth-year senior Austin Davis of Onsted, Mich., he's up at dawn to bale hay and put in some real work that most would consider a good workout for the week. He's also a 3.99 student, lived in China for two years when his father's job took the family there and learned to speak Mandarin in grade school, and is the stereotypical All-American kid. If the Rivals.com three-star pros- pect (ranked the No. 133 overall recruit and No. 22 power forward nationally) from Stewartville, Minn., had any trepidation about leaving home, it didn't take him long to over- come it. His experiences have pre- pared him for city life, he insisted, and he's ready for his next chapter. "Obviously, going from a farm in ru- ral southern Minnesota to Ann Arbor will definitely be a little eye-opening with the opportunities and the differ- ences that has, but I feel like the city aspect, I've been in that situation be- fore, and I really enjoyed it," he said. "It had some challenges, but overall, the experience was super cool. "Being in a different culture, coun- try … I actually went to an inter- national school with 120 countries represented. That's one of the most unique school experiences ever." Michigan's student population is also diverse, another of the reasons he liked Ann Arbor so much. Much of his time, though, will be spent on the athletic campus and bas- ketball court, where he's a warrior. He averaged 30.3 points and 11.8 re- bounds per game as a senior and led his Stewartville team to the sectional finals, where they lost to nemesis Caledonia for a second straight year. Earlier in the year, he finally made the national stage when his school was chosen as a late replacement to face Minneapolis Minnehaha Academy and 2021 prospect Chet Holmgren, the No. 1-ranked player in the class, on ESPNU. "We found out the morning before. At about 6 a.m. I got a text from our A.D. saying, 'I think I got you a spot on ESPNU tomorrow night,'" Tschet- ter recalled. "I said, 'What? Hahaha … very funny.' But he said he was dead serious, and to call him right away." Tschetter scored 19 points in that one, and while he didn't have his best shooting night, he still made four NBA triples and had three more rim in and out from 24 feet. "His stroke is pure," Martelli noted, and Tschetter showed it the entire year, making 44 percent from beyond the arc. He also shot 45 percent from deep as a junior en route to leading the state of Minnesota with 33.4 points per game. That's the kind of competition the big man is going to have to get used to facing in the next few years at U-M, and he's preparing for it. He'll need to quicken his stroke and continue to get stronger, but he's working on it. "That was such a super cool expe- rience to be able to play Chet and ev- eryone on their team with how good they are," Tschetter said. He heard from future Michigan teammates and coaches, of course, who followed him just as he followed the Wolverines throughout the year. It's starting to sink in that he's soon go- ing to be playing on the biggest stage for one of the nation's elite programs, not that he needed any reassurance. "Over time I built a relationship with the whole coaching staff," he said. "The trust and just how genu- ine they were was a big sell. Coach Howard with his background being an NBA star, he could play it off like, 'Oh yeah, if you don't want to come here, we don't really want you.'" But he never did and was always down to earth. Between that and the coach's vision, it was a no-brainer, Tschetter added. The days of baling hay and fishing are coming to an end, and he's cher- ishing them (especially when catching a 24-inch brown trout out of the river in his backyard) — but he can't wait to get started at U-M. It will be a new adventure for a kid who has already had more than some get in a lifetime. "I lived in Beijing for two years, so I've been in one of the biggest cit- ies in the world for two years of my life," he said. Put another way — 'I've got this.' He's ready to prove it to his future coaches, teammates and a fan base that can't wait to see what he has to offer. ❏ Tschetter "Over time I built a relation- ship with the whole coaching staff. The trust and just how genuine they were was a big sell." Tschetter averaged 30.3 points and 11.8 rebounds per game this season, and led his Stewartville (Minn.) High team to the sectional finals. PHOTO COURTESY STEWARTVILLE HIGH SCHOOL