The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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DECEMBER 2021 THE WOLVERINE 39 BY CLAYTON SAYFIE T errance Williams II was a healthy scratch in eight of Michigan's 28 contests in 2020-21, registering a total of 149 minutes in 20 appearances. He was playing behind Franz Wagner, a top-10 NBA Draft pick, and Isaiah Livers, an elite shooter, after all. But the freshman still chipped in on several occasions and, per- haps even more impressively, earned the trust of head coach Juwan Howard to put him in during key moments. Michigan wouldn't have beaten Oak- land, a team that finished with a 12-18 record, in overtime in the second game of last season without Williams' steady play that included seven points, four re- bounds and two assists. The Wolverines may not have beaten LSU in the second round of the NCAA Tournament without four points and three assists in nine min- utes from Williams. He was often lauded for doing "the little things" at a high level, and his post feeds, hustle plays and high IQ earned Williams opportunities on a Big Ten championship-winning team that made a deep run in March. Once the season ended, and Wagner, Livers and Chaundee Brown opted to go pro, Williams knew his role would be much bigger in 2021-22. "Learning from them helped me a lot to where I am now," Williams said. Sure, the Wolverines brought in a con- sensus top-five recruiting class that in- cluded five-star wing Caleb Houstan, an immediate starter, and Williams contin- ues to come off the bench. But he's al- ready nearing his minutes total from last season through just six games. The plays he makes are no longer a pleasant sur- prise; he's expected to make them. His role has surely grown. So how did he get from point A to point B? Williams and guard Zeb Jackson, also known for putting in extra hours, were the first two players back on campus this summer, returning in June to work with strength and conditioning coach Jon Sanderson and select coaches, when permitted. The rest of the team assem- bled in July. The two classmates jam-packed their schedule to get the most out of that ex- tra month, working in the weight room with 'Sandman' twice a day, three days a week, and going through on-court train- ing three days (twice per day, of course). Williams, specifically, wanted to get leaner. He lost 10 pounds but gained muscle mass, all by weightlifting and swapping out Chick-fil-A and other fried foods — "It was bad," he said of his previ- ous eating habits — for "greens and fruit." Throughout June, he and Jackson, who played even more sparingly than Williams last year, spent countless hours together. Many of their conversations surrounded their roles on the team, and how they weren't going to let opportunity pass them by in their second crack at things. "Basically, we were just staying ready — being ready when your name is called, because you never know when your name is going to be called with Juwan," Wil- liams said. "You can't stop working out because you're not playing. You have to be prepared, because when he calls on you, you've got to be ready to produce or bring something off the bench. "That's really what we talked about, just staying ready, doing the stuff that we see, where we fit in the offense — whether that was him bringing a lot of ball han- dling, shooting. With me, I worked on shooting, ball handling as well. Doing the little stuff that fits in our offense so we can be ready to produce when Juwan calls our names. "Shots on the move — I worked on that a lot, seeing Isaiah do that last year and making a living off that. Franz with the ball screen … I did a lot of ball-screen reads with some of our coaches. The little stuff like that, I took away from what they did and knew I could bring it to the team the next year." What was done in the dark — the grind Williams put himself through in the spring, before the semester ended, and in the summer — is starting to come to light. "I've often said that to be great you have to be willing to go alone at times," asso- ciate head coach Phil Martelli said. "In order to be a 4.0 student, go to the library alone. Do your research alone. And to be a good basketball player, do not fear the empty gym. Terrance did that all spring and he did it all summer, and now you're seeing the fruits of that labor." Williams' performance in the season opener against Buffalo gave him a sense of validation. And almost perfectly, ev- erything Williams put an emphasis on during the offseason shined through in the Wolverines' 88-76 win. Again, the Maize and Blue may not have won without his 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting overall, including a 2-of-3 per- formance from long range, plus seven re- bounds and one assist. U-M let a 21-point lead slip all the way down to a five-point edge, before Williams hit a dagger three with just over five minutes to go, fueling a run that put the game away for good. And, oh yeah, Williams made those plays that don't show up on the stat sheet, like usual. There's no analytics site that tracks the level of difficulty on a rebound or how far a player ran to track a loose ball, but those things are appreciated, espe- cially by his head coach. "I love the way he competes," How- ard said. "I loved it last season. I love this summer how he came in early. "I just know, and we all trust, what he's going to provide. There's not always go- ing to be a night where he scores 15. He also does the little things that don't show up on a box score. My favorite play, and some of you may say the bank-shot three [that he got fouled on and made the free 'CAPTAIN-IN-WAITING' Terrance Williams II Contributes To Winning In A Multitude Of Ways Williams totaled 159 minutes in 21 appear- ances last year with 40 points scored and 46 rebounds. He was well on his way to eclips- ing those totals with 102 minutes played, 36 points scored and 20 rebounds corralled through just six contests this winter. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL