The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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FEBRUARY 2022 THE WOLVERINE 45 MICHIGAN BASKETBALL another, knowing they'd be spending a lot of time together during Big Ten play in January and February. For most, it was also an opportunity to catch up with some former team- mates. The Wolverines attended the Or- lando Magic game against the Milwau- kee Bucks, one in which NBA Rookie of the Year candidate Franz Wagner scored a career-high 38 points. Former Wolverines Moritz Wagner and Ignas Brazdeikis also played for the Magic. "It was awesome to see Franz, Moe and Iggy out there," fifth-year senior guard Eli Brooks said. "But it just gives us a chance to have even more bonding time because we're going to be around each other a lot during this trip, and we have been. "There are more things in life than just basketball, so it's good to see people outside of Ann Arbor and our practice facilities. It's been nice to see how the bonds are evolving." The team also experienced an outing at TopGolf among its other events dur- ing the down time. Watching the Wagners, though, was the highlight, even though the Magic lost. "It was great to see Franz," head coach Juwan Howard said. "Franz, I'm sure it's out there publicly, he played very well … his performance was at a high level. "He scored his season-high, but unfor- tunately — I know Franz — what he cares about most is the team win. Sadly to say, they did not pull out the 'W,' but it was great to see that Franz had support in the building … not just from the Magic fans but his Michigan brothers and coaches as well as extended staff members." — Chris Balas ADRIEN NUNEZ TALKS SOCIAL MEDIA STARDOM Adrien Nunez does not consistently crack the rotation, but in the age of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL), he is one of the team's most marketable stars. The senior guard has more than three million followers on TikTok, giving him more visibility than any of his team- mates by a wide margin. It all started simply from posting to social media in the days before NIL was in full swing. "I had heard that NIL was a possibility, so I was like, I need to get some Insta- gram followers," Nunez told BVM Sports in January. "We had so much time that I was like, this would be a good way to gain some followers. So, I just started record- ing TikToks every day after my workouts. Then it just morphed into what it is to- day, which is pretty funny." Nunez's platform exploded after making his videos, many of which now include his girlfriend Carson Roney, a former basketball player at Shawnee State. The key to his success is showing up as regularly as he does for practice every day on the basketball court. 2021-22 Men's Basketball Schedule Date Opponent Result/Time* (TV) Nov. 10 Buffalo W, 88-76 Nov. 13 vs. Prairie View A&M% W, 77-49 Nov. 16 Seton Hall# L, 67-65 Nov. 19 vs. UNLV^ W, 74-61 Nov. 21 vs. Arizona^ L, 80-62 Nov. 24 Tarleton State W, 65-54 Dec. 1 at North Carolina$ L, 72-51 Dec. 4 San Diego State W, 72-58 Dec. 7 at Nebraska W, 102-67 Dec. 11 Minnesota L, 75-65 Dec. 18 Southern Utah W, 87-50 Dec. 21 Purdue Fort Wayne Canceled Dec. 30 at Central Florida L, 85-71 Jan. 4 at Rutgers L, 75-67 Jan. 8 Michigan State Postponed Jan. 11 Purdue Postponed Jan. 14 at Illinois L, 68-53 Jan. 18 Maryland W, 83-64 Jan. 23 at Indiana 3:30 p.m. (CBS) Jan. 26 Northwestern 6:30 p.m. (BTN) Jan. 29 at Michigan State 12:30 p.m. (CBS) Feb. 1 Nebraska 9 p.m. (BTN) Feb. 5 at Purdue 2:30 p.m. (FOX) Feb. 8 at Penn State 9 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2) Feb. 12 Ohio State 6 p.m. (ESPN/ESPN2) Feb. 17 at Iowa 6 p.m. CT (ESPN/ESPN2) Feb. 20 at Wisconsin 12 p.m. CT (CBS) Feb. 23 Rutgers 7 p.m. (BTN) Feb. 27 Illinois 2 p.m. (CBS) Mar. 3 Iowa 9 p.m. (FS1) Mar. 6 at Ohio State 12:30 p.m. (FOX) Mar. 9-13 Big Ten Tournament% * Times in ET unless otherwise noted % Coaches vs. Racism in Washington, D.C.; # Gavitt Tipoff Games in Ann Arbor; ^ Roman Main Event in Las Vegas; $ Big Ten/ACC Challenge; % at Indianapolis Nunez is averaging 1.3 points per game through the season's first 15 contests, but is more known on the social media platform TikTok, where he has more than three mil- lion followers. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL