The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1468055
JUNE / JULY 2022 THE WOLVERINE 21 going to start? Right? Right? I had a re- ally good game against Colorado State. That's going to earn me a starting nod, right?' "It's almost like you can read the body language. This one really disturbs me, because I think it's just what's going on … he doesn't want to compete for a po- sition. He wants to be assured a position. "So, bye-bye." All season long, Crawford noted, he'd heard nothing but glowing reports about Collins in Michigan practices from his teammates. "They'd say, 'It's jaw-dropping in practice, what this kid has,'" Crawford offered. "His ceiling is so high. I heard that from three different kids, in three different conversations. I was super ex- cited and so happy for this kid after the Colorado State game." Now, Collins will be using his skills for the Sun Devils. He became the third Michigan player to hit the transfer portal on his way out of town, following senior forward Brandon Johns Jr. and sopho- more guard Zeb Jackson. Coming out of East Lansing, Johns played four years in Ann Arbor, aver- aging 3.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. The 6-8 forward stirred hopes during Michigan's 2021 run to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament that he might step up the following year, with the departures of starters Isaiah Livers and Franz Wagner. But Johns wound up starting only nine games, averaging 3.2 points and 2.0 re- bounds in his final season with the Wol- verines. He opted for the portal and will finish his college career at VCU. Jackson, who sat out this season for the Wolver- ines, also has transferred to VCU. So, the churn remains regarding Michigan's roster. Still, the big man in the middle should nicely butter the per- sonnel bread around him. "Obviously, Michigan's always going to be active in the portal, they're always going to be an intriguing fit for various players," Boesch said. "I don't know of a team that I would say, 'That team has definitely got a better roster right now than Michigan.' "When you've got a player who is as good as that, and as important to the program as he is coming back … the puz- zle fits pretty well together." ❏ Michigan Adds Shooting Touch With Princeton's Jaelin Llewellyn Michigan needs to increase its ability to score from the perimeter in 2022-23 to open up the middle for returning junior big man Hunter Dickinson. Enter Jaelin Llewellyn, a Princeton sharpshooter coming to Ann Arbor as a graduate transfer. The move became official May 6, sending U-M basketball fol- lowers scrambling to gauge the impact of the newest move by Juwan Howard. Count on this: Llewellyn, the first-team All-Ivy choice in 2022, can shoot the basketball. He connected on 39 percent from long range last season, on his way to averaging 15.7 points per game for the Tigers. Contrast that with Michigan's overall efforts from long range last season. The Wolverines connected on 33.9 percent of their three-point attempts overall and managed the exact same percentage in Big Ten contests. In games they won, they shot 39.5 percent from three-point range. In games they lost, that percentage dropped all the way down to 26.3 percent. Individually, only one Wolverine in 2021-22 could match the three-point shoot- ing percentage Llewellyn constructed last year for Princeton. Fifth-year senior Eli Brooks shot 39.4 percent for the Wolverines. Llewellyn will certainly face an adjustment, with longer, perhaps quicker Big Ten defenses flying at him. But he has already expressed a confidence and excite- ment regarding the success Michigan has enjoyed in general under Howard, and particularly regarding guard transfers. "I chose Michigan because they are a great program with a great coach that has had success at the guard spot, especially with transfers," Llewellyn said to The Daily Princetonian. Howard's last two starting point guards have been imports. Two years ago, Columbia transfer Mike Smith helped lead the Wolverines to the Elite Eight. This past season, Coastal Carolina transfer DeVante' Jones overcame a slow start to help Michigan to the Sweet 16 before injuries kept him out of major stretches of tournament action. The former four-star high school recruit joined the 1,000-point club at Princ- eton this past season. Llewellyn shot 44.7 percent from the field overall, while also averaging 4.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. He's ready to experience what the transfer guards preceding him have at Michigan — life on the biggest stage. "Michigan is a team that consistently makes a push in the tournament, and I want to help do the same and be a part of something special," he said. — John Borton Llewellyn shot 39 percent from three-point range and averaged 15.7 points per game for Princeton en route to being named first-team All-Ivy League last season. PHOTO COURTESY PRINCETON ATHLETICS