The Wolverine

August 2022*

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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12 THE WOLVERINE AUGUST 2022   INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS MICHIGAN'S TOP PERFORMERS Men's swimming and diving freshman Gal Groumi: For his home country of Israel, Groumi shattered the na- tional record in the 100 butterfly with a 51.79-second time, finish- ing 15th overall at the FINA World Championships in late June. He placed even higher, 13th, in the 200 individual medley with a 1:59.67 time. He was one of nine athletes with U-M ties — includ- ing five alumni, two current and two incoming student-athletes — to compete at the event. Women's track and field fifth-year senior Corinne Jemison: The Miami (Ohio) transfer did not compete each of the prior two seasons, be- fore breaking out and capping off the 2021-22 campaign with a stellar showing at the NCAA Out- door Championships June 10-11, where she became an All-American for the first time in her career. Amidst heavy rainfall that made the ring slick, Jemison threw one legal discus in her three rounds in the trials, with the 53.22-meter (174 feet, 7 inches) heave on her final attempt standing 14th place overall. That earned her second-team All-America honors. Men's track and field senior Joshua Zeller: The Wokingham, England, native posted a 13.26-second time in the final of the 110-meter hur- dles, claiming a bronze medal June 11 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Zeller 's third- place time would've won the title in all but nine other editions of the meet dating back to 1921. That time stands as the third-fastest on the all-time Big Ten list, and he also holds the top spot (13.19 at the Big Ten Championships). Softball graduate Kristina Burkhardt: The National Fastpitch Coaches Asso- ciation announced the outfielder as a recipient of the inaugural softball Rawlings Gold Glove Award June 1. Recipients of the Gold Glove Awards were selected by the NFCA Division I All-Amer- ica Committee, using advanced fielding ana- lytics, fielding statistics, strength of schedule and compilations of video to closely examine finalists and select the winners at every defen- sive position. She was one of three Big Ten play- ers to earn the honor. Burkhardt started all 56 games for U-M, playing center and right field, and posted a 1.000 fielding percentage with 85 putouts and two assists. She was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive team. — Clayton Sayfie Michigan men's basketball will have to replace four starters in 2022-23, but the big gun is back. Center Hunter Dickinson led the team in scor- ing last year at 18.6 points per game after averaging 14.1 as a freshman, and it stands to reason he'll lead the team in scoring again this coming season, as well. But … who's No. 2? We tackle that in this month's point-counterpoint. Terrance Williams II Ready To Step Into A Scoring Role By Chris Balas Lots of eyes are on the young guys, as always seems to be the case with highly regarded freshmen. And graduate transfer Jaelin Llewellyn would certainly be a popular choice after averaging 14 points per game in 76 contests for Princeton. But we're going to go with the surprise here and pick Williams. By all accounts, the junior has had a great offseason, getting his body into even better shape and working diligently on his 3-point shot. He made 20 of 52 last year for a more than respectable 38.5 percent, and he'll get many more looks this year in an expanded role. Williams averaged 4.7 points in only 14.9 minutes per game and was never a featured part of the offense. Somebody is going to have to fill the secondary scoring role this year, however, and he's as good a bet as anyone. He's never been shy about shooting the ball, has a knack for playing bigger than his 6-foot-7 frame on the offensive glass and should evolve into more of a scorer this year. Williams and Dickinson have played together for years, and they have synergy and chemistry. They feed off each other, and their increased minutes together on the floor could really spark the offense. As assistant coach Phil Martelli noted this spring, Williams needs to get better defen- sively — he struggled in that area last year — but he has the potential to be a double-digit scorer. This could well be the year it materializes. Michigan Will Be Leaning On Jaelin Llewellyn By Clayton Sayfie Neither of Michigan's prior two graduate transfer point guards — Mike Smith (2019-20) and DeVante' Jones (2020-21) — were top two on the team in scor- ing, but Jaelin Llewellyn is stepping into a different situation. In the Ivy League, he averaged 14 points per game for his career and shot 38.6 percent on 166 at- tempts from 3-point range in 2021-22. The Princeton graduate transfer is one of seven new- comers to the squad, and he's one of the most expe- rienced players on the team, with 76 career contests under his belt. No returning U-M player other than junior center Hunter Dickinson averaged 5 or more points per contest a year ago, with junior forward Terrance Williams II being next at 4.7. The Wolverines have a strong freshman class coming in, highlighted by potential starter Jett Howard at the wing spot. That said, a frosh hasn't been one of U-M's top two scorers since Ignas Brazdeikis in 2019, and he's the only one to have done so over the last 10 years. There are plenty of points to be had, and with such a young team with- out many proven commodities, the ball will be in Llewellyn's hands quite a bit. Additionally, U-M's starting point guard has posted a top-three usage rate on the team in each of head coach Juwan Howard's three sea- sons at the helm (minimum of 50 percent of minutes played), showing there's plenty of opportunity for the man at that position to make plays. POINT ❙ COUNTERPOINT WHO WILL BE THE NO. 2 SCORING OPTION FOR MICHIGAN BASKETBALL THIS SEASON? WILLIAMS LLEWELLYN

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