The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1493247
INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS BY THE NUMBERS 5th th- Most disappointing team in college bas- ketball is where Michigan checked in on The Athletic writer Seth Davis' list of the top five, behind North Carolina, Kentucky, Duke and Villanova. "Hunter Dickinson has been his usual sturdy self and Jett Howard has been brilliant at times, but they're not getting enough help from their friends," Davis wrote. "Losing their grad transfer point guard to a season-ending knee injury in early December was a devastating blow." "This is light-years from where he was a year ago, and while there will be some questions as to whether he can play point guard full time and whether he'll shoot well (he's at only 30% on the year from three), I do think there's some credence to what Bufkin is doing and value in what he can be moving forward. If he stays on this type of track, I think he's draftable, and it wouldn't shock me if he gath- ers some momentum with teams go- ing into the spring." — Sports Illustrated analyst Jeremy Woo, naming Michigan sophomore guard Kobe Bufkin a 'sleeper' for this summer's NBA Draft "Man, I don't know what to think about Michigan. They have good talent, but they're not all on the same page." — An anonymous Big Ten staffer to The Athletic on Michigan basketball No. 16 To The Phoenix Suns is where The Athletic analyst Sam Vecenie placed Michigan freshman JETT HOWARD in his latest NBA mock draft. Howard was the seventh wing player to appear, behind Villanova's Cam Whitmore (fourth), Alabama's Brandon Miller (fifth), Overtime Elite's Ausar Thompson (sixth), Duke's Dariq Whitehead (10th), Kansas' Gradey Dick (13th) and Ohio State's Brice Sensa- baugh (14th). "Howard ticks a lot of boxes for teams looking to add to their wing rotation," Vecenie wrote. "He has plus positional size for the wing at 6-8 and hits shots at an exceedingly high level off move- ment with a beautiful, fluid stroke. On top of that, he's a really sharp passer who can make plays off the bounce, especially off some of the zoom ac- tions Michigan runs when he gets the ball coming off a pin-down and takes dribble-handoffs to get some penetration into the paint. He's not a great athlete, though. It's hard to see him truly separat- ing right now from his man. But he does have some shake that he could grow into." " The defense pushes him slightly outside of the lottery for me — he really struggles with his quickness to guard — but Howard is terrific and possesses many skills that evaluators covet." "We've got guys in the room that care for each other, a coach that cares for us, and we care for him. With those things, we can be just as good, if not better, again." — Graduate left guard TREVOR KEEGAN on the "In The Trenches" podcast, discussing the U-M offensive line PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL 16 THE WOLVERINE MARCH 2023