The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JUNE/JULY 2023 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 37 2023 BASKETBALL RECRUITING ISSUE BY CLAYTON SAYFIE M ichigan had a disappoint- ing season in 2022-23, but nobody in college basket- ball laid a bigger egg than North Carolina. The Tar Heels were the first top-ranked team in the preseason Associated Press poll to miss the NCAA Tournament since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985, with the team finishing 20-13 overall and 11-9 in ACC play. While Love — On3's No. 3-ranked player to transfer this offseason — is a big pickup for the Maize and Blue, it's impos- sible to say he didn't have a hand in the team's issues. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound guard from St. Louis was a preseason first-team All- ACC selection but failed to earn any all- conference honors, his campaign a micro- cosm of the team's. Love has always been a volume shooter, averaging 13.5 field goal attempts per game during his career, but his effi- ciency took a hit in 2022-23, when he shot just 29.9 per- cent on 244 three- point attempts and 76.5 percent from the free throw line. Those numbers were 36 percent and 86.3 percent the previ- ous season, respectively. He increased his two-point shooting from 38.0 percent to 45.5 percent, one of the few categories in which his stats improved. Even with that, it's easy to see why Love was a splash pickup for the Maize and Blue. Love was the darling of the 2022 NCAA Tournament, helping lead North Carolina to the national championship game before falling to Kansas. He aver- aged 18.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game while making 3.2 three- pointers a contest. His run was high- lighted by scoring 27 points in the second half of a Sweet 16 victory over UCLA and exploding for 28 points and hitting a dag- ger three to put away Duke in the Final Four. Love's triple that put the Tar Heels ahead by four points with 24.8 seconds remaining against their archrival in New Orleans — during Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski's last game — was so iconic that a picture of the moment hangs in UNC head coach Hubert Davis' office. "The shot that he hit against Duke in the Final Four is probably one of the three biggest shots in North Carolina basket- ball history," said The Athletic's Brendan Marks, who covers UNC, adding that Mi- chael Jordan's game-winner in the 1982 national championship game is first and it's a toss-up between Love's and Luke Maye's last-second, go-ahead shot in the 2017 Elite Eight. When it's working, Love can win his team a game almost single-handedly. His skill as a ball handler and shot creator is as good as it gets in college basketball. "When the Caleb Love experience is at its best … that's what it is, it's an ex- perience. In terms of college players, I can't think of anybody else that I've covered or watched or been around that can go absolutely nuclear like he can," Marks noted. "It's [Golden State War- riors sharpshooter] Klay Thompson-like. That's what it was in the second half of the UCLA game. He could not miss. "I remember talking to him about that game and some of the shots he took there — they're the epitome of 'No, no, no — yes!' shots. But when you ask Ca- leb, 'When you're taking those, what do you see?' He says, 'I don't even see the defender.' And there's a beauty in that; sometimes you need a guy like that. And listen, he's made them." There's a reason why he's still playing at the college level rather than the NBA — his shot selection is iffy, and his ef- ficiency hasn't been quite good enough. "If he could do what he does best on a consistent basis, he would've been a first-round pick two years ago," Marks opined. "There were games where he would shoot because North Carolina needed him to. He would take 10 threes or he'd take 8 threes and he'd make 1 or 2 of them. "North Carolina needed him to do that sometimes. But there were also games when they needed him to just pass the ball and drive and draw in the defense — which he can do — and sometimes he just gets so shot-happy that it destroyed North Carolina's offense. "Caleb has all the physical ability in the world. He's got great size, he's really ath- letic, he's strong. When he's engaged as a defender, he's really reactive and smart. Caleb's biggest problem is just turn- ing it on with consistency every single game. Sometimes you would get that for a stretch — he was really good this Feb- ruary for North Carolina — but then you go and look, and the game they desper- ately needed to win against Virginia in the ACC Tournament, he's 3 of 15, 2 of 10 from three and has 2 turnovers. That's sorta the experience in a nutshell. It's truly a roller coaster." Last season, Love missed 9.5 field goals per game, including 171 total three-point- ers. His backcourt mate, RJ Davis, in com- parison, was second on the team in three- point attempts, but he took only 174. If coach Juwan Howard and Co. can help raise his game, though, this will be a win- win for both parties, with Michigan win- ning big and Love developing into the pro he wants to be. Love posted on social media that he hopes to "rewrite" his story with the Wolverines, and he has the op- portunity to do so. Sometimes, making a move can be a breath of fresh air. "I think a change of scenery will be re- ally good for Caleb," Marks said. "I think a change of coaching will be really good for him. Caleb is a guy who's got a little bit of fight in him. He's from St. Louis, he grew up in that sort of basketball culture. "To some extent, I've always wondered this — Hubert Davis is one of the nicest guys in basketball. I wonder if Caleb will respond better to someone that does have more of an edge, just in terms of their per- sonality. I think he could see a little more kinship there. I wouldn't be surprised if he responded [well]." At times last season, Love, Davis and big man Armando Bacot were seemingly taking turns to make plays. Given that the Wolverines lost their top three scorers from last season, Howard needs a go-to offensive force, and Love can be just that. The role may serve him better. "If you just let this dude score, he can score the ball," Marks said. ❏ FRESH START The Caleb Love Experience Is Heading To Ann Arbor