The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1510053
[ 2023-24 BASKETBALL PREVIEW ] NOVEMBER 2023 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 45 when I moved to Tennessee. Maryland was a good place for me to go, as a first place I lived after Finland. Maryland is a very diverse place. I went to a public school my first year." VOLUNTEERING FOR TENNESSEE, MICHIGAN Nkamhoua makes it clear. His four years at the University of Tennessee were wonderful. He started 58 of his 112 games there, averaging 6.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. Those numbers belie Nkamhoua's top-end capabilities, though. He poured in 27 points last spring in an NCAA Tournament battle with Duke. He also scored 27 against Texas as a se- nior. In 2022, he helped the Volunteers to the SEC Tournament title, their first basketball championship in 43 years. He went to three straight NCAA Tourna- ments and enjoyed the ride the whole way through. "I loved it at Tennessee," he stressed. "I spent my four years of college basket- ball there. The whole transfer thing was very tough for me. It was a very delicate situation. I didn't really want to do it." He did, for a change of venue and a great opportunity in Ann Arbor. He's re- united with U-M assistant coach Phil Martelli, who recruited him out of high school, and he gets to learn as a big man from head coach Juwan Howard. "We built a great relationship while I was in high school," Nkamhoua said of Martelli. "Even in my college career, whenever I ran into him, I made sure to speak to him. He's a great coach, a great man. Through the relationship I had with him, I was able to build a relationship with Juwan. He played the position, and he's been at the level I'm trying to get to. "I needed to have people around me who would help me take the next steps, whether being a better leader, a bet- ter defender, showcasing my offensive abilities. Just in general, I wanted to go somewhere that the staff would pour their knowledge onto me, teach me and help me grow as an individual as well as part of the team. "As a competitor, I also felt there was a gap here that I could fill. I could step into a role where I would be allowed to compete at a high level with other com- petitors, in a league that was the same or higher. I'm going from the SEC to the Big Ten, so my competition is still at the top of what college basketball can offer." Nkamhoua insists life in Ann Arbor has been good. He's eager to take his chances with a team that missed The Big Dance a year ago, and one doubted by many coming into 2023-24. "I just believe we're going to be a wild card of a team," he said. "A dark horse. People are going to be a little doubtful of what we can do. If I'm being honest, that's understandable. Any team that has such a complete turnaround, coming from the season they unfortunately had last year … everybody is going to have their doubts. I don't blame anybody for having their doubts. "We're going to work very hard. We're going to play very hard. We have 11 guys that I know want to win, and 11 guys that are going to go out there every night and fight to win. I think we're going to be good. I think we're going to be a tourna- ment team. I think we're going to win a lot more than people think we're going to win." Personally, he noted, he can plug some gaps. "I fill a lot of holes left on this team with my skill set — with my shooting, my defending. I can play multiple positions and more so, guard multiple positions," he said. "I bring experience. I've been at a program where the years I played, we were a top-25 team, top-10, top-five team. I bring hard-nosed toughness." He's needed to show it for a while now, in sunlight and shadow. Nkamhoua's ready for the next spotlight. ❑ In four seasons at Tennessee, Nkamhoua started 58 of his 112 games played, averaging 6.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per contest, highlighted by a 27-point outburst last spring in an NCAA Tournament battle with Duke. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY