The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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APRIL 2024 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 43 ❱ MICHIGAN BASKETBALL Three Best Players 1. Sophomore guard Dug McDaniel The 5-foot-11, 175-pounder had one of the most unusual situations in college basketball this season, serving a six-road-game suspension due to academic issues from Jan. 11 to Feb. 22, the meat of the Wolverines' Big Ten schedule. He didn't play up to his highest capabilities even when he was on the floor in home games during that stretch, especially shooting the basketball. In seven games from Jan. 4 to Feb. 7, McDaniel shot just 9-of-28 (32.1 percent) from long range. However, he turned it around at the end of the year, going 14-of-30 (46.7 percent) in five outings from Feb. 10 to March 10. He scored in double figures in four of those five contests to close out the season, dishing out 5 or more assists in three of them. Michigan's offense struggled mightily, but McDaniel and his playmaking ability at least gave it a chance to put up points. 2. Senior forward Terrance Williams II He scored in double figures in five of the final six games, including 15 points to give the team a chance in a season-ending 66-57 loss to Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament. Williams also shot 44.4 percent from three-point range during that stretch and 39.7 percent (52-of-131) for the season. The 6-foot-7, 225-pounder really turned himself into a sharpshooter this season, with a 58.2 effective field goal percentage on catch-and-shoot jump shots, which ranked in the 79th per- centile in the country. 3. Graduate guard Nimari Burnett Burnett was one of the few players on the roster that could carry the Wolver- ines for portions of games. He did that at different times throughout the season, including with a trio of three-pointers and 11 points in the loss to Penn State in Minneapolis. Burnett also dropped 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field (3-of-5 from distance) in a loss to Northwestern Feb. 22 and 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting in a setback to Purdue Feb. 25. Key Moment Michigan led No. 3 Purdue by seven points with just over 10 minutes to play in the first half Feb. 25, but a late-first-half collapse did the Wolverines in. Purdue ended the stanza on an extended 34-12 push, including a 13-4 run over the last 4:08, and wound up holding an 11-point halftime edge. Michigan was depleted without graduate forward Olivier Nkamhoua (season-ending wrist injury), saw graduate guard Nimari Burnett sit the final 12 minutes of the half in foul trouble and had other players — including redshirt sophomore forward Will Tschetter and sophomore forward Tarris Reed Jr. — recovering from the flu. U-M looked gassed at the end of the first 20 minutes of action, and Purdue took advantage in the 84-76 victory. Best Highlight There weren't many highlights in a 0-5 stretch that was part of a nine-game losing skid to end the season, but fifth-year senior forward Jackson Selvala scoring his first career points at Crisler Center was a feel-good moment. Selvala was honored on senior day ahead of his final home game of his second of two seasons as a player, after being elevated from team manager in 2022-23. Sel- vala, who stands 6-foot-7, 230, knocked down a pair of free throws in a March 10 loss to Nebraska. He ended his career with 6 total points. Bold Prediction Michigan loses three players that have exhausted their eligibility (Jaelin Llewellyn, Tray Jackson and Olivier Nkamhoua) and has two others with one year of eligibility left due to COVID in senior forward Terrance Williams II and graduate guard Nimari Burnett. Both were mum on their futures after being honored on senior day March 10 against Nebraska. Others that are slated to return could explore the transfer portal, and it says here that the Wolverines will have to replace more than half of their 11 schol- arship players from last season. That's seemingly how it goes in today's sport, especially when there are potentially greener pastures elsewhere after U-M went 8-24. Michigan has two 2024 signees in four-star guard Christian Anderson and three-star guard Durral Brooks. They'll be among a large group of newcomers in 2024-25, we project. U-M's one verbal commit — four-star small forward Khani Rooths — decommitted from the program on March 18. — Clayton Sayfie Superlatives For U-M's Six Games From Feb. 22 To March 13 Sophomore guard Dug McDaniel scored in double figures in four of the last five contests to close out the season, dishing out 5 or more assists in three of them. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL clude Drake's Darian DeVries, the 2018- 19 and 2020-21 Missouri Valley Confer- ence Coach of the Year who is in his sixth season as the head coach at the school; Amir Abdur-Rahim, who did wonders at Kennesaw State before moving on to South Florida, where he's 24-6 in his first year, one season after the team went 14-18; and Iowa State's T.J. Otzelberger, whose Cyclones improved their win total by more than 20 games from his first to second year. His Iowa State squad earned a No. 2 NCAA Tournament seed after drubbing No. 1 Houston 69-41 in the Big 12 championship game March 16. TRANSFER PORTAL ANNOUNCEMENTS Three Michigan players entered the NCAA transfer portal in the after- math of head coach Juwan Howard's dismissal. Guards Dug McDaniel and George Washington III both did so on March 18, and they were followed by sophomore big man Tarris Reed Jr. McDaniel and Reed both will be ju- niors next year with two years of eligi- bility while Washington will be a soph- omore and has three years remaining. McDaniel led U-M in scoring (16.3 av- erage) and assists (4.7) in 2023-24, and Reed averaged 9.0 points and 7.2 rebounds per contest with a team-high 46 blocks. Washington appeared in 22 games off the bench in his lone season in Ann Arbor, totaling 26 points in 145 minutes. ❏