The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MARCH 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 67 ing curve, and I'm still working through it. I know I have the capability, and it's just a minor tweak. "It's seeking contact, not shying away from it. Finishing with power — that's what we emphasize. I'm in a good spot. I've just got to keep working." The personal adjustment proved stark, given that he found himself ac- customed to all the familiarity at Yale, from teammates to coaches. He could have remained in that comfort zone, but chose to undergo a wholesale change in environment, teammates and mentors. So far, so good. "It's an entirely new team," Wolf noted. "At Yale, you have so much car- ryover year to year. When your main ro- tation guys have never played together — except for Will [Tschetter] and Ni- mari [Burnett] — you've just got to learn. There are going to be growing pains." The newcomer singled out Tschet- ter, the junior forward, and the coach- ing staff May assembled as being par- ticularly helpful in his transition to life in Ann Arbor. Meanwhile, Wolf quickly grew to appreciate many whom he's met in his relatively short time here. "The people here stand out," Wolf said. "Michigan has an awesome fan base. They really care about the sports. They really care about basketball. It's cool. It's fun, being an athlete at argu- ably the greatest athletic school in the country. "I went to a few football games. They didn't have their best year, but they fin- ished it out strong. They won the na- tional championship the year before, and there's a lot of attention on Michigan athletics right now." As for the basketball side of things, Wolf will take a two-point victory over Purdue anytime this season, but he would like to see his team putting away those it can before nail-biting time. "We don't like these close games," he said. "No one likes playing in them. It might look entertaining, when someone hits a big shot, but we'd rather be in a 15-point win. We've got to, and I'm in- cluded, do a much better job down the stretch of taking care of the ball, getting defensive rebounds and playing team basketball. "It's just been a common theme. When we get a lead, guys go their own ways, myself included. We've got to stay with the team, and great things happen." VERSATILITY TO SPARE Boesch anticipated great things when he saw Wolf early on, but his develop- ment over the course of the year has been better than advertised, according to the voice of Michigan basketball. "In the full realm of college basketball, I can't say who he's like," Boesch said. "Here's a 7-foot guy who can dribble like a guard. There's not many of them, who have spent a lot of time in college. He has the style, the size and the skill set of what NBA teams are looking for. And there is still some refinement to do — case in point, the shooting. But that's improved as of late. "A lot of potential comparisons are in the NBA. And certainly not many of them have taken the track of spending their first two years in the Ivy League. "Everybody knew Danny Wolf was go- ing to be a valuable piece of the puzzle on this year's team, but how much he's been incorporated, how deeply he's been a part of the scouting report, I really don't know if the staff would have anticipated this. They might have seen it as a ceiling projection." Jim Harbaugh once referred to a pair of elite defensive tackles for his team as "a gift from the football gods." Boesch won- ders if May, in hindsight, might consider Wolf in that same way. "It might be a question to ask Dusty at the end of the year," Boesch mused. "I kind of wonder if Danny Wolf is to Michigan basketball what Mason Gra- ham and Kenneth Grant were to Jim Har- baugh as true freshmen. I haven't asked that. I will one day. It's not a February, middle-of-Big-Ten-play, fighting-for- a-championship question. But I want to ask Dusty that in the spring." As for Wolf's future, Boesch noted it's as unlimited as his potential contribu- tions to what's turning into a special Michigan basketball season. "When you go from the Ivy League to the Big Ten, that is going to be a signifi- cant step," Boesch said. "Any time you have a 7-footer who can play the way he has, teams will find that skill set. That still needs to be determined. "At this time two years ago, no one was confident that Kobe Bufkin would leave. A month later, I was pretty confident that Kobe Bufkin would leave. He was playing well, and he kept playing NBA- style basketball, and he was drafted 15th overall. "Danny spent two years at Yale. He got Yale an NCAA Tournament win. That's amazing. Danny did all you could realis- tically hope for — and then maybe a little bit more — at a school like Yale. "It all worked out well. Danny Wolf is the kind of target that, forget the athlet- ics side, the talent side, he's the kind of target that Dusty May and this crew will go through pretty regularly." For Wolf, the future features a very narrow focus. Keep winning, and every- thing else will sort itself out. ❑ A Double-Double Average Could Still Happen Junior forward/center Danny Wolf averaged a double-double (12.8 points, 10.0 rebounds) through Michigan's first 24 games. If he wound up staying in double figures in both categories, it would mark a rare feat. Here are the last three times a Wolverine did so over the course of a season. • Robert Traylor (1997-98) — The late Robert "Tractor" Traylor looked unstoppable for the Wolver- ines in his junior campaign. He averaged 16.2 points and 10.1 rebounds in 1997-98, dominating inside for Michigan. • Chris Webber (1992-93) — Chris Webber led the charge to a second straight NCAA championship game for Michigan, averaging 19.2 points and 10.1 rebounds per contest in his final season. • Chris Webber (1991-92) — Webber, the future NBA All-Star, helped guide Michigan to the national title game by averaging 15.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per game as a true freshman. — John Borton ❱ Head coach Dusty May "Danny's played really, really well. His ability to track the ball and his instincts for rebounding are special."