The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MARCH 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 59 with friends growing up. Being with my family in Zaragoza, playing basketball in my country. But coming here has been a good, good thing for me to improve as a person, as a player, to learn more about dif- ferent cultures, different ways to see life." Given his parents' athletic involve- ment, Mara naturally gravitated to sport, difficult as it was in his early years. "I started playing sports very young," he said. "I was always watching volleyball, because my mom played volleyball. And going to the park to play basketball and different sports. After a time, that really helped me to love sports, love basketball. I like to play beach volleyball with my mom in the summers, because she is a coach. "That's really been helpful, because by playing different sports, you play with different types of balls, different rules. The fact that I played other sports is really, really important." Mara played in a host of Spanish youth leagues, eventually representing Spain in the FIBA Under-17 World Cup in Spain in 2022 and FIBA U18 EuroBasket in Serbia the following year. Seeking his basket- ball fortunes in the United States seemed a natural next step, but he wasn't fully ready for what was to come. "I knew about basketball here in the U.S," he said. "But when I got here, I got a good punch. I saw the reality of U.S. bas- ketball. It's much, much more physical. Their bodies here are way different than in Europe. It's another style of basketball, another rhythm. It's totally different bas- ketball. I knew about basketball here, but until I came to the U.S., I didn't have the whole reality." Mara also experienced a different reality at UCLA. Living in Los Angeles wasn't an issue, with no lack of Span- iards nearby. Once he pushed through some early academic hurdles, eligibil- ity hiccups worked themselves out. But he didn't have the immediate impact he might have hoped. The Spanish import started eight games as a true freshman, then came off the bench for all 33 in which he played last year at UCLA. He averaged 6.4 points per game as a sophomore, but found himself looking for more — espe- cially from what he'd seen out of a par- ticular UCLA opponent. "I played against Michigan last year," Mara said. "They had a really good year, Through Michigan's first 23 games, Mara was averaging 11.3 points and 6.9 rebounds with a team-high 63 blocked shots. He scored a career-high 24 points at Ohio State Feb. 8. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL