The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1543845
APRIL 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 17 ❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Those three guys, their teammates love playing with them. To me, from a basketball standpoint, your work ethic and do guys love playing with you are like ... to me, that's kind of it. If I was a basketball player now and they said people don't like playing with him, that would crush me to my soul. You could say a lot of other things, and you shrug it off. But if you said he doesn't work hard and guys don't like playing with him, that would be a tough pill to swallow. These guys, everyone loves playing basketball with these three guys." — Head coach DUSTY MAY on graduating players Will Tschetter, RODDY GAYLE JR. and Nimari Burnett If a bunch of 18-22 year olds who were probably overserved begin- ning at 8 a.m. want to yell and scream obscenities at me, let them go ahead. It's all part of the game. I enjoy watching Euro- pean basketball and the stuff that goes on with that, so I think it's part of it. There's nothing any of those people can say that's going to get a rise out of me. So, yes, in a way, I did enjoy it, but just for the fact that those kids are never going to be able to get under my skin." — Head coach Dusty May on "The Herd" with Colin Cowherd, discussing his viral moment before beating MSU in East Lansing We have been called overrated be- fore. We have been called the best before. We kind of all know now just to ignore whatever people say about us. We know the truth about our team." — Junior guard Elliot Cadeau to Sporting News ADAY MARA is turning into one of the best two-way centers in the country. He may even enter the All-America conversation, as he's now rated 10th in the KenPom Player of the Year race. For the season, Michigan's offensive numbers have been slightly worse with Mara on the floor, but that's changing. Over the last four games, Mara is 20-of-23 from the field and his biggest weakness (free-throw shooting) has turned into a strength, as he's 9-of-10 over that stretch. For the last five games, Michigan is plus-59 in Mara's 108 minutes and just plus-1 in the 93 minutes he has spent on the bench, per CBB Analytics, and the offense is scoring 1.38 points per possession with Mara on the floor." — The Athletic's CJ Moore 50 Years ago was the last time a Big Ten team went undefeated on the road in conference play — the legendary 1976 Indiana Hoosiers — until Michigan accomplished the feat with a 10-0 mark this season. The Wolverines went 11-0 on the road in total, also beating TCU in Fort Worth in November. 40.2% Was sophomore guard L.J. Cason's team- leading figure from three-point range before going down with a season-ending torn ACL Feb. 27 at Illinois. Cason had made 33 of his 82 attempts from deep, including 13 of his last 26 over a six-game span. 6th Is where Michigan ranked a m o n g m o st- watc h e d college basketball teams through Feb. 25, according to Nielsen, behind Duke, Michigan State, North Carolina, Ken- tucky and Arkansas. Kansas, Illinois, Purdue and Florida rounded out the rest of the top 10. The Wolverines' Feb. 21 clash with Duke in Washington, D.C., drew an average of 4.3 million viewers, becoming the third-most watched game of the season. 5 College football players named "way- too-early All-Americans" by ESPN will play at new schools this fall, including Michigan senior defensive end John Henry Daley, a Utah transfer. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL