The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/315684
2014 BASKETBALL RECRUITING ISSUE the last two decades." The Wolverine: You're preaching pa- tience, with roughly half the roster carrying freshman eligibility. What's the process for forming a vastly new team? Beilein: "Our backcourt is back, and that's always good. That's the most difficult position to replace. "I know we are very fortunate to be having a foreign trip this year. This will be really good for us. We've got to guard against them being too busy all summer, and that sneaking up to bite us in February. "I just love the idea that we can work with them this summer. It will allow us to really find out so much more about the team." The Wolverine: What does that trip have the potential to do for the 2014- 15 team? Beilein: "It's a great educational ex- perience for all of our players. That will certainly be a component to it. "The bonding part, the chemistry part, is huge. You put our guys out in cities in Italy, and they really have to stick together. "Lastly, it's the 10 practices we get and the games. It will be good for us to measure where we are and what we have to do going forward." The Wolverine: Is redshirt freshman Mark Donnal ready to step in and play minutes at the five? Beilein: "He has to be ready. He's much more ready than he was this past year, but in retrospect he could have helped us in some games this year. I'm anxious to see him out there. I'm glad we redshirted him, because he just turned 19. "People will really like his skill set, his versatility. We believe he's go- ing to rebound and block shots at a pretty good level for us." The Wolverine: What can you say about your front line in general, and the issues with it being so inexperi- enced? Beilein: "Zak Irvin will probably play a forward position, but I expect he will move over to the other side and replace where Nik [Stauskas] was. It was a remarkable year for a guy coming off the bench for the first time. "We're going to need him to shoot, score and become a lock-down de- fender." The Wolverine: Who plays the four? Beilein: "We believe Kam Chatman and D.J. Wilson are both versatile enough to play either forward posi- tion." The Wolverine: Can you talk about Chatman's skill set? Beilein: "We don't know what posi- tion he is, and I don't think he knows what position he is. All I know is, when the ball is in his hands he makes great decisions. "We think of all the ways he can help us, because of his ability to see the floor with his size, to see over people, and with his skill set. "Like every freshman, he'll need to get better on defense and gain strength. He'll need to learn commu- nication. Those are all huge things." The Wolverine: What does Ricky Doyle do well? Beilein: "When Ricky came to visit