The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/589596
2015-16 BASKETBALL PREVIEW NEW FACES ADD TO COMPETITION FOR PLAYING TIME Doyle and Donnal are the obvi- ous choices at the five, but there are others who could vie for minutes at center depending on which direc- tion Beilein and his staff decide to go with the roster. German freshman Moritz Wagner (6-10, 225) mentioned after his pledge earlier this year that he could play either the four (power forward) or five, and he and redshirt freshman D.J. Wilson (6-10, 240) both have the skillsets to create matchup problems on offense at either posi- tion. "It's a toss up right now, only due to the fact that when you look at the four, we've got guys like [6-8 sopho- more] Kam Chatman and [6-6 junior] Zak Irvin, who can play there when we go small ball," Alexander said. "But D.J. and Mo are two guys that have really intrigued the coaching staff with their skillsets." Wilson played in five games a year ago before a knee injury side- lined him for the season. He scored only two points and grabbed six rebounds, but he was developing quickly before hurting his knee in a Nov. 25 loss to Villanova. "I thought he would have been at least an energy player, meaning keeping balls alive on the glass, get- ting rebounds and running in tran- sition, pick and popping, and hit- ting the occasional three," Alexander said. Now he'll be called upon to pro- vide much more. He showed great