The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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2015-16 BASKETBALL PREVIEW Beilein reported in mid-October, but he's now up to 228 pounds. "The team he played for, a great team in Europe, did not believe in weight training while players were still growing," Beilein said. "And he may still be. He just recently turned 18, but now he's eating some good old American food and all of a sud- den he's gained a lot of weight. "His upside is huge. He's getting used to the college game and our system takes every freshman some time, but down the road he's going to be a guy we're going to be so happy with and the fans will be happy with. He's got a [fellow German and Dallas Mavericks star] Dirk Nowitzki pic- ture on his wall, and he would love to be that. Let's let him go a few years before we decide to compare him to that, but that's an idol of his." Like Wilson, Wagner is also ver- satile and able to drive and finish, as well as shoot the three. He didn't shoot the ball as well as he could in his first few weeks on campus, Al- exander noted, but he's consistently gotten better. His goal is to play in the NBA someday, and he's got the rare skill- set that could allow him to reach it if he continues to improve. "The thing that's impressive is his absorption capacity for information," Alexander said. "For a foreign kid still mastering the English language, from a basketball standpoint you don't have to give him instructions twice. It's a very uncanny character- istic for a young guy. That is what's going to accelerate his ability to con- tribute to our roster this year. "Mo is a very driven and passion- ate player who brings tons of energy, and I would pay to watch him and D.J. battle it out each day in practice if I had to. It has not been anything short of intense. We definitely have an iron-sharpening-iron type of envi- ronment going on in the preseason." The game is already slowing down for Wagner, Beilein added. "He picks things up very quickly and essentially just has a feel for the game that is going to be really fun to coach," he said. "He does see the game, and it's already pretty slow for him. "He's 6-10½ and still putting on weight. One minute he'll look very awkward, the next he'll give you a 'wow' moment where you say, 'he's 6-10½ and just did that?' It's going to be fun watching this develop." There's been one difference be- tween Wagner and Wilson in the early going, Alexander added. "It seems as if D.J. is a little more inclined to score the basketball," he said. "He does a healthy does of hunting, whereas Mo is a kid that can facilitate and create for others. They both possess those qualities — how- ever, you see Mo being a facilitator first and D.J. being a scorer first." SORTING IT OUT The Wolverines have more depth compared to last year 's team, but it's still not an experienced group, Beilein insisted. Yes, he said, there