The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/629217
victory over a top Big Ten contender with the relief of a man rescued from 10 feet under an avalanche. Given Beilein's November and December, one could hardly blame him. He'd counted on senior captains Le- Vert and Spike Albrecht to lead this year's charge back from a 16-16 disap- pointment last season. Albrecht's bad hips forced him into retirement at the ripe old age of 23. LeVert departed at the start of Big Ten play due to a "lower leg" injury — the same lame limb that didn't give the Wolverines a leg to stand on a year ago. That meant Beilein's juniors needed to step to the fore. So down went point guard Derrick Walton Jr., with a foot injury, ushering in another chilling deja Blue from 2014-15. Down stayed wing Zak Irvin, whose back doctors oper- ated on in the offseason and whose return did not coincide with his arrival on the floor. He was out there, but firing blanks (1-for-10 shooting) in a loss to UConn. He'd lost several inches on his verti- cal jump following the procedure and looked nothing like the force who put the Wolverines on his then-healthy back last spring, in an ill-fated attempt to reach the NCAA Tournament. Beilein remains as steady-as-she- goes as anyone can in major college basketball. But in the moments fol- lowing that win over Maryland, he cracked open the door to his doubts, however fleeting they were. "I confess, probably I did it, and everybody's done it: 'Oh, here we go again. Same thing as last year,'" Beilein offered. "We've got Spike sit- ting there, and we've got Caris sitting there." And there's still a season to play. It can be an excellent, fulfilling one for the Wolverines. How it turns out de- pends on a number of factors. INJURY LIMBO The hits just kept coming in the early portion of the season. Albrecht's sudden sit-down was a huge disap- pointment to the senior, but also to all of those around him. He knew Beilein's offense inside and out, could provide terrific leadership, ball-han- dling, three-point shooting, late-game With injuries forcing Spike Albrecht to retire and fellow senior captain Caris LeVert to the sidelines, junior point guard Derrick Walton Jr. has had to take on a bigger role since returning from three missed games in early December due to an injury of his own. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN