The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/666058
a lot better once he has a summer to work at that." There are obviously other issues, such as four centers in 2016-17, given two incoming and two on hand. That, Beilein noted, will work itself out. "The older your big men can be, the better," he said. "There are all kinds of possibilities for redshirt. Ob- viously, we don't want guys stand- ing around. We're probably going to try to have a three-man rotation. It's whoever can get there and be the best there." Positives involve the strong move forward by Abdur-Rahkman, who became Michigan's best at getting to the rim; the late-season play by fresh- man five Moritz Wagner, who will challenge for the No. 1 spot there next season; and the addition of Robin- son's three-point shooting (94 of 211, 44.5 percent). Sophomore Ricky Doyle's deci- sion to transfer somewhat cleared up an apparent logjam at the five spot. Other question marks include the sparse overall contributions from Chatman and redshirt freshman D.J. Wilson. No matter what, there's no need for tears, according to the man running the show. "The truth is, in the last 20 years, Michigan has won 23 games only six times, and this was one of them and everybody's back," he said. "We've only been to the [NCAA] Tournament seven times in 20 years, and this was one of them. "And we're down with everybody coming back. We shouldn't be." ❏ Caris LeVert And Spike Albrecht Remembered Fondly Senior guards Caris LeVert and Spike Albrecht began their collegiate March Madness in the national championship game, Albrecht even became a nation- wide wonder via his 17-point first-half performance against Louisville. Three years later, they wrapped up the madness sitting on the Michigan bench, desperately rooting on their teammates against Notre Dame in hopes of more NCAA Tournament contests — even from the sidelines. LeVert underwent foot surgery on March 22, after two seasons of missing most of the Big Ten campaigns. Albrecht is still striving to rehab from double hip surgeries in the summer of 2015, and he has been granted his release from Michigan to seek another school for a final year of eligibility. Not the way they'd have dreamed it up or that head coach John Beilein would have, either. "I think about it all the time," Beilein said. "I think about it more for them be- cause they are really special kids that really deserve this. They've worked hard, they're overachievers. They didn't come up through the ranks, where this was the expectation for them to become star players. "They became stars, and it was all taken away from them by injury. They'll