The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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2016 BASKETBALL RECRUITING ISSUE pect) had long hoped for a Michigan offer, but he needed to transform his body to earn high-major offers, even after averaging 26 points, seven re- bounds and five blocks per game as a junior. In addition, Michigan was already thought to have landed its center in the 2016 class when Teske pledged. Beilein didn't stop w a t c h i n g D a v i s , though, and when Da- vis made it clear he was one of those "busting down the doors to get to Michigan" — a trait Beilein has long said he is looking for in fu- ture Wolverines — the Michigan coach told him to prove how much. He issued a challenge to Davis to get in the best shape of his life and prove he could run the floor, and then they'd talk. Davis responded by shedding nearly 50 pounds from his sophomore year to last summer, aver- aged 12.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game over the first weekend of the adidas Uprising circuit, shot 65 per- cent from the floor, blocked six shots and — most importantly — proved he could get up and down the floor. Davis held five mid-major offers — Buffalo, Central Michigan, George Washington, Kent State and Toledo — before the event, but he was drawing significant interest from Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Purdue and Michigan State afterward. Beilein didn't wait for him to blow up further before offering. Davis ac- cepted only days later. "Jon and Austin would comple- ment each other very well," Beilein said. "Austin catches everything; Jon does okay with it, too. But Austin has really made strides. He's a really high-IQ player, an elite passer in the post area — him and Jon both. "That's a great thing to have — to be able to drop the ball off to guys in the mid-post, high- post, half dive and get them the ball after the ball screen and see what they can do with it. He can do that." He proved it during the AAU season and again during his senior year, finishing second in Michigan's Mr. Basketball voting and earning Class B Player of the Year honors for a second straight season while making the Associated Press all-state team. He averaged 25.3 points, 14.3 rebounds and 4.9 blocks per game while shooting 79 percent from the field as a senior, leading On- sted to a 23-1 record and its second straight district championship before losing to River Rouge in a regional final. The level of competition he faced during his high school season wasn't nearly what it was on the AAU cir- cuit, but he commonly faced double- and triple-teams and still dominated. "He has great hands, and obviously he had a lot of success," Beilein said. "Playing against bigger bodies every day will be a challenge for him at the beginning, but I don't expect him to DIGITAL BONUS: CLICK THE ICON TO PLAY OR STOP THE PODCAST