The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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DECEMBER 2016 THE WOLVERINE 41 BY JOHN BORTON M oritz Wagner battled tough moments last year, like any true freshman. Even for someone 6-11, a burning question can't be easily swatted away. Why did I come here, just to sit? That one gnawed at Wagner through much of his rookie season. The year be- fore, he'd played — make that watched, mostly — for a professional German travel team. Then he made the 4,243- mile move from Berlin to Ann Arbor. Now, he looked on again, trying to grab ahold of the differences between European basketball and that in the United States, without grabbing ahold of opponents. He tried to set screens in a stationary position, instead of float- ing. He attempted to rebound against players bigger, stronger and more ex- perienced. Mostly, he watched others do so, av- eraging 8.6 minutes, 2.9 points and 1.6 rebounds per game in a backup center role. Wagner's results grew, along with his game, toward the end of last sea- son. He pulled down a career-best eight rebounds in Michigan's NCAA First Four win over Tulsa. He sank all nine of the shots he took between the Big Ten Tournament and Michigan's two-game NCAA Tournament stay. Now, he's locked in an all-out battle to start at the five spot for the Wolver- ines, without one ounce of remorse. "At the end of the year, I realized that's what I needed, to gain that trust, that experience," Wagner said. "I'm very grateful for that. "In some moments, it's like, okay, I just want to go home. I miss my par- ents and all that type of stuff. That just makes you work harder and appre- ciate the times more where it works out on the court. I've never regretted anything at all." The college freshman that does not experience homesickness is as rare as calls to rebuild the Berlin Wall. But add in the distance — which tends to eliminate the quick trip home — along with language and culture divides, and there's no comparison to what this Michigan sophomore faced. His roommate, redshirt freshman forward Brent Hibbitts, still laughs at the memory of Wagner declaring, on his first night here: "I'm going to brush my tooth." Wagner laughs himself these days and adds: "I corrected myself, to be fair. There are stories, and there will be more." That first full night in a foreign na- tion wasn't any laughing matter, though, for a 17-year-old. "I remember the first night," he said. "I was like, I've got to get out of here, as soon as possible. The first time you're alone … the dorm room culture was so different for me. Your mom doesn't make you breakfast anymore — stuff like that. "You're in an environment you're not used to, but you adjust to those things pretty quickly. I never took any- thing for granted. I always said to my- self, okay, I'm very grateful to be here, and even though I might not feel like that right now, I will soon if I just em- brace it. That happened." WAGNER COMPOSING HIMSELF The second-year Wolverine smiles when he considers the transforma- tion over the past year. He's pushing 240 pounds now, his strength of body accompanying the growing "steel in his spine" that football coach Jim Har- baugh likes to reference. Wagner played 25 minutes in Michi- gan's exhibition opener against Arm- strong State, the most besides seniors Zak Irvin and Derrick Walton Jr. He connected on 7 of 9 shots, tying Irvin for top scoring honors with 15. He also snagged a pair of rebounds and stayed out of foul trouble — a start to following head coach John Beilein's marching orders. "There are two things he's got to do — stay out of foul trouble and rebound for us," Beilein insisted. "Neither one of those have been strengths. He's got to get that done for us." Wagner stands all too aware of Beilein's expectations, having heard them repeatedly. "That's definitely my biggest room for improvement right now and the area where the team needs me to im- prove the most," Wagner said. "Re- bounding is just a thing I've got to keep practicing, keep getting reps at. I'm not used to it yet, to be as aggressive on the boards as I'm supposed to be." Beilein makes clear that some are nat- ural, instinctive rebounders. That's not the case with Wagner, he pointed out. "You have to be in position to get a rebound," Beilein explained. "You have to anticipate or at least get some kind of body leverage on your man. That's one thing. "But then timing and just a knack for it is something that is really hard to teach. [Freshman] Austin Davis will just go get it. He's got long arms. [Red- shirt junior] Mark Donnal can get it. He's not as long as Austin or as tall as Austin. "He just does it. There's no teaching. He just goes and gets the ball. Moe and [redshirt sophomore] D.J. [Wilson], you've got to teach them — where's the ball going to come off, and how do I get to it? That's something, over time, that will work." Avoiding fouls involves an even more complex adjustment. Part of Wagner's issues in racking up unnec- essary fouls are simply a matter of try- ing too hard at times or not adjusting to the speed of the game at this level, he noted. "The foul trouble is more of a mental thing, which comes with more matu- rity, playing time, experience," he said. "I hope I adjust to that one, because I know the team needs me on the court and not being frustrated on the bench. "Sometimes it's just stupid tech- nique stuff. It's dumb. I just fall asleep. I catch myself falling asleep for one millisecond, and it's happened already. "That's experience — where to be at the right time and the right place. I play at the five position, and I guard big guys, which is definitely some- thing I've got to adjust to. I wasn't used to that." He also wasn't used to the difference between playing in Europe and bat- tling in the U.S. The stereotype insists European basketball involves more fi- nesse and not as much physicality and toughness. Wagner puts a slightly different twist on it. In the U.S., he's held to a higher hands-off standard, he assured. "In Europe, it's more physical — re- Wagner appeared in 30 games off the bench last season, but is fighting for the starting center role this year. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL Wagner "We're a very determined group, very confident. It sounds weird, because I'm a part of that group, but I don't think we know yet how good we can be. I'm very excited to find that out."