The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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FEBRUARY 2017 THE WOLVERINE 17 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Derrick Walton Jr. has been Michi- gan's point guard since arriving on campus as a four-star recruit out of Detroit and has made his mark on the program. Walton is in the top 10 in school history for assists (ninth, 376), three-point field goals made (ninth, 178) and three-point field goals at- tempted (ninth, 452). After missing time the last few seasons due to injury, Walton has started all 18 games for the Wolverines as of Jan. 16. Here are few lesser-known facts about the senior leader: Nickname: "'D-Walt.'" Favorite restaurant in Ann Arbor: "I'm a Chipotle type of guy, I like Chipo- tle. [I get] a burrito bowl [with] chicken and rice." Best meal he can cook by himself: "I'm a breakfast type of guy, so I do pancakes and eggs." Sports he plays besides basketball: "I never really played another sport growing up. I'd probably play football … corner." Hobbies: "Just chill, play video games, surf the net. Nothing crazy. Normal guy stuff. I've been playing [NBA] 2K lately, FIFA. I play with Chel- sea [on FIFA]." Favorite movie: "I like 'Fences' that just came out, I thought that was a good movie." Dream vacation: "I'd go to Florida just to hang out in the sun, kick it and chill. Get away from this blizzard." Favorite basketball venue he's been to: "I don't really have a favorite, I like all of them equally." Favorite professional athlete: "Da- mian Lillard [of the Portland Trail Blaz- ers]. I think he's a cool dude, he's good at his profession and he's really cool off the court." Why he chose basketball: "It's a rich sport in my family, a lot of people in my family play basketball." What he hopes to do after basket- ball: "I haven't thought about that. I just want to ball as long as it will bounce for me, until I figure things out." His overall U-M experience: "I think it's cool, it's a good opportunity. I've learned a lot and I think going forward it's something I can use in my future profession and life." — Leland Mitchinson Walton ranks in the Big Ten's top 10 for free throw percentage (third, 89.8), three- pointers made per game (fifth, 2.4), minutes played (sixth, 32.7), assists (tied for ninth, 3.7 per game) and assist-to-turnover ratio (tied for 10th, 2.1) through Jan. 16. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN Getting To Know Senior Point Guard Derrick Walton Jr. The open to Jim Harbaugh's tenure as Michigan's head football coach has been impressive. Back-to-back 10-3 sea- sons were not expected by anybody when he was hired, and his .769 winning percentage through two years is the best start to a head coach's stay in Ann Arbor since Gary Moeller (.792) in 1990-91. Moeller went 9-0-3 in year three before stepping down after a combined 16-8 (.667) mark in years four and five. The third season is always a crucial one for a college head coach. Lloyd Carr 's ledger in his first two years couldn't match Harbaugh's start, opening 17-8, but a 12-0, national championship campaign followed in year three. Harbaugh's mentor, Bo Schembechler, had a better winning percentage in his first two years than his for- mer star quarterback and also followed his strong open with a big year three (11-1, Big Ten champions, No. 6 in final Associated Press poll). In addition to Carr, Field- ing Yost won a national title in year three (although he also started his 25-year ten- ure a perfect 22-0). Tw o s t r a i g h t U - M coaches have gone 7-6 in their third campaign on campus — after much different starts for Brady Hoke (19-7) and Rich Rodriguez (8-16) in their first two years — portending the tenures would not last much longer. Despite heavy personnel losses from this year's squad, Harbaugh is looking to break that streak in 2017. His squad opens as a consensus top-20 pick in the way-too- early 2017 projections that were released following this year 's national championship game and were listed as 12-1 favorites to win it all — tied for the sixth-best odds in the land — according to the Westgate Las Vegas Super- Book. — Ryan Tice Record First Two Overall Record Coach (First Year) Years (Winning Pct.) Year Three At U-M (Years) Jim Harbaugh (2015) 20-6 (.769) — — Brady Hoke (2011) 19-7 (.731) 7-6 31-20 (4) Rich Rodriguez (2008) 8-16 (.333) 7-6 15-22 (3) Lloyd Carr (1995) 17-8 (.680) 12-0* 122-40 (13) Gary Moeller (1990) 19-5 (.792) 9-0-3 44-13-3 (5) Bo Schembechler (1969) 17-4 (.810) 11-1 194-48-5 (21) Bump Elliott (1959) 9-9 (.500) 6-3 51-42-2 (10) Bennie Oosterbaan (1948) 15-2-1 (.861) 6-3-1 63-33-4 (11) Fritz Crisler (1938) 12-3-1 (.781) 7-1 71-16-3 (10) Harry Kipke (1929) 13-3-2 (.778) 8-1-1 46-26-4 (9) Fielding Yost (1901) 22-0 (1.00) 11-0-1* 165-29-10 (25) Gustave Ferbert (1897) 16-1-1 (.917) 8-2 24-3-1 (3) Note: Coaches who did not serve three consecutive years were not included * Won national title Comparing Jim Harbaugh's Strong Start To Previous U-M Coaches