The Wolverine

November 2017*

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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40 THE WOLVERINE NOVEMBER 2017 2017-18 BASKETBALL PREVIEW BY JOHN BORTON T he question hung heavily in the afterglow of Michigan's seemingly charmed surge to the Big Ten Tournament title and the Sweet 16. What about next year? What about point guard? Legitimate questions, both. After all, Derrick Walton served as both an emotional and on-court leader of the Wolverines' charge to the cusp of the Elite Eight. His Tournament MVP- effort led Michigan's post-air-scare conquest of the Big Ten gathering. His 26 points and 11 assists allowed Michigan to survive a 92-91, NCAA opening-game shootout with Okla- homa State. Walton supplied the grit and the game needed for the Wolver- ines to get as far as they did. Now what? John Beilein isn't heavily into col- lege basketball free agency. He has not armed himself with a host of graduate transfers or transfers in general, but this time around he went that route. Enter Jaaron Simmons, former University of Houston guard, most recently a two-year starter and 2017 first-team All-Mid-American Confer- ence point guard at Ohio University. After scoring 1,034 points in two sea- sons for the Bobcats, Simmons de- cided to take a step up to Michigan and the Big Ten. It looks like the perfect alley-oop, Michigan's need floating a pass above the rim to Simmons' opportunity. Beilein, understandably, isn't ready to anoint anyone. "Between him, X [sophomore point Zavier Simpson] and Eli [Brooks, a freshman guard], there is tremen- dous competition right now," Beilein noted. "This is the most competitive our practices have ever been since I've been here. There is enough grit. "We've had quickness, we've had talent. Sometimes we've been missing some of that grit to compete. We've got some competition going on right now that is really healthy." LEADING AND TEACHING Beilein loves some aspects of Sim- mons' game, knowing Michigan has a gap (and some lanes) to fill. "He sees the floor really well … I'm looking forward to see him in the open court," Beilein said. "That's where I think he's going to be at his best." Still, Simmons has a lot to learn about Michigan's offense. For that matter, so does assistant coach DeAn- dre Haynes, a former Detroit South- western High point guard who has coached at Kent State and Toledo. And one of the chief instructors? Simpson, whose first name lost an "X" and gained a "Z" in the offseason, to match his birth certificate. There ought to be a "U" in there somewhere, with Simpson unselfishly guiding those competing for minutes. Simpson averaged 8.7 minutes per game as a freshman and is obviously hoping for more this season. Mostly, he's about Michigan winning, Haynes stressed. "He's been really good — one of the best I've ever seen," Haynes said of Simpson as a teammate. "Usually you go places, you see guys saying, 'This is my spot.' It's not like that here. We're all here for one thing, and that's to win the championship. "You can see it. No one is showing any jealousy or saying, 'You play my position. I'm not going to help you.' Everyone is helping each other out, no matter what the position is. Whenever you step on the floor, we're all playing for one thing, so you want to make sure everyone knows where to be in certain plays, certain situations." Simmons, according to Haynes, has been an adept student. The grad- uate transfer averaged 15.9 points, 6.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game a year ago, with the assists clip rank- ing eighth in the nation. Learning what Beilein wants done in the offense is no small task, but Simmons and Haynes have thrown themselves into doing exactly that. Haynes knew Simmons' skill set coming in, having coached in the MAC. "Jaaron has been great," Haynes said. "I actually had the opportunity to coach against him when I was at Toledo and he was at OU, when he was thinking about transferring. I thought, if you get him, he'd be a great pickup for the University of Michigan. "He's really good. He has a high IQ for the game. He's learning Coach Beilein's offense to the point that — and I'm not saying he's like a Derrick Walton, shot-wise — the IQ level that he has, he's going to be able step in and make sure guys are in the right spot, make sure they're getting their shot off in the right places. "He brings a lot to the table with his IQ and ability to get into the lane and create. Coach Beilein has been doing a great job with helping him fix his jumper, and [strength and con- ditioning] Coach [Jon] Sanderson has been doing a great job with his body. I've seen a tremendous change in his body from last year to here." Most four-year college performers wouldn't be immediately amenable to changing their shooting style, but that's not been the case with Sim- mons, Haynes assured. The chance to work with Beilein and prep for life in the Big Ten (and beyond) has rendered Simmons a willing pupil. "He's been great," Haynes said. "That's one thing I can say about the culture here and the guys we have — they're always open to learning and getting better. New Point To Make Michigan Shores Up Key Spot For 2017-18 Zavier Simpson saw action in all 38 games as a freshman in 2016-17, and averaged 1.6 points and 1.0 assist in 8.7 minutes per contest. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN Head coach John Beilein on his team's point guards "We've had quickness, we've had talent. Sometimes we've been missing some of that grit to compete. We've got some competition going on right now that is really healthy."

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