The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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2012-13 BASKETBALL PREVIEW called Ryan into her office for a chat. Watching tapes of the Wolverines last year, Barnes Arico had been blown away by Ryan's talent and contribu- tions to the team. Standing just 5-7, Ryan managed to lead the team in rebounds (205 total, 6.4 per game), assists (132 total, 4.1 per game) and steals (98 total, 3.1 per game), all while posting a 2.5-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. "It's tough to ask a kid who led your team in rebounding and assists and hardly turned the basketball over to do more," Barnes Arico said. "But I said to her, 'Jenny, you're go- ing to have to do more.' She defers to a lot of people, and in the past, she got the ball to Courtney and Carmen, but now it's her time to shine. She has to take more shots, be more ac- tive on the offensive end." starter, Ryan has scored 15 or more points just twice in her career, both during her sophomore campaign, tal- lying 15 in a 60-53 win over Iowa and a career-high 16 in a 63-58 win over Indiana State. Entering her fourth year as a from beyond the arc as a freshman and sophomore. But those numbers dropped off during a difficult junior campaign, when Thompson hit just 38 of 115 shots (33.0 percent) from deep. "Kate Thompson is one of our best shooters," Barnes Arico said. "She just has to relax a little bit and be confident and play like she is capable of playing. She is a 6-3 shooter, and I know she is really going to extend defenses. "I said to her, 'Kate, you have to step up. You have to make some shots, make some plays.'" She took Barnes Arico's personal challenge to heart, putting in a great deal of extra work in the offseason. "I kind of went through a tough time last year, and it was hard to Barnes Arico "Building the championship culture and the championship program will be a process. But we will do everything we can to let these seniors go out on the highest note possible." She has averaged just 6.5 points per game over her entire career and saw her numbers take a dip last year. She scored one fewer point (218 total) last year than the year before, despite playing two more games. "It was one of those things that you kind of already knew you needed to do," Ryan said of the talk she had with Barnes Arico. "Courtney and Carmen were phenomenal basket- ball players, and now for me, having been a starter and coming back as a senior, I knew that roles change and I had to adapt. Scoring is one of the areas I'm going to have to help fill in, and I'm comfortable doing that. "I'm still going to be me — find our shooters, make the extra pass, do all the little blue-collar things. But when the time comes, I'm going to have to score." Barnes Arico identified another se- nior, Thompson, as a veteran who would have to make more of an im- pact on the box score. Over the years, Thompson has proved to be a deadly three-point shooter, hitting 42.7 per- cent (50 of 117 attempts) of her shots Senior guard Jenny Ryan, who stands 5-7, led the Wolverines in rebounds (6.4 per game), assists (4.1 per game) and steals (3.1 per game) last season. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN push through," Thompson admit- ted. "But I went back to the basics this summer, working on my form and trusting the coaches with my footwork and things like that." And although the Wolverines have yet to play a game, Thompson says she's back to feeling like her old self. She added she hasn't felt this good about her shot since the Ohio State series in 2010-11, when she hit all five of her three-point attempts in two games against the Buckeyes. "Right now, I feel so confident," she said with a smile. "All shooters go through slumps, and that will come and go. But as long as you keep putting in the work and getting shots up, it will come to you." Ryan has dished out the ball in the past (she has 322 career assists, good for sixth in program history), Barnes Arico is expecting Ryan to make an impact at point guard, as well. It's not new for the senior, who played point in high school and AAU. roots," she said. "I'm comfortable and confident there, and I like to push the ball, so if it's in my hands, I'm going to be running. For the last "It's kind of going back to my FINDING A POINT GUARD Unsurprisingly, given how well freshman, you can't handle the de- mands, physically, every single day," Barnes Arico said. "And condition- ing is a major, major adjustment for the freshmen. She is one of the first to finish in sprints. She spent the month of September doing extra condition- ing, coming in every morning to do extra running. She never gets tired, and she's first in everything she does. Plus, physically, she's a lot stronger than I thought she would be. "I think she can really be a special player for us. She has bought into the Michigan way and the culture we're trying to establish. Her team- mates love her, and everyone enjoys playing with her. Next to Jenny and Rachel, she has been, early on, one of the most impressive kids that we have had in practice." "A lot of times, coming in as a Ristovski admitted that she was a little nervous stepping right into the fire during team scrimmages this summer — but the veteran talent on the team has helped her make the transition, and she's starting to make a positive impact in prac- tices. Ryan called her a "confident, savvy" passer who can also create for herself. "It was definitely a big transition going from high school to college basketball, just because the speed NOVEMBER 2012 THE WOLVERINE 79 three years, I've just been running down the wing and filling my lanes. But now I'm in more control, it's fun." But with so many lofty responsibil- ities all over the court, Ryan won't be expected to solely play point, either. That's where true freshman Madi- son Ristovski comes in. Ristovski was Michigan's Miss Basketball and a Parade All-Ameri- can last season, averaging 20 points, eight assists and six rebounds a game as a senior at Sterling Heights (Mich.) University Liggett. Although Barnes Arico knew that Ristovski was coming into the pro- gram with a lot of potential, she has been very impressed with how that potential has manifested itself in practice.