The Wolverine

February 2018

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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62 THE WOLVERINE FEBRUARY 2018 BY CHRIS BALAS M ichigan class of 2018 signee David DeJulius of Detroit East English Village entered the season on the "others to watch" portion of most analysts' Mr. Basketball lists. He might now be the favorite. D e J u l i u s ( 5 - 11 , R i v a l s . c o m ' s No. 119 player nationally, up from No. 126, and a four-star prospect) put on a show against Michigan State- bound point guard Foster Loyer (Ri- vals.com's No. 64 overall prospect) and Clarkston (Mich.) High Dec. 29, scoring 19 of his 42 points in the fourth quarter to lead East English Village to an 80-71 win. East English Village faced a 49-31 deficit at the break after DeJulius' 15-point first half, but rode their se- nior to a huge win over the defend- ing Class A state champs. "I started off missing a few free throws, but I just had to find my touch, stay confident and believe in my teammates," he said after the win. "My competitiveness to go hard and my will to win are the stron- gest parts of my game. I always try to have that bulldog mentality out there. "My coaches are always on me about staying hungry and doing what I need to do to get to the next level. "I would describe my game as just being a bull — I want to get after it tough on both ends of the floor." He did … and he also remained humble in victory, perhaps a page out of his future head coach John Beilein's playbook. "Loyer is a heck of a player, and they're a heck of a team," DeJulius said. "… Winning that [Mr. Basket- ball] award definitely motivates me. I'd be lying if I said it didn't. Most importantly, though, I want to win the city and state championship, and then Mr. Basketball. "And what I'm most looking for- ward to about getting to Michigan is playing for Coach Beilein. He's such a great person and a great coach." DeJulius added a message for Michigan fans. "This win is for ya'll!" he ex- claimed. "Go Blue!" In his next several outings, DeJu- lius notched a triple-double with 20 points (on 6-of-14 shooting), 12 as- sists and 10 rebounds in a 62-53 win over Detroit Pershing Jan. 9. He then scored 41 and 49 points in wins over Detroit Edison and powerful Chi- cago Orr, respectively, on back-to- back days. DeJulius made nine triples in a 76-63 victory over Detroit Edison Jan. 12. The next day, just after Michi- gan won by 10 at Michigan State, he made nine more in the Floyd May- weather Classic against defending Illinois state champion Chicago Orr. DeJulius scored 29 while draining 7 of 10 three-pointers in the first half alone against the Chicago power- house to give East English Village a 49-28 lead. He finished 13 of 19 from the field, 9 of 11 on triples and 14 of 15 at the free throw line while adding seven assists versus just three turn- overs in a 92-82 victory. "Us being Detroit and they're from Chicago … the battle of the inner cities," DeJulius said. "It was really physical, real rough, and they were really dirty … we had to keep our heads on straight." Through 10 games, DeJulius was averaging 28.5 points for East Eng- lish (8-2), posting 37.6 an outing in the last five games at that point, and his shooting had been off the charts. It wasn't just that he'd been making them at such a high clip, but that many of them were well behind the three-point arc. It's become second nature for him over the past year. His shooting is one of the areas in which he's im- proved the most, and he said he has Beilein to thank. "The first time he saw me he said, 'You're a heck of a player,' and then he gave me tips on my jump shot to make it better," DeJulius said. "I con- tinued to work on it and work on it." He was putting up 500 shots a day at times, he noted. Last year, play-   BASKETBALL RECRUITING Signee David DeJulius Is Making His Case For Michigan's Mr. Basketball Award Following a five-game stretch in early January during which he averaged 37.6 points per outing, DeJulius increased his scoring average to 28.5 points per game for Detroit East English Village. PHOTO BY JORDAN WELLS

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