The Wolverine

May 2018

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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MAY 2018 THE WOLVERINE 15   INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Michigan senior tennis player Carter Lin has had quite the career so far in Ann Arbor. As a sophomore during the 2015-16 campaign, he led the team with 23 singles wins (23-9 re- cord) while posting a 5-1 mark in Big Ten play. Lin followed that up by going 19-3 in dual match play (21-10 overall) as a junior in 2016-17 and ended the sea- son with a team-leading eight-match winning streak. Here are a few other interesting facts you may not have known about him: Nickname: "My teammates call me C-Dot — I don't really know why, but it stuck." Favorite restaurant in Ann Arbor: "Aventura." Best meal he can cook by himself: "I can make a really good brick-grilled chicken with roasted vegetables and potatoes in the oven." Sports he plays besides tennis: "Nothing anymore — I used to play soccer, though." Hobbies: "I'm really into music, so I play guitar, piano and sing quite a bit." Favo r i t e T V s h ow : "'G a m e o f Thrones.'" Favorite movie: "'Catch Me If You Can.'" Dream vacation: "A two-week trip around the world while stopping at every big city along the way." Favorite venue he's been to: "It has to be The Big House." Favorite professional athlete: "Tom Brady is up there." Role model: "My dad." Why he chose Michigan: "The bal- ance of athletics and academics — you get the best in the country in both areas, and there wasn't any way I could say no to that." What he hopes to do after tennis: "I'm looking to get into law school and go into entertainment law." His overall experience at Michigan: "It's been eye-opening and challeng- ing, but rewarding." — Austin Fox Getting To Know Men's Tennis Senior Carter Lin Lin was 18-7 overall (13-3 in duals) as a singles player and 6-3 in doubles this year through April 16. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY Will Shea Play? By Brandon Brown Michigan's 2018 season hinges upon the eligibility of Ole Miss transfer quarterback Shea Patterson. The versatile and athletic gunslinger has received solid reviews from the coaching staff throughout the spring, and has brought an expected yet necessary element to an offense that was — at times — stagnant at best last year. The young but insanely talented wide receivers are expected to be better this fall, so having a quarter- back who can deliver the ball with ac- curacy and zip and who can also ex- tend plays with his athleticism would be huge — Patterson is that guy. Patterson played in three games as a true freshman and then in seven more as a sophomore in Oxford, and threw for 3,139 yards and 23 touch- downs with 12 interceptions over those 10 games. That's more produc- tion at the quarterback position in 10 games than during any complete sea- son at Michigan over the past three years. Patterson is dynamic and Michigan needs him to be eli- gible in 2018. No ruling from the NCAA had been made as of April 16, but the wait should not last much longer. Will The Offensive Line Be Better? By Chris Balas As important as the quarterback position is, it's not every- thing. Michigan would have been better the last two years had the offensive line been up to par — it wasn't, and the quarter- backs weren't able to reach their ceilings because of it. Two went down with injuries last year as a result of poor pass protection. Had the men up front been better and allowed the quarterbacks to find their comfort zones rather than become gun- shy, each of those teams could have been superior. One (2016) might have even been in the College Football Play- off and in the hunt for a national title. Fifth-year senior Juwann Bushell- Beatty has improved, and he's get- ting a long look at left tackle. The interior line appears to be in good shape with junior Ben Bredeson, sophomore Cesar Ruiz and junior Michael Onwenu, and redshirt ju- nior Jon Runyan Jr. has made great strides at right tackle. It comes down to that left tackle spot, and it still wouldn't shock if we saw Bredeson there in the fall. POINT ❙ COUNTERPOINT WHAT'S THE BIGGEST QUESTION FOR MICHIGAN FOOTBALL AFTER SPRING BALL? Ole Miss transfer quarterback Shea Patterson could provide the Michigan offense a huge boost. PHOTO COURTESY MISSISSIPPI

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