The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/970722
MAY 2018 THE WOLVERINE 33 MICHIGAN BASKETBALL being named NABC and USBWA All- District. Wagner added the Loy Vaught Re- bounding Award with his 7.1 boards per game and was also given the Mor- gan/Bodnar Brothers Award for Aca- demic Achievement. Fifth-year senior Duncan Robinson, the Big Ten's Sixth Man of the Year, earned the same honor from U-M for a second straight year. He added hon- ors for the Travis Conlan Sportsman- ship Award as well as the Thad Garner Leadership Award and also earned the Award for Outstanding Free Throw Shooting for a second consecutive year after knocking down 89.1 percent. Sophomore point guard Zavier Simpson captured four honors, in- cluding the Rudy Tomjanovich Most Improved Player Award, the Wayman Britt Outstanding Defensive Player Award and the Steve Grote Hustle Award, the latter for the second straight season. He notched 150 assists (3.7 per game) to earn the Gary Grant Award for most assists. — Chris Balas IBI WATSON ANNOUNCES PLAN TO TRANSFER Michigan walk-on senior Brent Hib- bitts is moving on as a graduate trans- fer, he announced after U-M's run to the NCAA championship game, but he wouldn't be the only one. A day af- ter U-M's annual postseason banquet, sophomore shooting guard Ibi Wat- son announced via Twitter that he also would be transferring. "During my time at the University of Michigan, I have learned and ex- perienced so much," he wrote April 12. "I enjoyed the relationships and memories that I made. Thank you to the coaching staff and my teammates for making my experience so great! "After much thought, I have decided to explore other options." Watson played 26 games this year and averaged 2.2 points per game. He made 10 of 31 triples this season. Head coach John Beilein noted April 11 he'd have talks with everyone else on the team. Without going into specif- ics, Beilein said there could be others thinking about moving on … Watson proved to be one. "There could be," Beilein said of po- tential transfers. "We're never going to say never. We're meeting with all our guys, gaining information for them, trying to sort of put together what we think their plans are. "It's just been a whirlwind since we came back [from San Antonio April 3]. Thursday [April 5] we hit the road, had a meeting and then just met with them again. It could happen. It might not. We hope it never happens, but I'm not naïve enough to think it couldn't happen." The Wolverines are currently at 13 scholarship players for the 2018-19 sea- son, the NCAA allotment. — Chris Balas WAY-TOO-EARLY RANKINGS FOR NEXT SEASON HAVE MICHIGAN NEAR THE TOP Just a day after Michigan fell to Vil- lanova in the national championship game, a number of way-too-early top 25 rankings were released by various media outlets. All of them have the Wolverines highly ranked heading into next season after their special run this spring. Many of the rankings were contin- gent on whether or not junior forward Moritz Wagner (who has since con- firmed he will turn pro) and redshirt sophomore wing Charles Matthews return to Michigan next year or leave early for the NBA, but here's what they had to say in early April: Sports Illustrated — No. 4 Molly Geary: "The big question here is what happens with Moritz Wagner. The junior was only ranked 61st on SI.com's latest Big Board, but his strong NCAA Tournament could change his outlook. If Wagner returns, the Wolverines could bring back four starters, losing only Mu- hammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (as well as Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year Duncan Robinson). While those losses are noth- ing to sneeze at, a team once again led by Wagner and Charles Matthews that also brings back young promising play- ers like Jordan Poole and Zavier Simp- son and welcomes a top-20 recruiting class should once again be right in the mix." Bleacher Report — No. 8 Kerry Miller listed Michigan as the Big Ten's top team, with Penn State No. 16, Michigan State No. 19 and Maryland No. 22. Sporting News — No. 9 Ryan Fagan: "Yes, Moe Wagner is al- most certainly gone, and Charles Mat- thews has played like a guy NBA teams would love to draft. If they return, Michi- gan hits top-five status. S e n i o r g u a r d M u h a m m a d - A l i A b d u r- Rahkman achieved career bests with aver- ages of 12.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game on his way to co-MVP honors this season. PHOTO BY SAMUEL MOUSIGIAN Michigan's Big Ten And National Honors All-Big Ten: Moritz Wagner (second team) and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (honorable mention) Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year: Duncan Robinson Big Ten Sportsmanship Honoree: Robinson Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player: Wagner All-Big Ten Tournament: Wagner and Abdur-Rahkman Academic All-Big Ten: Robinson, Wagner, Austin Davis, Charles Matthews and Jaaron Simmons NCAA All-Final Four: Wagner NCAA West Regional Most Outstanding Player: Matthews NCAA All-West Regional: Abdur-Rahkman, Matthews and Wagner USBWA All-District: Wagner (District V) NABC All-District: Wagner (second team) Michigan Academic Achievement: Davis, Matthews, Robinson, Simmons, Wag- ner, C.J. Baird, Austin Hatch, Rico Ozuna-Harrison, Jon Teske and Luke Wilson