The Wolverine

January 2013

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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Comparisons To Elite Shooters Are Inevitable Freshman Nik Stauskas has already established himself in his first two handfuls of games as one of the best threepoint shooters in the Big Ten, and for that matter, in the nation. It's not surprising comparisons to past Michigan greats have followed. Glen Rice remains everyone's touchstone when it comes to Michigan three-point shooting. The star of the Wolverines' 1989 run to the national championship sits atop the all-time list of U-M snipers, in terms of percentage. His 135-of-281 effort gives him an all-time best mark of 48.0 percent among those whose college careers have ended. Then there's Stauskas, who 11 games into his Michigan career was connecting on 54.7 percent (29 of 4653 Obviously, 11 games does not a career make, especially for someone who hasn't even hit Big Ten play yet. It's still a start like few could have ever imagined, even spellbound viewers of Stauskas' famed YouTube shooting videos. Here are Michigan's all-time top-10 three-point shooters in terms of percentage, with the rookie included: "I definitely wasn't ready," he admitted. "It's different being away from home, or in a different country. It's a completely different feel. "After the first week at school, I called home and I was crying. I said I didn't want to be there anymore, that I wanted to go home. My parents gave me the whole talk: 'This is what you wanted.' I ended up staying there." He grew and matured plenty that school year, and now insists he has no regrets about venturing to another country for prep school, because it all worked out in the end. At the time, though, he felt like he'd gone from Toronto's suburbs to the U.S. sticks. In this case, he had. "It was in the middle of nowhere," Stauskas said. "It was in the middle of a forest. There were about 100 kids in the school, an all-boys school … it wasn't a good fit." He found a better one as a senior, moving to St. Mark's School in Southborough, Mass. He still wasn't enamored of all the rules involved in prep school life, but says he couldn't have asked for more on the basketball side. He averaged 20 points, six rebounds and five assists for a 28-2 St. Mark's squad coached by Dave Lubick, whose own son, Nate, had been courted by John Beilein's staff before committing to Georgetown. Lubick gave Beilein a heads-up on the super shooter, and the college pathway be36  the wolverine    January 2013 Player 1. Nik Stauskas* 2. Glen Rice 3. Sean Higgins 4. Louis Bullock 5. Dom Ingerson 6. Evan Smotrycz 7. Robbie Reid 8. Demetrius Calip 9. LaVell Blanchard 10. Zack Novak 3FG 29 135 104 339 49 85 160 97 189 213 * Through 11 games this season 3FGA 53 281 232 802 117 210 397 244 485 591 3FG% 54.7 48.0 44.8 42.3 41.9 40.5 40.3 39.8 39.0 36.0 Where Stauskas eventually shakes out on that list remains to be seen. Even if he stays near or at the top, Rice has a nice trump card — 184 points in the 1989 NCAA Tournament, still an all-time record, on the way to a national championship. Now there's a mark for any Wolverine to put in his sights. — John Borton In U-M's 11-0 start to the season, Stauskas was Michigan's third-leading scorer, with a 13.2-points-per-game average, and he had connected on 29 of 53 three-point attempts (54.7 percent). photo by per kjeldsen gan to take shape. "Mr. Lubick wanted to show Coach Beilein some new players to look at," Stauskas recalled. "He thought I would fit well in this system, and said, 'I've got this kid here. He can shoot it. You should take a look at him.'" The U-M staff saw Stauskas in an AAU tournament in Las Vegas, but he wasn't getting the basketball much in that setting. Beilein didn't extend a scholarship offer until after an open gym at St. Mark's School. There, a host of major players in the college coaching game — Mike Krzyzewski, John Calipari and Bill Self included — showed up to watch the loaded roster work out. "At first, I was kind of hesitant about Michigan, just because they had offered another kid at my position the day after they had offered me," Stauskas acknowledged. "It was kind of like, whoever commits first is the one we're taking. I kind of felt like, let me wait a bit and see if this is what I want. Later on that year, I decided this is what I wanted." Stauskas also found himself in the middle of a three-year process in which he went from 5-10 to 6-6, a growth spurt that added a whole different dimension to his college outlook. The YouTube Sensation Along the way, Stauskas felt shortchanged in the attention he was getting from schools. So he and his dad decided to do something about it. Thus emerged the process that later prompted Michigan assistant coach LaVall Jordan to dub Stauskas "The YouTube Sensation." That has since been shortened by his teammates, who often refer to him as "Tube." "My dad and I were always kind of mad," Stauskas admitted. "We always felt like I never got any recognition at all. There was a time where

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