8A -- Thursday, November 21, 2013

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

8A - Thursday, November 21, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

Lewan not a semifinalist

By EVERETT COOK
Daily Sports Editor
Taylor Lewan came back for
a Big Ten championship. With
that out of reach, at least he
could have been
rewarded for NOTEBOOK
sticking around
in Ann Arbor with some individ-
ual awards.
But on Wednesday, the fifth-
year senior tackle was not named
a semifinalist for the Outland
Trophy, given to the best inte-
rior lineman in college football.
There were six players named
to the list, and the player who
was projected as a first-round
draft pick last year was not one
of them.
Unsurprisingly, Michigan
coach Brady Hoke was less than
pleased.
"Am I disappointed?" he said.
"Yeah. Really disappointed."
Lewan is part of an offensive
line that has been beaten up all
year. It's Michigan's offensive
crux, and it makes sense that the
best player on the line has taken
some criticism.
Still, it's not like Lewan has
had a disappointing year. It's
hard to gauge an offensive line-
man's play on an individual basis
since it works as more of a unit
than any other group in football,
but Lewan has seemingly held
his own.
When asked if Lewan
should've been named as a semi-
finalist, Hoke said, "Yeah. No
doubt. No doubt,"
In terms of draft stock, Lewan
should still be a first-round pick,
at least according to ESPN draft
analyst Mel Kiper.
Last week, Kiper projected
Lewan as a mid-first round pick
and has him ranked No. 14 on his
Big Board. That position would
be further down than last year's
projections, where many ana-
lysts had Lewan going as a top-
10 pick.
But even if the Outland Tro-
phy committee doesn't see it, nor

HOCKEY
Michigan announces
four 2014-15 commits
By ERIN LENNON with the Tri-City Storm of the
Daily Sports Writer United States Hockey League.
With an ability to produce in
The No. 5 Michigan hockey both zones, Larkin will be a good
team announced the commit- fit with the departures of senior
ment of four players for the 2014- defensemen Mac Bennett and
15 season Wednesday. Kevin Clare.
Michigan assistant coach "We're excited about the four
Brian Wiseman has been work- student-athletes in this class and
ing on this recruiting class since what they'll bring to the pro-
his return to the Michigan hock- gram," said associate head coach
ey program as an assistant coach Billy Powers.
in 2011. Though this class is not
"We have a little bit of every- expected to grow into double
thing," he said Wednesday. "We digits like this season's freshman
have some good balance and def- class, Wiseman expects up to
initely some guys that are going three more verbal commitments
to make an impact." over the next few months. Ideal-
As it stands, this four-man ly, the Wolverines want another
class includes two forwards, a defenseman and forward to add
defenseman and a goaltender, both balance and depth,
each of whom are expected to fill "You can take a look at our
key voids after this season. lineup this year, and we have
Currently a captain of the Ver- pretty good depth on the for-
non Vipers of the British Colum- ward side and on the defense,"
bia Hockey League, forward Wiseman said. "We want to con-
Dexter Dancs is one of three tinue that trend of depth for inju-
players from the BCHL listed ries and for internal competition.
on the 2013 NH L Central scout- We have that in the goalie posi-
ing midterm rankings. A second tion with Hayden Lavigne."
forward, Dylan Larkin, has been Lavigne, a teammate of Mar-
on the Wolverines' radar since tin's on Tri-City Storm, boasted
his days in midget minor hockey. a .922 save percentage with the
The Waterford (Mich)native has Wellington Dukes of the OJHL
recorded six goals and five assists before moving to USHL after the
in nine games in his second year 2012-13 season. Like freshman
with the U-18 US National Team goaltender Zach Nagelvoort, the
Development Program team this 6-foot-2 Lavigne will provide
season. Larkin grew up a Michi- both competition and size to an
gan hockey fan and is expected already solid goalie depth chart.
to contribute early on. "I don't know if there's such a
"He's a tremendous team play- thing as too much depth," Wise-
er, and he comes from a cham- man said."That's something that
pionship team," Wiseman said. we'll figure out aswe go. Depth is
"He's a captain and a leader and always good."
he's a prolific skater. Our fans are As it is in football, Wiseman
going to enjoy seeing him skate and his staff beginmakingschol-
around Yost (Ice Arena)." arship offers two and three years
Larkin is joined by another prior toplayers' signing dates.
Michigan man, this time from As of Wednesday at midnight,
Spartan country, in defenseman signing is closed until the next
Cutler Martin. Out of East Lan- signing period in April. Until
sing, Martin has twelve assists then, the Wolverines may be
and four goals from the blue line accepting verbal commitments
in just nine games this season to fill out the 2014-15 roster.

ERIN KIRKLAND/Daily
Fifth-year senior tackle Taylor Lewan is having a solid season but wasn't named as a semifinalst for the Outland Trophy.

do current NFL analysts, Hoke
still thinks that Lewan has done
nothing but improve this season.
"What he's done physically
to himself and the discipline
throughout," Hoke said on
Lewan's improvements. "With
that offensive unit line-wise, his
direction, the coaching he gives
them, he's into it with them.
That's another step in growth."
SWITCHING HAYES: In a run-
ning performance that complete-
ly switched the tables, redshirt
sophomore running back Justice
Hayes was the odd man out.
With starting running back
Fitzgerald Toussaint out with
a concussion, Derrick Green
and De'Veon Smith picked up
the slack for a running game in
desperate need of a jolt against
Northwestern last weekend. The
two freshmen combined for 120
yards on 27 carries, good for 4.4

yards per carry. In its last two
games, Michigan had rushed for
negative rushing yards.
The unsung hero, according
to Hoke, was Hayes. He didn't
have a carry (he has only one on
the year) but did have a recep-
tion on a screen pass that Hoke
said should have gone for a lot
more yards if properly executed.
Hayes was also praised for his
blitz pickups, which are huge
from a young running back work-
ing with a raw offensive line.
On Wednesday, Hoke said that
Hayes could be transiting from
running back to a wide receiver
role, saying, "That's where we'd
like to get him trained most of
the time."
He added: "Justice has been
in the program long enough and
he knows the protections, even
though we moved him out to the
Z receiver, slot a bit. Because of

his maturity and being around,
he can do both."
WELLMANIZED?: If you think
Green looks like a powerful run-
ning back now, wait until he has
a full offseason to work in Ann
Arbor.
His freshman year started
with weight issues and an injury
in fall camp, but now, Green is
down (yes, down) to 230 pounds.
He's always been a big, bruising
back, but Hoke still thinks Green
has a ways to go before he reach-
es his optimal weight.
The coaching staff, specifi-
cally strength and conditioning
coach Aaron Wellman, will have
a lot to do with that.
"He won't be in his prime
shape yet," Hoke said. "He has
to be Wellmanized and all those
things. Summer, winter, spring
football. Those guys haven't tast-
ed it all yet."

Instead of vacation, summer of labor
propels Stauskas and LeVert to next level

By NEAL ROTHSCHILD
Daily Sports Editor
It could be a coincidence, but
the two players that passed on
a vacation to stay in Ann Arbor
over the summer are the play-
ers that have
sparked No. 14
Michigan in the Michigan
first two weeks .
this season.
Sophomore Beach State
guards Caris Matchup:
LeVert and Michigan 2-1;
Nik Stauskas Long Beach
were role play- State 1-3
ers in the Wol- When: Thurs-
verines' run to day5 p.m.ET
the National Where: Colis-
Championship eo Roberto
last year, but Clemente
the exit of Trey in San Juan,
Burke and Tim Puerto Rico
Hardaway Jr. TV/Radio:
meant a more ESPN2
prominent role
in the offense
this year.
The pair spent the spring and
summer semesters in town tak-
ing classes, gunning against each
other in jump-shot drills and put-
ting in work with strength and
conditioning coach Jon Sander-
son.
They were joined by upper-
classmen Jon Horford and Jordan
Morgan for the spring semester,
but in the summer term, Stauskas
and LeVert had the practice facil-
ity to themselves.
While manyoftheirclassmates
were sleeping in during lazy sum-
mer mornings, the sophomores
got up for 9 a.m. class, got a quick
bite to eat and then spent eight
hours at Crisler Center and the
Player Development Center.
After arriving from Central
Campus, they'd put in two-and-a-
half hours of weight liftingbefore
getting something else to eat and
heading to an open gym.
The work in the weight room
bulked LeVert up from 170
pounds as a freshman to 185 this

said.
Added LeVert: "We were pret-
ty close, but we got a lot closer
since then. Every day was a bond-
ing moment, just a lot of fun.
Being with him every second of
the day from start to finish, it was
just great."
Summer ended, so with the
arrival of fall came the arrival of
the rest of the team.
In addition to sophomore for-
wards Mitch McGary and Glenn
Robinson III beingthe focal point
of the Michigan attack, LeVert
and Stauskas were clear in their
intent - they were ready to lead
the team as well.
LeVert was so impressive in
the fall that Michigan coach John
Beilein scrapped his plans to
start two big men, wanting to get
LeVert into the starting lineup.
LeVert made sure the fans under-
stood why Beilein made the move.
He led the team with 17 and 24
points, respectively, in the first
two games.
Stauskas, meanwhile, has
made himself a more dominant
presence on the court. The added
weight didn't take away his dead-
eye 3-point stroke, and it has
made him even more dangerous
when dribbling to the hoop and
finishing at the rim. He is shoot-
ing 53 percent from behind the
arc and was the most threaten-
ing Wolverine on the floor against
the Cyclones with ateam-high 20
points.
He leads the team with 17.3
points per game, just ahead of
LeVert, who has 15.3. Robinson
has been slow out of the gate after
an explosive performance in the
exhibition opener, while McGary
is just returning to action after a
back injury.
Summer has passed, and
instead of NBA Playoffs viewings, C
LeVert and Stauskas can instead
watch early season NBA action.
They can watch Burke and Hard-
away on TV, as it becomes more
and more likely thatthey will join
those two in the next few years.

ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily
Sophomore guards Carls LeVert and Nik Stauskas spent their summers in Ann Arbor together to get stronger. The two lead the team in scoring so far this year.

year - weight that can support a
more aggressive driving game as
he assumes a role based less on
hanging out near the perimeter
and more on slashing into the
paint to draw attention from the
defense.
Stauskas was able to add 16
pounds over the offseason, all
muscle, he says. The strength has

been palpable the first few games,
flying through the defense on
multiple occasions without being
knocked off his path. In the sec-
ond half of a loss against Iowa
State on Sunday, Stauskas drove
through the left side of the paint
to fire home a right-handed dunk.
The added weight will also serve
to make him a more imposing

presence defensively.
"It was a tough process from
coach Sanderson," LeVert said.
"He pushed us every day in the
weight room starting from the
time we lost to Louisville up until
now, he's still pushing us. I just
got stronger every day."
The period from noon to 8p.m.
wasn't all spent on the court or

in the weight room. Sometimes
they'd be watching television or
playing video games on the big
screen in the PDC video room.
When the day was done, they'd
head back to the apartment to
watch NBA playoff games.
"When you're here all day, just
me and him, there's a lot of time
to just talk about stuff," Stauskas

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