8A — Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Peppers leaves ‘M’ to 
declare for NFL Draft 

A 
decision 
that 
seemed 

inevitable for months is now 
official. After a season in which 
his versatility and explosive play 
landed him in New York as a 
Heisman Trophy finalist, redshirt 
sophomore 
linebacker 
Jabrill 

Peppers announced Tuesday that 
he will forgo his remaining two 
years of eligibility at Michigan 
and enter the NFL Draft.

Peppers 
informed 
Sports 

Illustrated of his decision Tuesday, 
later sending out a tweet thanking 
the Wolverines and Michigan 
coach Jim Harbaugh “for the 
memories and preparation.”

Immediately 
following 
the 

Wolverines’ Orange Bowl loss to 
Florida State on Dec. 30 — which 
Peppers was forced to sit out 
after suffering a hamstring injury 
the day before — a visibly upset 
Peppers had told reporters he 
would take as long as he could to 
make a decision about his future.

“It’s one of the hardest things 

I’ve ever had to do,” Peppers 
reiterated to SI on Tuesday. “I’m 
choosing 
between 
cementing 

my legacy as a college player 
and starting my pro legacy. It’s 
something you dream of when you 
were a kid. I was torn between the 
two.”

He finally came to a decision 

over the weekend while at home 
in New Jersey and informed 
Harbaugh on Monday.

Some 
questions 
linger 

about where Peppers will fit 
in at the professional level. He 
primarily played safety in 2015 
and linebacker in 2016, and he 
also took snaps as a slot corner, 
running back and punt returner, 
among other positions, but he 
figures to be a surefire first-round 
pick in April’s draft. ESPN’s Todd 
McShay projects him among the 
top 10 players available.

“All the questions will be 

answered,” Peppers told SI. “And 
they’re good questions. I think I’ll 
be able to show that I can play one 
position well when I focus all my 
time and attention to it. I’m really 
excited to focus on my back pedal, 
flipping the hips and my coverage. 
I’m going to really hone in on that 
and iron out my weaknesses. I 
know my weaknesses and I know 
what I’m good at and need to 
improve on.”

Peppers finishes his Michigan 

career with 125 tackles (21.5 for 
loss), four sacks, a forced fumble 
and an interception on defense. 
He also posted 239 rushing 
yards, 82 receiving yards and five 
offensive touchdowns, as well as 
993 kick/punt return yards with 
one punt return touchdown.

GRANT HARDY/Daily

Redshirt sophomore linebacker Jabrill Peppers declared for the NFL draft.

JACOB GASE

Daily Sports Writer

Dakich earns second-semester scholarship

They say good things come to 

those who wait. Andrew Dakich 
certainly knows that now.

Tuesday night, the Michigan 

basketball team posted a video 
on its Twitter account in which 
two 
officers 

from 
the 

Division 
of 

Public 
Safety 

and 
Security 

interrupted 
a 
team 
film 

session 
in 

Crisler Center.

They 

requested that 
Dakich 
leave 

the room and 
follow them to a compliance 
office, before revealing it was 
a prank devised by coach John 
Beilein to inform him that he 
would be receiving a scholarship 
for the winter semester.

The 
mood 
in 
the 
room 

took 
a 
distinct 
turn 
from 

uncomfortable anxiety to pure 
jubilation, as the senior guard’s 
teammates surrounded him in 
celebration. Freshman guard 
Xavier Simpson, however, was 
frozen in his seat. 

“They were in shock,” said 

Michigan coach John Beilein. 
“Xavier was trying to figure 
(it) out. I think once he thought 
(Dakich) was going to jail, he 
didn’t hear anything else. He still 
— at the end — said, ‘Yeah he got a 
scholarship, but he’s going to jail.’ ”

Added Dakich: “To be honest, 

there was one time I almost 
said, ‘Can we talk about this 
privately?’ I almost said, ‘Am I 
being punked?’ 

“But I was like I gotta let these 

guys talk because they’re just 
doing their job. And they came 
out with a document, some kind 
of warrant to get me out of there, 
so it was really scary for me.”

According to Beilein, the 

stunt was inspired by Eastern 
Michigan 
football 
coach 

Chris Creighton. Last August, 
Creighton surprised a walk-

on 
player 
with 
a 
full-ride 

scholarship in a prank that was 
nearly identical to Tuesday’s.

Beilein granted the same 

scholarship to senior forward 
Sean Lonergan last season but 
said it was a tough decision for 
the staff to choose between 
Dakich and Lonergan in 2015.

Dakich 
began 

his 
Michigan 

career 
as 
a 

preferred 
walk-

on in 2013. As a 
sophomore 
and 

junior, 
Dakich 

requested 
a 

redshirt in hopes 
of 
preserving 
a 

year of eligibility 
to 
be 
used 
as 

a 
fifth-year 

graduate transfer.

But when the Wolverines 

suffered season-ending injuries 
at the guard position in both of 
those seasons, Dakich decided 
to burn his redshirt for the good 
of the team.

Now, he has finally been 

rewarded for that selflessness 
with 
a 
second-semester 

scholarship 
worth 
roughly 

$30,000.

Dakich’s 
future 
is 
still 

uncertain, but he would like to 
use his final year of eligibility to 
take on a more significant role for 
another Division 
I 
program 

before pursuing 
his 
dream 
of 

coaching.

While 

Dakich 
won’t 

necessarily 
explore 
his 

options until the 
season is over, 
he said Tuesday 
that he ideally 
would 
like 
the 
opportunity 

to play for a team that runs a 
similar offense to Beilein’s with 
some opportunities to learn new 
concepts as well.

His motivation to become a 

coach is simple.

“When I’m out there on the 

court, or when I’m watching 
Coach Beilein or something 
like that, I find a passion that I 
don’t think about anything else,” 
Dakich said. “And I just think 
about these guys, and it’s just 
easy, to be honest.”

For now, though, the future 

can 
wait 
— 

Dakich has one 
final 
semester 

in Ann Arbor to 
enjoy.

“It’s 
fun,” 

Dakich said. “I 
came 
in 
with 

Zak, 
Derrick, 

Sean 
(and) 

Mark. I’m with 
(Xavier) all the 
time 
because 

I know this is going to be his 
team once Derrick leaves. But 
just enjoying it, and kind of just 
leaving some kind of legacy with 
wins. I don’t care if I score or 
play, being on a special team is 
what I really want to do.”

KEVIN SANTO

Managing Sports Editor

FILE PHOTO/Daily

Senior guard Andrew Dakich began his career as a preferred walk-on but was awarded a scholarship Tuesday.

I almost said, 
‘Can we talk 
about this 
privately?’

Being on a 

special team is 
what I really 
want to do

MEN’S BASKETBALL
Behind Enemy Lines: 
Illinois’s Tracy Abrams

After suffering two losses 

in three games to open its Big 
Ten season, the Michigan men’s 
basketball team will have a 
chance to turn its fortunes around 
on the road against Illinois on 
Wednesday. The Fighting Illini 
are powered by seasoned veteran 
guards Malcolm Hill and Tracy 
Abrams, who lead the team in 
scoring with 18.8 and 10.9 points 
per game, respectively. Despite 
missing the 2014-15 and 2015-16 
seasons after tearing his ACL and 
then his Achilles in back-to-back 
years, 
Abrams 

has come back 
strong 
and 

helped 
carry 

the 
load 
for 

Illinois.

The 

Michigan Daily 
sat down with 
Abrams at Big 
Ten Media Day 
in October to 
talk about his road back from 
injury and his excitement about 
returning to the court.

The Michigan Daily: How 

has your recovery from injury 
been, and how has the extended 
period of time off affected you as 
a player and as a person too?

Tracy Abrams: My rehab 

and stuff has been great. I’m 
pretty healthy right now. I can 
honestly say I’ve gotten stronger, 
I can run a little faster — I’ve 
improved overall — so it’s been 
a great experience for me so far. 
I’m definitely looking forward to 
the season, being out there and 
competing with my teammates. 
Right now we’re just building 
(and) trying to keep putting in 
hard work every day so it can 
translate to the court.

TMD: How excited are you 

to step back onto the floor to 
join your teammates again and 

compete at a high level on the 
college stage?

TA: I’m definitely, definitely, 

definitely excited to be back out 
there. Just using my experience 
and 
my 
leadership, 
most 

importantly, to help those guys 
out as well as them help me (and) 
just continue to grow. I think the 
sky’s the limit for our team so we 
just gotta have that mindset and 
put in that effort.

TMD: This is your sixth year 

of eligibility, so how do you 
think your vast experience at the 
collegiate level will help both you 
and the team this season?

TA: Just being out these last 

couple 
years, 

I was able to 
gain a different 
perspective. 
Learning 
my 

teammates, 
learning the game 
a little bit better, 
so I think just 
using what I’ve 
learned. And if I 
can translate that 

to the court, just knowing my 
teammates and their strengths 
and stuff like that, it would 
definitely, definitely be helpful 
for our team. So I’m just trying 
to keep remembering all that 
stuff and taking it and giving it 
back.

TMD: How do you think you 

will be able to handle the balance 
between a master’s program and 
the rigors of being a student-
athlete?

TA: One advantage with that 

is all my classes are online, so I 
wake up early and do that. That 
way I can have good balance, and 
when I go to practice, I don’t have 
to worry about schoolwork and 
stuff like that. It’s going pretty 
well. I’m in my second master’s 
program right now, so I would 
say I have a pretty good feel to 
how it works and what you have 
to do to be successful.

BETELHEM ASHAME

Managing Sports Editor

I think the 

sky’s the limit 
for our team

Wolverines travel to Champaign to take 
on Illinois and find some consistency

In the days since the Michigan 

men’s basketball team loss to 
Maryland on Saturday, the word 
“frustration” 
has been used 
relatively often 
around Crisler 
Center — and 
rightly so.

After 
all, 

the Wolverines 
(1-2 Big Ten, 
11-5 
overall) 

have dropped 
two of their 
last 
three 

games 
by 
a 

combined 
margin of just 
10 points.

Michigan 

isn’t getting blown out by any 
means, which arguably makes 
it even more frustrating. And it 
forces one to wonder what the 
team could be if a new defensive 
approach and new offensive 
weapons molded together into a 
polished product.

The games are there for the 

taking. The Wolverines just have 
been incapable of taking them 
recently.

“Now, we gotta get it, there’s 

no excuse,” said senior guard 
Andrew Dakich. “There’s no, 
‘OK you guys are young, you 
shouldn’t understand this.’ But 
we’re a veteran group.

“We’ve got seniors, juniors 

and a team that went to the 
NCAA Tournament last year. 
It’s time to step up. There’s no 
excuses anymore.”

On 
Wednesday 
night, 

Michigan 
will 
have 
an 

opportunity to back up Dakich’s 
words in a matchup with Illinois 
(1-2, 11-5).

The 
Fighting 
Illini 
are 

essentially in the same boat as 
the Wolverines.

Like Michigan, they are a 

veteran team that returned eight 
upperclassmen. But — also like 
Michigan — Illinois has yet to 
produce the results that could be 
expected from a roster hardened 
by Big Ten play for multiple 
seasons.

The Fighting Illini’s biggest 

threat is senior guard Malcolm 
Hill, who leads the team in points 
and rebounds with 18.8 and 6.2 
per game, respectively. Yet even 
that kind of production hasn’t 
been nearly enough to carry 
Illinois through the beginning of 
conference play.

Through 
their 
first 
three 

games, 
the 
Fighting 
Illini 

notched a win against Ohio State 
but also lost to Maryland and No. 
25 Indiana by 25 and 16 points, 
respectively.

The Wolverines haven’t fared 

much better themselves, as even 
some of their most promising 
players also contribute to their 
growing problems.

Individually, 
sophomore 

forward Moritz Wagner has 
enjoyed an uptick in production, 
as he is averaging 11.9 points 
while shooting 61.3 percent from 
the floor. Redshirt sophomore 
forward DJ Wilson’s newfound 
scoring ability has been an 
encouraging sign as well.

But with their emergence has 

also come a bit of confusion. In 
the past, there was no doubt that 
the offense would run through 
senior guard Derrick Walton Jr. 
or senior wing Zak Irvin. Now, 
though, that choice might not be 
so simple.

The matchup with Illinois 

could prove to be the first step 
toward some clarity in that 
phase.

“It’s good news and bad 

news,” said Michigan coach 
John Beilein. “We have several 
guys that can score the ball now, 
especially with the emergence 
of DJ and Moe. We’re looking at 
that very much.

“That was a big part of our 

discussion today — what are we 
doing at shot clock time? We’re 
going to make sure the ball is in 
the right guy’s hands at shot clock 
time, and maybe it’s in nobody’s 
hands and we’re just playing ball 
and trusting what we do.”

The 
more 
pressing 
issue, 

though, is the ongoing struggle 
the Wolverines are having in 
attempting to adopt assistant 
coach 
Billy 
Donlon’s 
new 

defensive schemes.

After Saturday’s loss, Wagner 

was visibly frustrated, explaining 
that there are moments when 
Michigan seems to “fall asleep 
collectively.” And that is even 
more 
concerning 
given 
the 

simplicity of the system.

“(The defense) couldn’t be 

much simpler than it is right 
now,” Beilein said. “We’re doing 
a classic hedge. We’re tagging 
guys. We’re probably doing less 
than we’ve done before. We’re in 
the right places a lot of times, but 

we’re just not in there enough, in 
that right place.”

Through their first three Big 

Ten games, the Wolverines are 
allowing an average of 75.7 points 
per game. Yet back in November 
at Madison Square Garden — 
when Michigan arguably looked 
its best — it allowed an average 
of 57.5 against comparable teams 
such as Southern Methodist and 
Marquette.

The frustrations, then, as 

the Wolverines have alluded to 
plenty of times, boil down to the 
issues of consistency.

Illinois is the second-to-last 

team Michigan will face before 
the beginning of a month in 
which 
the 
Wolverines 
will 

play Michigan State, No. 18 
Wisconsin and No. 25 Indiana 
twice apiece.

Consistency 
has 
been 

preached since the beginning of 
the season. But the time to talk 
about it is running out. 

KEVIN SANTO

Managing Sports Editor

Michigan 
at Illinois

Matchup: 
Michigan 1-2 
Big Ten, 11-5 
overall; Illinois 
1-2, 11-5

When: 
Wednesday 
8 P.M. CT

Where: State 
Farm Center

TV/Radio: 
BTN 

EVAN AARON/Daily

Michigan coach John Beilein hopes his team can put together a complete game.

