10

Thursday, May 25, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS

Wagner returns, Wilson leaves

By BETELHEM ASHAME

Managing Sports Editor

Competing for the first time 

since winning the Big Ten In the 
2016-17 season, the Michigan men’s 
basketball team reaped the benefits 
of 
breakout 
campaigns 
from 

sophomore forward Moritz Wagner 
and redshirt sophomore forward 
D.J. Wilson.

The pair of big men teamed up 

to punish opponents on both ends 
of the floor in a year that saw the 
Wolverines capture their first Big 
Ten Tournament title since 1998, 
claim a 2K Classic championship 
and advance to the Sweet Sixteen of 
the NCAA Tournament.

With two years of eligibility 

remaining 
at 
Michigan, 
both 

Wilson and Wagner entered the 
NBA draft in April, having garnered 
significant interest at the next level. 
But they elected not to hire agents 
in order to preserve their college 
eligibility if they decided not to 
leave the Wolverines.

Ahead of Wednesday’s 11:59 p.m. 

deadline for withdrawing their 
names from the draft or foregoing 
their remaining two years, the duo 
has chosen to go their separate 
ways, as Wagner announced his 
return to Michigan for the 2017-18 
season and Wilson announced his 
intention to remain in the draft.

Thirteen 
hours 
before 
the 

deadline, Wagner announced he 
would be coming back next season.

“I gained a great deal of 

confidence from this process and I 
have a clearer picture of what I need 
to do in order to fulfill my dreams of 

playing professionally in the NBA,” 
Wagner said. “Michigan is where 
I need to be right now, and I am 
really excited about coming back. I 
learned a lot about myself and my 
game at the (NBA) combine. I feel 
like I still have a lot to prove on this 
level and cannot wait to compete 
with my brothers for another ring.”

Three 
hours 
later, 
Wilson 

released a statement to confirm he 
would stay in the draft and end his 
college career.

“This was not an easy decision, 

however, I have thought long 
about the next step in my career 
over the last few months,” Wilson 
said. “After many prayers and 
discussions with my mom, Coach 
Beilein and the staff, it is the right 
time for me to pursue my dream of 
playing in the NBA.

“I am confident I have the drive, 

work ethic and maturity for this 
next step. It’s never going to be easy, 
but if I have learned anything at 
Michigan, perseverance pays off. It 
has truly been a blessing to have had 
the opportunity to attend Michigan, 
and I will forever be grateful to 
Coach Beilein and his staff for 
taking the chance on me. There 
are so many memories over the 
past three years that I will always 
cherish. I will be a Wolverine at 
heart forever. Go Blue!”

The two big men formed a 

formidable tandem last season, 
as Wagner emerged as a potent 
offensive threat and Wilson as a 
powerful defensive force.

Wagner averaged 12.1 points 

per game with a 39.5 shooting 
percentage from beyond the arc, 

posting five games of 20-plus points 
en route to an All-Big Ten honorable 
mention selection. Wilson led the 
team with 203 total rebounds, 
becoming 
the 
first 
Wolverine 

to record 200-plus boards since 
Mitch McGary in 2012-13, and 57 
blocks, the most in nine seasons for 
Michigan.

Throughout the draft process, 

including participating in the NBA 
combine in Chicago from May 9-14, 
Wilson and Wagner received a wide 
variety of projections. According 
to Michigan coach John Beilein, 
Wagner learned that he needed 
more time to develop at the college 
level.

“Moe had an extraordinary 

experience 
with 
this 
process, 

one that opened his eyes to 
what he needs to do next for 
his development,” Beilein said. 
“Moe loves Michigan, and he is 
excited about becoming a leader 
on next year’s team. His incredible 
personality 
and 
enthusiastic 

demeanor is a great plus for this 
team and his brilliant future. We 
are so pleased to be part of that and 
his journey moving forward.”

Meanwhile, Beilein said Wilson 

learned that he had enough reason 
to turn professional.

“D.J. and our coaching staff 

worked very hard over the last 
month to get as much information 
as possible on his draft status,” 
Beilein said, “Given the data and 
insight we received, D.J. is confident 
he is ready to take the next step in 
his basketball career. We love D.J. 
and he will always be a Michigan 
Wolverine. 
His 
development 

over the past three seasons, and 
particularly this past season, was 
phenomenal.

“With continued work, he shows 

great potential to improve in a 
similar manner in the NBA. We 
wish him and his family the very 
best and we will always be rooting 
for him during this draft process 
and for all the years to come.”

The news comes a day after 

Michigan announced that guard 
Jaaron 
Simmons, 
an 
All-Mid-

American Conference first team 
selection at Ohio University, will 
join the Wolverines next season as 
a graduate transfer. Michigan will 
benefit from his veteran presence 
after losing forward Mark Donnal 
and guard Andrew Dakich as 
graduate transfers to Clemson and 
Quinnipiac University, respectively.

Though the Wolverines will 

face the heavy burden of replacing 
Wilson next year, the return of 
Wagner, as well as the addition of 
Simmons, will undoubtedly soften 
the blow.

ERIN KIRKLAND/Daily

Forward Moe Wagner withdrew from the NBA Draft and will return next season.

Michigan’s season ends 
at Washington Regional

By ROHAN KUMAR

For the Daily

The Michigan men’s golf team’s 

season came to a premature end 
during the NCAA Washington 
Regional 
last 
week, 
as 
the 

Wolverines shot 886 (292-298-
296) to finish in 10th place, 
missing the top-five finish needed 
to advance to Nationals. Southern 
California 
clinched 
first, 
37 

strokes ahead of Michigan.

Junior Kyle Mueller shot a 212 

(71-71-70) to finish tied for eighth 
place, but came up one stroke 
shy of forcing a playoff to go to 
Nationals as an individual.

The Wolverines had stellar play 

in the first round spearheaded by 
Mueller, sophomore Nick Carlson 
and senior Bryce Evon. All three 
were in the top 15 after day one 
of the tournament. Carlson’s first 
round score of 68 put him in a tie 
for third while Evon carded a 69 
and was tied for sixth.

The duo gave up crucial strokes 

during days two and three, 
causing them to move down 
the leaderboard. They finished 
tied for 17th and tied for 34th, 
respectively.

Mueller had the third-best 

score for Michigan in the opening 
round and was initially tied for 
14th. His game showed to be more 
consistent than his teammates, 
though, as he moved up the 
leaderboard for the remaining 
rounds.

Despite the steady play from 

Mueller, Carlson and Evon, the 
Wolverines lack of depth led to 
their demis. Senior Tom Swanson 
and junior Ian Kim also started 
for Michigan, and finished 69th 
and 75th out of the 75-player field.

“We had good golf going on in 

every round, it was just a question 
of whether we had enough guys 
doing it,” said Michigan coach 
Chris Whitten. “We knew to 
advance it was gonna take all five 
guys playing good golf and (we) 
just weren’t consistent enough.”

The 
Wolverines 
had 
a 

successful season with six top-
three finishes, including two 
tournament wins. They won the 
Dayton Flyer Invitational back in 
October and the Desert Mountain 
Intercollegiate in March.

“The 
season 
overall 
was 

another step in the right direction 
for us. We had two tournament 
wins out of 12 events, which is 
the first time we’ve done that 
since I’ve been the head coach,” 
Whitten said. “I think when we 
add up all the numbers at the end, 
our season scoring average for the 
year is either gonna be the lowest 
in the history of the program or 
very close to it.”

This tournament marked the 

last event under Michigan for 
Evon and Swanson, who will 
not be with the team next year. 
Senior Reed Hrynewich is also 
leaving, but did not compete in 
Washington. Carlson and Mueller 
will both return and Whitten 
expects them to lead the team.

“We got Nick Carlson and 

Kyle Mueller returning who have 
both played really high-level 
events and should have a lot of 
confidence,” Whitten said. “They 
go to every tournament trying 
to win and they’re just trying to 
refine really small parts of their 
game like shots around the green 
or ball striking consistency.”

Kim, along with freshmen 

Brent Ito and Taisei Negishi, will 
also be coming back. Neither Ito 
nor Negishi saw much tournament 
action this season.

The Wolverines will be gaining 

three players by next season, 
including 
two 
international 

players — Connor Prassas of 
Illinois, Charlie Pilon of Australia 
and Henry Spring of New Zealand 
will all join the upcoming roster.

“We are gonna have three 

new players on the team next 
year,” Whitten said. “When you 
replace three out of eight guys the 
chemistry of the team is gonna 
be a little different, and they will 
have a different feel next year.”

Michigan will be searching for 

consistency as it starts its 2017-18 
season in September, but Whitten 
was still proud of his team’s 
results from the past year.

“(I 
am) 
disappointed 
that 

we didn’t get to go to Nationals 
because I would have loved to 
see the guys compete there, 
but overall I think it was a good 
season,” Whitten said. “We are 
still kind of thinking about today, 
but I am excited to get the new 
guys here and start building 
again.”

MEN’S GOLF

