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