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December 12, 2017 - Image 8

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The Michigan Daily

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8 — Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Shea Patterson announces transfer to Michigan

It’s official: Shea Patterson is

coming to Ann Arbor.

Monday afternoon, Patterson

announced his intent to transfer
to Michigan from Ole Miss,
capping off a recruitment that
only came to light recently.

“Thank you to the wonderful

people, teammates and coaches
at Ole Miss. It is a special place
and I will always have great
memories of my experiences
in Oxford,” Patterson wrote in
a statement on Twitter. “I am
now excited to announce my
commitment to continue my
athletic and academic career at
The University of Michigan. It’s
time to go to work.”

Things
between
the
two

parties progressed quickly. Jim
Harbaugh paid a visit to Oxford
last week before Patterson —
along with two teammates,

Deontay Anderson and Van
Jefferson — returned the favor
this past weekend. The trio
was seen at Saturday’s men’s
basketball game against UCLA.

Patterson’s
decision
to

transfer was likely influenced
by
the
punishment
handed

down to Ole Miss by the NCAA,
which included a two-year bowl
ban and multiple scholarship
restrictions, in addition to the
school’s self-imposed bowl ban
this season.

By now, of course, most

fans will have heard of the
sophomore phenom.

Formerly
the
top-ranked

quarterback
recruit
in
the

nation, Patterson started 10
games over his first two years
playing for the Rebels. As a
freshman, he filled in capably for
an injured Chad Kelly, leading
Ole Miss to an upset road win
over then-No. 8 Texas A&M in
his first collegiate game.

Patterson
won
the

quarterback
competition

entering this fall. Through the
first seven games, Patterson
completed
63.8
percent
of

his passes for 2,259 yards,
17
touchdowns
and
nine

interceptions before a torn PCL
sidelined him for the remainder
of the year. At the time of his
injury, he was leading the
conference in passing yards.

Both Wilton Speight and

Alex Malzone have announced
their intent to transfer from
Michigan,
which
would

leave Patterson as the most
experienced
quarterback
on

the roster next year — and the
quarterback
with
the
most

production, as well.

Historically,
Michigan
is

not a school that pursues many
transfers, let alone multiple
from the same school. But
Harbaugh does have experience
in
successfully
pursuing

quarterback transfers. In early
2015, Jake Rudock left Iowa as
a graduate transfer to finish
his career at Michigan. Around
that same time, John O’Korn
chose to transfer from Houston,
sitting out one year before
appearing in 16 games over the
past two seasons.

It remains to be seen whether

Patterson will be able to display
his talent next year as he — and
Michigan — awaits word on
whether he will have immediate
eligibility.

Harbaugh
and
Michigan

have yet to provide official
comment on the transfer. The
official
Michigan
football

Twitter account did, though,
tacitly acknowledge the news
by
retweeting
Patterson’s

tweet announcing his decision.
Patterson was unable to speak
with media during his visit this
past weekend, as transfers fall
under NCAA recruiting rules.

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Ole Miss transfer quarterback Shea Patterson announced via his Twitter on Monday that he will be transferring to Michigan for next season.

ORION SANG

Daily Sports Writer

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Michigan coach John Beilein and the Wolverines will attempt to exorcise their road demons when they travel to Austin on Tuesday to face Texas.

Wolverines prepare for road test at Texas

Before
Michigan’s

season began, it was easy
to identify the toughest
part of its schedule: the
beginning.

The Wolverines’ first 12

games included matchups
with No. 7 North Carolina,
Indiana, Ohio State, UCLA
and several tough games
at the Maui Invitational.
Tuesday, that stretch will
conclude when Michigan
(1-1 Big Ten, 8-3 overall)
travels to face Texas (6-2).
Through eight games, he
was averaging 15.3 points
per game and shooting 52.4
percent.

It
appears
the

Wolverines are catching
somewhat of a break, as
Longhorns guard Andrew
Jones – the team’s leading
scorer – will miss Tuesday’s
game with a wrist injury.
After finishing third on
the team in scoring last

year, Jones tested the
waters of the NBA
Draft this offseason

before ultimately deciding
to return to school.

Without
Jones,

Texas will turn to one
of the best frontcourts
Michigan
will
face

all
season.
Forwards

Dylan
Osetkowski

and Mohamed Bamba
average 14.0 and 10.7
points
per
game,

respectively,
while

combining
for
18

rebounds per game.

The
Wolverines

actively recruited Bamba,
who was the No. 3 recruit
in the class of 2017. In fact,
the 7-footer took a visit to
Ann Arbor in September of
last year, before choosing to
sign with the Longhorns.
Osetkowski, on the other
hand, played his first two
years at Tulane, where he
averaged 8.9 points per
game before transferring

to Texas.

“Mo
Bamba’s
a

tremendous player, but the
transfer they have from
Tulane is the guy that’s

really been tremendous
for them this year,” said
Michigan
coach
John

Beilein. “That’s the guy
that, maybe, they were
missing last year. A guy –
an inside threat, outside
threat. He’s really a good
player.”

Another
challenge

that Michigan will have
to overcome is its trouble

playing on the road this
season.

When the Wolverines

traveled to Chapel Hill,
N.C., they were run off the
court. A week later, they
blew a 20-point lead to
Ohio State. In both games,
Michigan was unable to
effectively respond when
its opponents went on
runs.

Perhaps the Wolverines

have
exorcised
those

demons, though. Saturday,
they overcame a 15-point
deficit to beat UCLA. Now,
they have to prove that
they can do the same thing
on the road.

Michigan experienced

trouble in road games last
season, but it’s a different
team
now,
and
the

Wolverines have to prove
once again that they can
contend with good teams
away from Crisler Center.

“It’s been tough in the

past, too,” Wagner said.

“Last year, I remember, we
were 0-6 (up) to the Indiana
game in the middle of the
Big Ten season on the road.
So, it’s obviously tough,
whether that’s young or old
and a (more) mature team.
But we don’t have that in
the back of our mind. We
just play basketball and try
not to focus on that.”

The
Longhorns
and

Wolverines
have
an

opponent in common this
season. Both have played
VCU, and both beat the
Rams
in
close
games.

Those contests could act as
a barometer for how close
Tuesday’s game could be.
Currently, Texas is listed as
a six-point favorite. Beilein,
for his part, believes that’s
true.

“They’ve got enough

good players,” Beilein said.
“… And we’re going to have
to play, probably, our best
game of the year to get a
win at Texas.”

MIKE PERSAK
Daily Sports Editor

We just play
basketball and
try not to focus

on that

Despite win, Michigan
bench still struggles

As Kent State jumped out to

an early lead over the Michigan
women’s basketball team on
Sunday,
Katelynn
Flaherty

found a lane and drove through
it. On her way to the hoop, a
Golden Flash defender stepped
in front and drew a whistle,
earning the ball back with Kent
State already up 8-2.

Everyone
on
the
Golden

Flash bench got up. Everyone
cheered. It echoed through the
confines of Crisler Center on a
lazy Sunday afternoon.

The Wolverines eventually

found their footing and came
back to win 54-41. In doing so,
however, not once was their
bench anywhere near as loud
as Kent State’s when the Golden
Flash were up.

This isn’t a one-game issue

either. When Detroit jumped out
to an early lead over Michigan
last Tuesday, the Titans were
jumping around the bench,
yelling
encouragement
and

celebrating.
The
Wolverines

were sitting.

“I don’t think we’re like a

rah-rah team,” junior guard
Nicole Munger said. “I think
we’re more like a working, blue-
collar team.”

Added
freshman
forward

Hailey Brown: “Even if our
bench isn’t playing, at timeouts,
they’re always telling us stuff
about personnel or just things
that are going on in the game. So
it may not be the loudest, but it’s
still, like, subtle conversations
that we’re constantly having.”

The team’s messaging on

this
issue,
however,
wasn’t

especially consistent.

“I think our bench has great

energy,” coach Kim Barnes
Arico said. “And I think Jillian
Dunston, Deja Church are our
biggest energy kids, but our
bench is usually led by Deja
Church, Kayla Robbins – she
always has a voice on our
bench – as does Sam Trammel.
So I think our kids have great

energy, great focus.”

According to Munger and

Brown, the team’s solemnity
on the bench is a good thing.
According to Barnes Arico,
there is no lack of energy on
the bench. Both of those things
can’t be true. It’s hard to believe
either of those things could be
true.

There’s
no
reason
more

energy on the bench wouldn’t
stop Michigan from giving
strategic advice. If anything, it
might help if everyone was up
and cheering.

In fairness to Barnes Arico,

there are ways to give the team
momentum other than shouting
encouragement from the bench.
Dunston, Church and Robbins
have all done so on the court
by grabbing loose balls, playing
hard defense and doing any
number of other things.

Outside of the coaching staff,

however, it’s rare to see any
Wolverine standing, clapping or
doing anything else other than
sitting when it comes to the
bench itself.

“When
you
have
that

(ranking) next to you, it means
a lot more than just a number,”
Munger said. “It’s like a target
on your back. So they’re playing
like a targeted team. So we need
to know that coming in that
everyone’s coming to beat us.”

And as far as intangibles go,

energy does matter. It’s easier
to build momentum when your
teammates are up and excited.

“The
conversations
we

have with our bench (are)
more crucial than them just
being rah-rah because they’re
giving me advice, things that
they see that I don’t see on the
court,” Munger stressed. “If
I’m busy looking at this, this,
and they say, ‘Skip,’ well there’s
(Flaherty) wide open in the
corner.”

In
that
hypothetical,

though, wouldn’t it be nice to
hear the Wolverines cheering
after Flaherty hits her open
3-pointer?

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

ETHAN SEARS
Daily Sports Writer

2017-2018

Michigan Quarterbacks

Shea
Patterson

PASSING

TOUCHDOWNS

PASSING
YARDS

COMPLETION
PERCENTAGE

INTERCEPTIONS

YARDS PER
ATTEMPT

9

54.5

6.72

8

2,023

17

63.8

8.69

9

2,259

DESIGN BY CASEY TIN

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