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