The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, April 18, 2019 — 7

Z

avier Simpson started 
with a cliché.
“It was tremendous,” 
the junior 
guard said. 
“I’m blessed 
to be a part of 
the season. A 
winning sea-
son. Definite-
ly extremely 
glad I was 
able to be in 
the position 
to help my 
team. Next 
year, hopefully we can make 
more noise. Get more success 
for the University, get more suc-
cess for next year, winning some 
championships.”
A little more than two weeks 
removed from a season-ending 
63-44 loss to Texas Tech in 
the Sweet Sixteen, that’s the 
answer Simpson is supposed to 
give. The season, of course, was 
great. The Wolverines won over 
30 games, set a program record 
with a 17-0 start and made it to 
the NCAA Tournament’s second 
weekend. Simpson, though, isn’t 
one to settle.
Do you feel like you guys hit 
your expectation for what you 
should’ve done?
He nearly cut off the question.
“No.”
What is that 
expectation?
“To win 
championships.”
There are few 
things that paint 
the picture of the 
program John 
Beilein has con-
structed better 
than the scene 
on Wednesday 
afternoon. Ignas 
Brazdeikis and 
Jordan Poole sat at round tables, 
dodging questions about their 
NBA fates to which, if internet 
rumors (and in the case of Braz-
deikis, his own words to ESPN) 
are to be believed, they already 

know the answers. Across 
the room, Charles Matthews 
laughed with his teammates, 
having avoided this ritual by 
announcing earlier in the day 
that he would keep his name in 
the draft.
Michigan didn’t meet expec-
tations this year, and it will like-
ly see a good amount of attrition 
during the offseason. But when 
30 wins and the Sweet Sixteen 
is considered a disappointment, 
when attrition comes with play-
ers leaving for the NBA, when 
the NCAA Tournament is still 
an expectation in a rebuilding 
year — that means the program 
is exactly where it wants to be.
Beilein remembers the first 
time he made a Sweet Sixteen 
here, back in 2013. One of the 
Detroit papers, he’s not sure 
which, ran a big, celebratory 
headline. It had been 19 years 
since the Wolverines made it 
that far.
In the six years since, they’ve 
done so four times. And made 
the national title game twice. 
During his tenure, Beilein has 
gotten nine guys drafted. It’s 
now a reason people come to 
Michigan.
“Growing up, you want to play 
in the NBA. That’s your entire 
goal,” Poole said. “Being able to 
see guys coming through Michi-
gan, make it into 
the NBA and the 
record that they 
have, it’s just 
— it’s a record 
that’s just like, 
it’s crazy. I don’t 
know how you 
wouldn’t be able 
to look at it.”
Poole, age 19, 
does not remem-
ber watching 
Michigan bas-
ketball before it was anything 
but this. He remembers Trey 
Burke’s shot, when he was in 
eighth grade. He doesn’t remem-
ber Tommy Amaker. He doesn’t 
remember NCAA sanctions or 

tournament droughts.
When Beilein got here, the 
kindest thing you could say 
about Michigan’s basketball 
reputation was that it didn’t 
have one, and really, you could 
say a lot worse 
than that.
“Growing 
up in Indiana, 
I knew the Fab 
Five and, obvi-
ously, knew like 
(Robert) Trac-
tor Traylor and 
those guys,” 
Zack Novak, a 
Michigan guard 
from 2008-12, 
said in a phone 
interview last week. “And then 
there was kind of a big gap for a 
while.”
Novak was part of Beilein’s 
second recruiting class in Ann 
Arbor. He came in after a 10-22 

season in which the Wolverines 
finished ninth in the Big Ten, 
and Beilein recruited him to 
play in a two-guard offense and 
a 1-3-1 defense.
“You bring in me, Stu (Dou-
glass) and Ben 
Cronin,” Novak 
said. “So expec-
tations — I do not 
believe that any-
body realistically 
expected us to 
get to the NCAA 
Tournament that 
year.”
Michigan did 
break its tourna-
ment drought 
that year, and 
a decade later, outside a locker 
room in Anaheim with disap-
pointment cascading, Novak was 
standing there in maize and blue 
gear, talking of just how much 
things have changed, a walking 

beacon of perspective.
Back then, nobody on the 
Wolverines’ roster had been to 
the Tournament. Now, freshmen 
come in with the expectation of 
not just playing in March, but 
getting far. And in more than a 
few cases, getting to the NBA 
after that.
Beilein got Michigan back 
there with a two-guard offense 
and a zone defense. Now, under 
a coach caricatured as stub-
born and unyielding, Michi-
gan competes for titles with a 
ball-screen offense and a man-
to-man defense that KenPom 
ranked second in the country 
last season.
“There’s a whole bunch 
of stuff that we’re not gonna 
change, and that’s probably the 
hardest thing,” Beilein said. “But 
it’s the things that are basic to 
winning basketball games. Hav-
ing high character kids. Having 

kids that fit Michigan. Trying to 
get skilled players who all can 
shoot as much as you can. And 
kids that just would fit right in 
and want to be here. Right?
“That’s never gonna change. 
But style of play and things like 
that is always changing.”
When Beilein recruited a 
decade ago, he talked of getting 
back to the Tournament. But 
there was another layer on top.
“He was very firm that 
Michigan should be a premier 
program,” Novak said, “and we 
needed to build the foundation 
to get back to where it should 
be.”
When a season like this one 
can be considered disappoint-
ing, that’s exactly where Michi-
gan is.

Sears can be reached at 

searseth@umich.edu, or on 

Twitter at @ethan_sears.

A disappointing season, and a plan fulfilled

ETHAN
SEARS

MAX KUANG/Daily
Michigan coach John Beilein has created a culture of consistent winning, leading to high expectations every year regardless of player experience and talent.

But style of play 
and things like 
that is always 
changing.

There’s a whole 
bunch of stuff 
that we’re not 
gonna change.

It’s time for Jeter to make the leap

With 
Donovan 
Jeter, 
it’s 
never been a question of talent.
Jeter came to Michigan a 
lauded 
four-star 
defensive 
lineman recruit from Beaver 
Falls, Pa. He had offers aplenty 
— Notre Dame, Alabama, Ohio 
State, Penn State, you name 
it. Like any other high-end 
Division-I talent, he’d never sat 
on the bench or had to wait his 
turn, and maybe that was all 
part of the problem.
“We’re going to be crazy when 
we get there,” Jeter, smirking, 
told a reporter from 247Sports 
during his senior year of high 
school. “We’re going to need 
that first year to get settled in, 
but that sophomore year, we’re 
going to be crazy out there.”
Since then, hardly anything 
has gone as planned. Jeter 
promptly tore his meniscus in 
the latter part of his freshman 
fall camp. He missed the entire 
season, and that sophomore 
season 
he 
intended 
to 
be 
“crazy” became, ostensibly, his 
freshman season. The learning 
curve was steep. Playing time 
was minimal.
Now Jeter, with three career 
tackles to his name, will enter 
fall camp as one of the most 
important 
players 
on 
the 
Wolverines’ defense — fairly or 
otherwise — facing a season that 
will make or break his trajectory, 
on a team that desperately needs 
the former.
“After not playing for a year 
— coming out of high school, I 
get injured and not playing for a 
year — then I come and basically 
just sat the bench,” Jeter said 
after Saturday’s Spring Game. 
“I’m not used to that, so I 
couldn’t just sit there and be 
OK with ‘Ah, I can be a backup.’ 
Nah, I got to try to be the best 
player I can be.”
Jeter has spent this spring 
doing his best to follow through 
on 
that 
commitment. 
He’s 
focused on honing his technique, 
trying to incrementally improve 
each 
day, 
slowly 
ascending 
toward the player he wants 
to be. Michigan coach Jim 

Harbaugh said he “appears 
hellbent on being the starting 
defensive tackle.”
“Donovan 
Jeter 
is 
really 
special,” added senior defensive 
end Josh Uche. “I’ve known it. 
Me and him, we’ve gone through 
stuff. We’ll talk to each other, 
pick each other up and he’s just 
special, man. He’s picked it up 
so much this spring and I’m so 
proud of him. I can’t wait til you 
guys see what he’s 
done this spring.”
For a team that 
lost 
Lawrence 
Marshall, 
Bryan 
Mone and Aubrey 
Solomon along the 
interior, 
there’s 
little 
alternative 
at the moment. 
Senior 
Michael 
Dwumfour 
remains sidelined 
for an undisclosed amount of 
time with an injury. On the 
razor-thin depth chart, Jeter 
and senior Carlo Kemp pack 
the bulk of experience, with 
true freshman Mazi Smith and 
converted fullback Ben Mason 
being relied upon behind them.
Jeter will get his opportunity, 
whether he’s ready or not.
When Jeter speaks, he does so 
with firm conviction. It’s clear 
he carries the bumps and bruises 
of the last two years with him, 
and that they’ve calloused into 
determination. There’s a clear 
understanding that he knows 
this is the year for him.
“I think it’s a mindset. I just 
changed my mindset,” he said. 
“I told myself, ‘I’m going to be 
dominant and I’m going to be 

physical.’
“I’ve always had power, I’ve 
always been strong. I’m still 
working on a lot of things, every 
day I’d tell myself, ‘I’ve got to get 
better at something.’ Whether 
it’s my hands, or my feet, or how 
I play a certain block, or how I 
read the back, there’s certain 
things I had to do.”
Spring hype tends to generate 
as a result of surprise, necessity 
or 
some 
combination of 
the two. Real 
competition is 
the only thing 
that will unveil 
where 
Jeter 
falls 
along 
that spectrum; 
whether 
his 
hype 
was 
simply 
borne 
of a necessity 
for interior defensive linemen 
or whether this is truly his 
breakthrough moment.
“Yeah, I’m ready to be a big-
time player,” Jeter said. “I’ve 
been working like it. I have to 
fine-tune some things still. Like 
I said earlier, there are still so 
many things I want to work in 
my game. I think I have what I 
need to. Now it’s about putting 
the work in and really just 
executing and really tweaking 
those little things.”
Four 
months 
out, 
he 
is 
controlling what he can — 
mentally, 
technically 
and 
intellectually. 
The 
rest, 
he 
believes, will take care of itself.
Because with Donovan Jeter, 
it’s never been a question of 
talent.

‘M’ defeats Bowling Green, 10-5

As the rain began to fall and the 
weather grew colder, Michigan’s 
bats got hotter.
Despite 
some 
fielding 
difficulties which created an early 
deficit, the Michigan baseball 
team pulled itself together in 
the second half of the game 
Wednesday 
evening 
to 
best 
Bowling Green State, 10-5.
After a disappointing weekend 
in Columbus which saw the 
Wolverines lose two of their 
three games against Ohio State, 
Wednesday’s win kicked off a 
seven-game 
homestand 
that 
offers a chance to regroup while 
there is still time left in the season.
In the early innings, Bowling 
Green 
leveraged 
repeated 
misses 
from 
the 
Wolverines 
in the outfield to get on base. 
Base hit after base hit from the 
Falcons sent Michigan’s outfield 
scrambling and notched Bowling 
Green an early lead.
A two-run homer from senior 
infielder Jimmy Kerr in the second 
inning put Michigan in front, 2-1. 
A number of clutch plays ensured 
Bowling Green couldn’t gain too 
much of a foothold.
“They kept it a tight game 
early,” said Michigan coach Erik 
Bakich. “But I thought we at 
least had some huge defensive 
plays early in the game to prevent 
additional runs from being scored 
and falling further behind.”
The sixth inning finally brought 
success and saw the Wolverines 
start to pull away after they 
suffered three scoreless innings, 
during which Bowling Green took 
a 3-2 lead. With the bases loaded 
and still no outs, sophomore 
shortstop Jack Blomgren started 
the scoring with a double to left-
center field that sent seniors Blake 
Nelson and Miles Lewis home 
to regain the lead. A sacrifice fly 
from senior infielder Matthew 
Schmidt, who started Wednesday 
for the first time, subsequently 
sent Kerr home to bring the score 
to 5-3.
The Falcons were stumped in 
drawing many outs. Michigan 
fully rotated through its lineup 
and got only one out in the process. 

Two more runs from Blomgren 
and sophomore catcher Harrison 
Salter came before the end of the 
inning, making it 7-3.
“The sixth inning was the 
difference tonight,” Bakich said 
“With five of those at-bats going 
to two strikes, the guys were 
battling.”
Bowling 
Green’s 
difficulty 
in stopping Michigan’s batters 
became a theme as it eventually 
cycled through 
a total of nine 
pitchers 
by 
the end of the 
game.
But 
its 
offense 
had 
an 
answer. 
Redshirt junior 
left-hander 
Benjamin 
Keizer 
tried 
to 
pitch 
the 
Wolverines out of a jam after 
Bowling Green loaded its bases in 
the top of the seventh. Michigan 
managed to preserve its lead but 
conceded another two runs to 
the Falcons. Another foreboding 
inning was brought to an end by a 
fielder’s choice to second.

Michigan seemed poised to 
deliver another set of runs as 
it stepped up to the plate, but 
lightning was soon spotted over 
the Big House and the game was 
delayed for over an hour until the 
storm passed.
An hour of sitting in the locker 
room seemed to put no damper 
on the Wolverines’ offensive 
momentum, as they put up a three-
run seventh inning highlighted by 
a soaring double 
through the gap 
from 
sophomore 
designated 
hitter 
Jordan Nwogu.
“To come out 
after the delay and 
put up a three-spot 
was huge,” Bakich 
said. “It was big 
time 
insurance 
because 
Bowling 
Green 
doesn’t 
quit.”
The 
pitching 
and 
defense 
seemed reinvigorated after its 
break as well and kept Bowling 
Green scoreless through the end 
of the game. Over five hours later, 
the Wolverines walked away with 
a 10-5 win.

MAX MARCOVITCH
Managing Sports Editor

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Redshirt sophomore Donovan Jeter is key for Michigan’s interior defensive line.

I’ve always 
had power. I’ve 
always been 
strong.

AIDAN WOUTAS
Daily Sports Writer

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Senior Jimmy Kerr hit a two-run home run in Michigan’s win on Wednesday.

The sixth 
inning was 
the difference 
tonight.

