8A — Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Davis making strides as backup ‘5’
There were a lot of things
I expected when I signed on
to cover the Michigan men’s
basketball team this season.
But Austin Davis, I did not
expect. And how could I? After
three years of limited minutes
off the bench and a promising
backup at the big man spot
in sophomore forward Colin
Castleton, how could I — or
anyone else, for that matter
— have expected Davis to
establish himself in his senior
season?
And yet here we are, two
months into the year, and
Davis is — well, he’s doing
some things.
Some
of
those
things
are: eight points against an
Iowa team that ranks 16th
in KenPom, eight rebounds
and
three
blocks
against
Presbyterian, a solid defensive
performance
against
a
formidable
Purdue
offense
and a composed appearance
against
Michigan
State
in
an
anything-but-composed
Breslin Center.
Amid frequent foul trouble
for
Teske
and
a
largely
disappointing
sophomore
season for Castleton, Davis’
success couldn’t have come at a
better time for Michigan.
“Austin Davis was huge for
us tonight,” Michigan coach
Juwan Howard said after the
Iowa game. “Austin was the
next man up. We have this
model, on our team: ‘Stay
ready, so you don’t have to get
ready.’ And that’s how our guy
responded. I’m so proud of that
effort.”
Davis isn’t doing anything
differently,
he
says.
But
practicing against the likes of
Moe Wagner and Jordan Poole
and playing on scout teams
of some of the country’s best
college basketball programs
is
finally
paying
off,
and
Davis is proving himself as a
reliable and more than capable
extended-minutes backup big
man.
Not many of us saw this
coming. I certainly didn’t.
But after years of having the
next-man-up mentality drilled
into him, Davis was more than
ready when the
time
finally
did come. His
poise on and
off the court
has
been
a
testament
to
that.
“It
felt
good to go in
and do that,”
Davis
said,
laughing, after
the Wolverines’ win over the
Hawkeyes. “It’s just about
filling whatever role that my
brothers need that day.”
Now Davis isn’t going to
start getting equal playing time
with Teske, or even close to it,
at least assuming Teske doesn’t
get himself in foul trouble as
soon as he steps out onto the
hardwood. But it wouldn’t
be surprising if Davis starts
seeing more minutes on the
court this season, especially as
Michigan heads into the heart
of a challenging conference
schedule rife with imposing big
men like Penn State’s Lamar
Stevens and Mike Watkins,
and prolific offenses like the
one head coach Mark Turgeon
is running down
at Maryland.
Whatever
Michigan needs
him for, though,
it’s
becoming
increasingly
clear that Davis
will be a pretty
reliable source.
“It’s
being
ready
for
whatever
the
team needs that day,” Davis
said. “Today, it was going
in and playing some, and
contributing that way. Other
days it might be getting the
starters and the high-minute
guys a good-looking practice.
“It’s been frustrating at
times, but just really staying
positive,
being
happy
for
my brothers when they do
something great, that’s really
helped a lot, too.”
‘M’ preparing for repeat matchups
The Michigan hockey team is
now in the second half of its season,
and that second half implies quite a
bit of preparation.
It’s now crunch time for the
Wolverines. Sitting second-to-last
in the conference and 32nd in the
PairWise Rankings, they must
prepare to fight each weekend to
have any hope at an at-large NCAA
Tournament bid or to get a better
seed in the conference tournament.
The latter half also signifies
that Michigan (9-11-2 overall, 4-7-1
Big Ten) must now prepare to play
series against each conference
opponent for the second time.
How the Wolverines prepare for
these meetings will be somewhat
different than the first time.
“You know a little bit more
about them,” Michigan coach Mel
Pearson said. “Some of the newer
players and maybe nuances. Most
teams have the same structure
they’ve had over the years, and
some teams have gotten better.
Some teams have grown and the
freshman, they’re not freshman
anymore.”
The extent to which preparation
changes
varies
depending
on
the
opponent.
For
instance,
Pearson notes opponents with
younger rosters often adapt more
throughout the season and one
must game plan accordingly. This
is evident in comparing Penn State
and Wisconsin.
“(The Nittany Lions have) got
a couple young players but they
don’t rely on them as much as all
their vets,” Pearson said. “So you
have a pretty good idea how they’re
going to play what they’re going to
do. Where a team like Wisconsin
has got all those high-end young
players. And the next time we see
them they’re gonna be a lot more
mature, play a little bit different and
probably be a lot more dangerous.”
Playing a rival for a second
series can impact what goes on in
the film room. This past weekend,
the Wolverines swept then-No. 14
Notre Dame on the road in the first
meeting between the two sides this
season.
Prior to the series, Michigan had
to balance relevancy with recency.
On one hand, it’s helpful for a
team to see how it fared against a
particular opponent in the past.
But at the same time, it’s critical
to understand the intricacies of an
opponent in the current season. So
before the series, the Wolverines
studied clips from last season’s
contests against the Fighting Irish,
but also made sure to analyze tape
from Notre Dame’s most recent
series against Western Michigan.
From here on out, though,
striking that balance is easier. Now
that Michigan has faced all its
conference opponents, it has tape
that is both recent and relevant.
“You learn some things when
you played them once and so this
time around we can show film
against when we played them
this year versus maybe another
team,” Pearson said. “I think that
sometimes players watch it a little
more intent because it’s us against
them. It’s not Niagara against Penn
State. We don’t know their players.
We know our team, so that’s good.”
Pearson
doesn’t
have
a
preference in terms of playing a
team for the first or second time,
while freshman defenseman Cam
York does. York has experience
in playing the same opponents
multiple
times
throughout
a
season, as the U.S. National Team
Development Program — which
he played for prior to joining
Wolverines — follows such a
schedule.
“I’d probably say I like it better
the second time,” York said. “Just
because you kind of have an idea
of how they play and areas that you
can try to expose them.”
Andrew Fenty adjusting to increased expectations in sophomore season
At the end of Andrew Fenty’s
freshman season, the accolades
were coming in droves.
Intercollegiate
Tennis
Association Freshman of the
Year. Big Ten Freshman of the
Year. First-Team All-Big Ten.
So
when
Fenty
was
nominated for Male Freshman
of the Year in the MGoBlue
Awards,
he
thought
things
would go his way.
“I had just gotten NCAA
Rookie of the Year,” Fenty said,
a grin beginning to envelope his
boyish face. “So I was like, ‘Oh,
I’m gonna get it for sure.’ ”
Nearly seven months after
the awards, Fenty now grins
because he didn’t win. The
honor was instead bestowed
on men’s basketball standout
Ignas Brazdeikis.
It proved to be a humbling
moment of introspection and
appreciation for Fenty.
“Drew started to realize,
‘Hey, I’m surrounded by world-
class athletes not only on my
team, but on all teams here,’
” said Michigan coach Adam
Steinberg. “He just started to
take pride in that.”
“Michigan — playing for
Michigan
—
it’s
honestly
different,” Fenty said. “You only
get it if you’re an athlete here.
Being an athlete at Michigan is
not a normal experience. Iggy,
you know, he’s in the league
now, which is crazy. There’s
just world champions, NBA
players. It’s normal here.”
Living up to such lofty
standards, for some, can be
burdensome. Many collegiate
athletes struggle to cope with
the pressure that comes with
representing a school rich in
athletic tradition.
But not Fenty.
“I like it,” Fenty said. “I
really like it. It motivates me
a lot, makes me feel like I’ve
got to work. Playing on those
courts, seeing all the All-
Americans and the banners on
the walls, there’s just a lot to
play for here.”
Fenty is no novice when it
comes to being surrounded by
gifted athletes, and has long-
drawn motivation from a will
to keep up with his peers.
The athletic feats of his
family members,
in
Fenty’s
opinion,
dwarf
his own, which
he places into
his
family’s
“lowest
tier.”
That’s
because
his grandfather,
Phil,
runs
grueling
100-
mile
contests
dubbed
ultramarathons;
his father, Adrian, competes
in marathons and triathlons;
and so on from aunt to uncle to
mother to cousin. Seeing such
achievements pushes Fenty to
work harder on his own craft.
And
Fenty
grew
up
surrounded by tennis greatness
at the prized Junior Tennis
Champions Center in College
Park, Maryland. The JTCC,
noted
for
talented
alumni
like Frances Tiafoe and Denis
Kudla,
enabled
Fenty to see the
potential fruits
of his labor.
“He’s
seen
the
guys
he
grew
up
with
have successful
professional
careers,
and
he wants that,”
Steinberg
said.
“He
wants
people to know
that, hey, Andrew Fenty is
gonna be one of those guys. And
so long as he stays humble and
keeps maturing, he will make a
name for himself in this game
one day. He has the ability,
that’s for sure.”
The talent has been evident
since
Fenty
enrolled
at
Michigan as a highly-touted
blue-chip
recruit.
Now
a
sophomore, with an impressive
year of collegiate tennis under
his belt, Fenty’s
bar
is
raised.
As
the
center
of
attention,
he’ll
have
to
deal with added
popularity
and
expectations
—
a stage that all
budding athletes
endure at one
point
in
their
careers.
At
the
Ann
Arbor Challenger last Tuesday,
that much was apparent.
A recipient of a Wild Card
invitation into the main singles
draw, Fenty bested teammate
Ondrej Styler, 7-6, 7-6, and
moved on to play eighth-seeded
JC Aragone.
The
Challenger
is
an
individual
tournament,
differentiating
it
from
the
team competitions that make
up the bulk of Michigan’s
schedule. After
he
eliminated
Styler,
Fenty
was
the
lone
Wolverine
remaining in the
event — all eyes
were
on
him,
quite
literally.
The
seating
overlooking
the court of the
Fenty-Aragone
match
was
packed to the brim.
Amongst
the
crowd,
in
addition
to
all
of
Fenty’s
teammates and coaches, was
Evan King, a three-time ITA
All-American at Michigan, who
was a Wolverine from 2010-
2013. Not too long ago, King
was showing Fenty around Ann
Arbor as a volunteer assistant
on Fenty’s recruiting visit. Now,
King, who also participated
in
the
Challenger,
stands
behind the seats, watching the
program’s future play on the
courts he once dominated.
Fenty lost the match, 6-1,
6-4, a case of a younger player
simply running into a more
seasoned opponent. For Fenty,
there were more important
takeaways
from
the
match
than his play. After the match,
he noted how he’ll have to
adjust to and learn to ignore
outside noise from big crowds
and attention from successful
alumni, like King.
“Once he gets tennis specific
in his mind, the rankings and
expectations and this and that,
that will go away,” Steinberg
said. “It’s not easy to do when
you’re young and you had the
year he had last year.”
Thus far, Steinberg maintains
that Fenty is dealing with the
changes admirably.
“I’ve been coaching for thirty
years and to see the change in
Drew from his first fall until
now, it’s pretty remarkable,”
Steinberg said. “He’s really
grown
a
lot,
improved
in
every area, not just on the
court but everywhere — in
the classroom, as a teammate,
in understanding what our
program is about. I use him as
an example all the time.”
Inside the Varsity Tennis
Center, a half hour removed
from
his
Challenger
loss
and having just finished up
routine post-match work on
the stationary bike, Fenty leans
his slender 6-foot-4 frame up
against an off-white railing.
The crowd that flooded his
match is long gone, the building
largely quiet except for the
mellow sounds accompanying a
few ongoing tennis rallies. His
eyes gaze beyond the courts,
settling on the walls draped by
the banners and placards that
memorialize Michigan tennis
lore.
“I’m just trying to make my
own name,” Fenty said. “Trying
to do something in tennis.
That’s what I’m here for.”
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Sophomore Andrew Fenty was named NCAA’s Rookie of the Year in 2019 and has developed into a key player for the Wolverines as a sophomore this season.
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Michigan coach Mel Pearson is hoping that getting a second shot at familiar opponents can help spark a turnaround.
ABBY SNYDER
Daily Sports Writer
ROHAN KUMAR
Daily Sports Writer
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Redshirt junior center Austin Davis is averaging 4.6 points per game this year.
It’s just about
filling whatever
role that my
brothers need.
JARED GREENSPAN
Daily Sports Writer
Playing on
those courts...
just a lot to play
for here.
He will make
a name for
himself in this
game one day.