8 — Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Simpson violated team policies,
won’t travel, Juwan Howard says
The
Michigan
men’s
basketball team has suspended
senior
point
guard
Zavier
Simpson for one game, coach
Juwan Howard announced on
Monday.
“While we are disappointed
with what has transpired with
Zavier, we know there are
always lessons to learn and
grow from,” Howard said in
a statement. “We take these
matters and consequences very
seriously. Moving forward, we
will continue to handle this
matter appropriately within our
program and basketball family.”
Simpson informed the team of
his suspension via text message
on Sunday night, according to
senior center Jon Teske. He
will not travel with the team to
Lincoln.
While the exact cause of the
suspension is currently unclear,
it was labeled a “violation of
team policy.” Brendan Quinn
of The Athletic reported that it
is related to a weekend traffic
incident.
The Wolverines will now
be without the nation’s assists
leader when they travel to
Nebraska on Tuesday night.
The length of the suspension
will be “re-evaluated” following
Tuesday’s game, according to
Howard.
Howard declined to share a
timeline of events, noting it was
going to be kept “in-house.”
Mired
in
the
program’s
longest losing streak since 2015,
Michigan sits in sole possession
of 12th place in the Big Ten
standings. When the Wolverines
attempt to right the ship on
Tuesday, they will now be forced
to do so without a player who’s
given them at least 37 minutes in
five of the last six games, leaving
a major void in the rotation.
Beyond
Simpson’s
ball-
handling capabilities, Michigan
is losing its loudest on-court
voice. Simpson’s leadership has
been lauded throughout his
tenure in Ann Arbor and, most
recently, Howard has made a
habit of likening him to Tom
Brady in that regard.
On Tuesday, the Wolverines
will be tasked with filling the
void. Howard, Teske and junior
guard Eli Brooks all voiced
a desire to take a collective
approach in doing so.
Though
Howard
told
reporters on Monday afternoon
that he hasn’t selected a starting
lineup replacement, sophomore
guard David DeJulius seems
to be the likeliest candidate to
start in Simpson’s place against
the Cornhuskers.
Tuesday’s
game
will
be
the first time the Wolverines’
starting backcourt does not
include Simpson in more than
two years.
“(Simpson) was disappointed
for many reasons,” Howard said.
“Overall, he knows the team is
going to miss him. He knows he
let his teammates down.”
DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer
Suspension doesn’t spell season’s end
B
efore Monday, the
circumstances of the
Michigan men’s bas-
ketball team could probably be
categorized as run-of-the-mill
adversity.
A star
player goes
down with
an injury.
The team
loses four
straight
games — its
longest los-
ing streak
since 2015 —
and five of its
last six. The
star player comes back and suf-
fers another injury. A series of
unfortunate events culminating
into a bleak situation. And that’s
all it was supposed to be.
Until senior guard Zavier
Simpson was served with a sus-
pension.
While the details of the sus-
pension are still unclear and
coach Juwan Howard is keeping
the details in-house, Simpson
will be sitting out Tuesday’s
game at Nebraska. The Wol-
verines’ identity is crumbling
before their very eyes, they’re
seemingly losing their compo-
sure and everyone and their
mother is throwing out the
word crossroads.
The question now becomes
whether or not to slam on the
panic button as quickly as pos-
sible or take a more measured
approach to the whole affair.
Since sports fanatics are
famously known for making
long, drawn-out decisions on
how to feel about a given situ-
ation, I’m sure the public reac-
tion will be more reprehensive,
akin to simply saying, “Well,
that sucks.”
Except it’s not. Everyone’s
going to be screaming and
Tuesday’s game in Lincoln will
serve as a complete and utter
indictment on the team and its
postseason hopes.
Win and your hopes are alive.
Lose and you’ve booked a one-
way ticket to the NIT.
Granted, with a healthy ros-
ter and no self-inflicted wounds,
the Wolverines trounce Nebras-
ka. With the Cornhuskers
sitting comfortably in the base-
ment of the Big Ten and ranked
131st on KenPom.com, Michigan
has the talent and experience to
get the job done nine times out
of 10.
This game shouldn’t be a
question.
But the fact that it is now
doesn’t mean the team is
cooked. There is a monsoon
of factors working against the
Wolverines. Perhaps things
should be taken day-by-day.
Take it from Howard himself.
“We’re not drowning in our
own tears or drowning in a
lake,” Howard said. “It’s not
the end of the world. The mood
of our team is we’re solution-
based. We’re gonna roll up our
sleeves, figure out how we can
get better as a group and guys
are in the gym working hard,
and they had a great practice
yesterday, and we expect to have
a better practice today to prep
for Nebraska.”
Sophomore guard David
DeJulius — expected to be the
starter in Simpson’s wake —
could very well step up and
prove to be as effectual as the
missing leader. After all, it was
in Simpson’s sophomore cam-
paign that he emerged as the de-
facto leader of his squad.
Simpson could come back
stronger than ever, having used
the suspension as a lesson and
ready to lead his team from the
bottom to the brink.
DeJulius has shown flashes
this season and could be a
perfectly apt placeholder for
Simpson, averaging 7.7 points
per game and a much-improved
player efficiency rating of 14.3.
Look as far back as the game
against North Carolina when
Simpson went out in foul trouble
— DeJulius stepped up and
led the Wolverines on a game-
deciding run.
“Dave knows how to get to his
spots and make shots, and that’s
something that he does really
well,” junior guard Eli Brooks
said after mentioning the game
against the Tar Heels. “So I just
try to help him with being able
to lead the team and getting
people in the right spots.”
Currently, there are too many
unknowns to make a definitive
statement about this season, so
don’t believe anyone who would
tell you otherwise.
What is known, though, is
that Simpson made a mistake, is
being punished and will show
the world what kind of person
he is in his response over the
coming weeks.
But in the meantime, treat
the 2019-2020 basketball sea-
son as Howard is treating this
suspension — witness its events
day-by-day and reevaluate after
Nebraska.
Freaking out over a late-Jan-
uary game in a season in which
Duke lost at home to Stephen F.
Austin, the Big Ten seems com-
mitted to not having a single
one of its teams enter the NCAA
Tournament and college bas-
ketball’s best player is sitting
out solely to spite the NCAA is a
fool’s errand.
Look at this game for what it
is on paper — one of the confer-
ence’s worst teams attempting
to steal a win from a sorely
short-staffed, high-potential
team.
Because if everyone comes
back healthy and educated, a
road game against the Corn-
huskers may look more and
more like a low point rather
than a crossroads.
Kopnick can be reached via
email at jkopnick@umich.edu
or on Twitter @jkopnick.
JACOB
KOPNICK
SENIOR POINT GUARD WILL MISS
TUESDAY’S GAME AT NEBRASKA
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Asha Lewis / Daily
SIMPSON
SUSPENDED
We know there
are always
lessons to learn
and grow from.
WHAT MICHIGAN IS MISSING WITHOUT ZAVIER SIMPSON
33.7 MINUTES PER GAME
12.8 POINTS PER GAME
8.3 ASSISTS PER GAME
Design by Jack Silberman