8 — Tuesday, April 7, 2020
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan guard David
DeJulius plans to enter the
transfer portal, according
to a program spokesperson.
The news was first broken
by
Josh
Henschke
of
247Sports.
A
former
four-star
recruit from Detroit in 2018,
DeJulius played sparingly as
a freshman before taking on
a bigger role this past season.
He averaged 7.0 points on
42 percent shooting this
past season and started
in place of senior guard
Zavier Simpson during the
Wolverines’ trip to Lincoln
in January.
DeJulius,
who
was
recruited
by
former
Michigan
coach
John
Beilein,
seemed
to
be
adjusting
well
to
the
beginning of the Juwan
Howard era in Ann Arbor.
On Dec. 2, DeJulius praised
Howard’s open door policy.
“You can just walk into
his office at any time of
the day and just talk about
anything,” DeJulius said.
“It doesn’t even have to
be about basketball. A lot
of times, he’ll pull you in
and talk to you and it won’t
have nothing to do with
basketball,
‘How’s
your
family? How are you? How’s
school? How are you doing
mentally?’ ”
In a conversation during
January, DeJulius echoed
a similar sentiment after
the two met for breakfast at
Sava’s on State Street.
“No matter the time of
day, you can hit him up,”
DeJulius told The Daily.
“Just to know you have a
coach that’s been through
what you’ve been through,
you’re able to relate to him
and he’s able to relate to you.
It’s a very good feeling to go
out there and play for him.”
Even
beyond
Howard,
DeJulius was outspoken in
his ability to connect with
the rest of the stuff. In
particular, he bonded with
assistant
coach
Howard
Eisley over their shared
Detroit roots.
“(Eisley) was like an OG
from the city,” DeJulius
said in February, “But now
he came in and now he’s my
coach, so I’m just going to
embrace it. He had a great
career in the NBA so I’m
just trying to pick (up) as
much knowledge from him
as I can. We connected, just
both being from Detroit.
Being from the inner city,
just seeing the type of life
he made for himself and
his family, how he conducts
himself on and off the court,
and me (being) inspired to
get to the level he’s on. We
just kind of connected from
that standpoint.”
Given
the
Wolverines’
five public class of 2020
commitments, attrition was
always going to be inevitable.
But with Michigan in strong
contention for class of 2020
five-star
shooting
guard
Josh
Christopher
and
Harvard graduate transfer
Bryce
Aiken,
perhaps
DeJulius’ departure boils
down to a desire for playing
time. He’s shown enough
in his time at Michigan to
draw national high-major
interest.
And
now,
with
his
decision
to
transfer
expected to become official
later this week, DeJulius
will finish out his remaining
two
years
of
eligibility
elsewhere.
What was already likely
to be a revamped Michigan
men’s
basketball
roster
heading into next season
became
even
more
so
Monday afternoon with the
announcement that guard
David DeJulius had entered
the transfer portal.
A
Detroit
native,
DeJulius was in line to
compete for the starting
point guard job following
the departure of senior
Zavier Simpson. Instead,
DeJulius
will
complete
his two remaining years of
eligibility elsewhere.
DeJulius’s
announcement
comes
as
somewhat of a surprise
given
his
reportedly
strong relationships with
first-year
coach
Juwan
Howard
and
assistants
Phil Martelli and Howard
Eisley. DeJulius was one
of the first players off the
bench for the Wolverines,
averaging
20.9
minutes
across all 31 games and even
started against Nebraska on
Jan. 28 following Simpson’s
one-game suspension. At
times, DeJulius provided a
jolt of much-needed energy
and even amidst struggles,
displayed a certain bravado
and confidence.
“At
my
position,
if
I’m hitting shots, good,”
DeJulius
said
back
in
November. “Each and every
night, I can’t have a night off,
where I’m not rebounding
or where I’m not guarding.
That’s gonna keep me on
the floor. Hitting shots just
adds to that. But, at the very
least, I’m going to give my
teammates all I can on the
defensive end and in the
muscle areas.”
But, even with Simpson
and
center
Jon
Teske
departing
and
junior
forward
Isaiah
Livers
testing
the
NBA
Draft
waters,
an
offseason
transfer
or
two
was
probable. On top of bringing
center Austin Davis back
on a fifth-year scholarship,
Michigan will usher in a
loaded
2020
recruiting
class of five commits. Five-
star guard Josh Christopher
may add to that number
with
an
announcement
in the coming weeks. The
Wolverines are also in the
running for sought-after
graduate transfers Bryce
Aiken of Harvard and Mike
Smith of Columbia — both
point guards. Once all those
questions
are
answered,
Michigan
will
need
to
come away with just 13
scholarship players.
DeJulius
has
yet
to
speak publicly about his
decision, but guaranteed
playing time likely factored
into
the
equation.
The
addition of Aiken or Smith
to
Michigan’s
backcourt
would
undoubtedly
jeopardize that prospect.
As for now though, his
exit means rising senior
Eli Brooks will have to
shoulder
much
of
the
burden,
both
from
an
offensive and leadership
perspective. Brooks started
alongside Simpson at the
“2” last season but served as
the backup point guard the
two years prior.
Brooks
enjoyed
somewhat of a breakout
junior
season
under
Howard,
averaging
10.6
points and shooting 36.4
percent from deep. He also
was the Wolverines’ best
perimeter defender.
“A lot of people overlook
Eli,”
Livers
said
after
Michigan’s February win
over Michigan State. “I
honestly
hate
when
he
guards me in practice. You
can’t come off any ball
screens, you can’t drive. He
doesn’t give up any angles.
He told me his dad taught
him that at a young age, so
that’s why he’s so excellent
at it now.”
From
a
production
standpoint, Brooks is more
than capable of stepping
into a primary role. Dubbed
“the silent assassin” by
teammates, Brooks is not
the vocal presence that
Simpson or even DeJulius
was. Whether he likes it
or not, now Brooks has to
assume more of that role —
especially if Livers opts to
leave.
Brooks, Davis, freshman
standout
Franz
Wagner
and versatile sophomore
forward
Brandon
Johns
Jr. will all have significant
roles next season for the
Wolverines. Accompanying
a premature and abrupt
offseason
though,
are
a
number
of
questions
yet to be answered: Will
Livers return for his senior
season? Who else might
transfer? Will Christopher
join a stacked 2020 class?
Can Michigan land Aiken or
Smith? And, what does the
rotation look like heading
into next season?
DeJulius’s
transfer
announcement is just the
first of many dominoes still
to fall.
DeParted
In surprise move, David DeJulius enters the transfer portal, leaving ‘M’ without presumptive starter
DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer
CONNOR BRENNAN
Daily Sports Writer
MILES MACKLIN/Daily
David DeJulius will enter the transfer portal, a program spokesperson confirmed to The Daily.
2019: John Beilein leaves
for the Cleveland Cavaliers
I’d imagine if you’d taken
an on-campus approval poll
of every athletic figure at the
school (addendum: someone
should do this), Beilein likely
would have ranked highest.
People inside and outside
the program knew him to
be a good person. And most
importantly, he won — a lot.
He singlehandedly made a
program relevant at a school
that prioritized football first,
second and third. He never
recruited quite as well as
you’d hoped; by the end, he
made you a truther in that
philosophy, anyway.
For those not plugged into
Beilein’s
inner-circle,
the
departure came as a shock.
That ship seemed to have
sailed for a 66-year-old college
basketball lifer to gamble
on a professional job, in the
unlikely event one would
even surface. But he did. On
a random May morning, a
single tweet from Adrian
Wojnarowski
sent
ripples
from Ann Arbor to Cleveland
and beyond.
His departure also marked
an inflection point in the
trajectory of the program.
Could the infrastructure he
built sustain his departure?
Would interest around the
program wane?
Early signs are eminently
positive
on
both
fronts,
though far from a closed book.
In other words: it should speak
volumes about his successor
that when Beilein’s tenure
with the Cleveland Cavaliers
petered out, there wasn’t
even the slightest suggestion
that Michigan should try to
rekindle the flame.
That doesn’t make that
single moment — the kind that
triggered double- and triple-
takes — any less startling.
2018:
Jordan
Poole’s
miracle shot
Much has been written
about this, so much of it is
really, really good. There is one
thing that I think routinely
gets overlooked, though.
Put yourself in the shoes
of Muhammad Ali Abdur-
Rahkman in this moment.
Your college career, one which
not only ranks among the
best in program history, but
which has never received the
credit it deserves, hangs in the
balance. This play is for you —
the same play they ran against
Minnesota
earlier
in
the
season to get him to the free-
throw line and force overtime.
You should be the hero.
The ball is in your hands.
The clock is dwindling. You
catch the ball at midcourt,
begin to dribble and hear this
voice belting your name. You
have to make this split-second
decision: keep dribbling and
try to get this yourself, as
roughly 99 percent of college
basketball
players
in
his
spot would, or pass to the
freshman who had yet to take
a shot all game, made just five
of his 19 shots in the Big Ten
Tournament
and
averaged
just over 12 minutes per game.
It’s easy to imagine a
scenario
where
Poole’s
wayward attempt bricks rim,
Michigan packs up a roller-
coaster season and Abdur-
Rahkman
spends
years
regretting giving up the ball
at all.
The shot, of course, went in.
Pandemonium ensued. The
bench went nuts. Skeeps lost
its mind. Students flooded
the streets. Poole became
an instant legend. Michigan
made the National Title Game.
The rest is history.
There are plenty of ways to
dissect this play from Poole’s
perspective. But man, that’s
also an astounding display of
faith from Abdur-Rahkman,
a habitually selfless basketball
player. Let’s not lose sight of
that.
(Oh, it also gave us the
single most iconic image in
Michigan Daily history.)
2019:
Bakich
leads
insurgent Michigan team to
College World Series
They just kept winning.
The Wolverines entered the
Big Ten Tournament unsure
if they’d even make the
NCAA
Tournament.
They
did. The won their Regional.
They beat Texas Tech, then
Florida State, then Texas
Tech again. There were folk
heroes, like Jimmy Kerr and
Tommy Henry. There was
late-inning magic. At some
point, those of us who believe
in
whimsical
things
like
“destiny” in sports couldn’t
help but feel this was it.
Suddenly, coach Erik Bakich,
the disciple, was staring down
Vanderbilt coach, Tim Corbin,
the master, with a chance at
college baseball glory. Quietly,
Bakich took a middling Big
Ten program and made it
a
model
for
midwestern
baseball
during
the
last
four years. And I say quiet,
knowing that emergence from
subtlety probably came earlier
than expected.
The Wolverines came just
short, of course, losing Game
Three of the College World
Series to the Commodores,
8-2. But the run put Michigan
baseball on the map, locally
and nationally, in a way it
hasn’t been in quite awhile.
2017: Michigan loses to
Michigan State, fans have
fun anyway
Time to get on a bit of a
soapbox. If you crowdsourced
the entire senior class, I bet a
plurality would point to this
game as their single favorite
sports moment in college.
They’ll tell you about how
the rain actually energized
everyone. They’ll pull out
their iPhone, pull up the
link of everyone singing Mr.
Brightside. And that’s cool.
They
leave
out
one
convenient fact: This is one
of the worst losses of the
Harbaugh era to date!
MEMORIES
From Page 7
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