NCAA: Michigan’s Caris LeVert Ready For His Own Spotlight
By Nathan Giese
In the weeks and months leading up to the start of practices in October, we’ll take a look at some of the biggest teams, players and stories for the 2014-15 NCAA college basketball season. Each team has one burning question we’ll take a look at.
After suffering through the downfall of the Ed Martin sanctions, Michigan’s basketball program went through some turbulent times. Removing of the Fab Five’s Final Four banners, scholarship cuts and a string of bad seasons, the Wolverines were looking for something, anything, to get them back on track.
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Michigan started by nabbing a coach who had a great track record while doing things the right way. Bringing in John Beilein was the first step.
The next step was recruiting. Michigan finally struck gold in 2011 when Trey Burke decided to play for the Wolverines instead of his hometown Ohio State Buckeyes.
Burke led the Wolverines to the NCAA tournament in his first year as a freshman point guard, but lost to Ohio in the first round.
It was almost too easy for Michigan, but they also almost lost Burke to the NBA after that lone season. Lucky for them, Burke decided to return to school and the rest is history.
Burke led the Wolverines, once again, to the NCAA tournament in 2013, won almost every National Player of the Year award imaginable and took Michigan to the national championship game against Louisville. Despite their best efforts in a great game, the Wolverines came up short in their championship effort.
Michigan did lose Burke to the NBA Draft that time, as well as Tim Hardaway Jr. Their top two playmakers and scorers were going to the NBA, leaving behind a trio that wasn’t expected to do much without them.
Despite the naysayers, another star rose up for the Wolverines in Nik Stauskas. The sharpshooter on the team that reached the national final, Stauskas spent the summer bulking up and becoming a better overall player.
He not only became a better player, but was one of the best players in the country last season. So much so he earned Big Ten Player of the Year honors, helped Michigan win the conference and enjoyed a lottery selection in the 2014 NBA Draft, something nobody expected before the year.
Now, there’s another star waiting in the wings for Michigan. Somebody that played understudy to Stauskas and Glenn Robinson III last year, as well as Burke and Hardaway Jr. the year before that.
His name is Caris LeVert and he’s ready to break out for Michigan, something the Wolverines will desperately need after losing three players to the NBA from last year’s squad.
He’s not exactly flying under the radar like Stauskas was, though. Every outlet in America that covers college basketball has handed the Wolverine’s reigns off to LeVert.
No matter where you turn, the attention is on LeVert, and with good reason. His contributions to Michigan in his first two years have been remarkable but also under appreciated.
He and Spike Albrecht are the only two players on Michigan’s roster for next season that have experienced the national title game in 2013 and the Elite Eight appearance in 2014. Experience and leadership are going to be big keys for the Ohio native.
In his freshman year, LeVert only saw the floor 10 minutes per game because of the talented roster the Wolverines had. He wasn’t needed.
Last season he was very needed and provided a huge boost in his production with increased playing time. LeVert played 34 minutes per game while averaging 12.9 points, shooting 43 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc.
His versatility, length and speed were what drove him to elevate his game last season. It’s those tools that will help make him a star this year.
LeVert won’t be alone for Michigan, though. In fact, he can’t do it alone.
Not in the Big Ten where the favorite to win the conference — Wisconsin — is as loaded as they’ve ever been under Bo Ryan. What it will take for Michigan to, once again, surprise people, will be for LeVert to come into his own as a star and get some help along the way.
Most of that help will have to come from the backcourt. Losing Stauskas is a big hit, but LeVert is expected to take over that role.
So the question is, who takes over the role of LeVert? First dibs on that role should go to Zak Irvin, who, like LeVert in his first year, was a bit of a role player.
Irvin played 15 minutes a game in his first year, shot 43 percent from the field — including 42 percent from 3 — to average 6.7 points per game. Not impressive numbers, but he showed flashes of great ability to step his game up this season.
Aside from those two, Derrick Walton Jr. will need to continue improving. Walton, too, showed glimpses of great ability but struggled to maintain a solid stretch of games.
He’ll need to mature and be a floor general if the Wolverines want to succeed this year.
As for the front court, Beilein will rely on incoming freshmen after the graduation of Jordan Morgan and the transfer of Jon Horford. Kameron Chatman, a 6’7″ small forward could see himself playing a stretch-4 for the Wolverines, similar to the role GRIII played the last two years.
Ricky Doyle, a 6’9″ power forward, is likely to play the primary post position. The freshmen won’t have to be stars, but they will have to show toughness and maturity quickly if Michigan wants to properly do battle with the Badgers this year for the Big Ten title.
Through this, though, it’ll be LeVert that determines just how far Michigan can go this year. A supremely talented player in his own right, the junior is ready for his own stage.
All five starters from that national championship game are now in the NBA, leaving big holes to fill.
Pressure and attention are now on Caris LeVert, but he’s ready for the spotlight. He has to be.
Michigan depends on it.