Michigan 2006 Season | Team Page

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Special Athlon offer for SI.com readers The Lowdown Head Coach: John Beilein 2006-07 Record (Big Ten): 22–13 (8–8) Key Losses: G/F Lester Abram (9.1 ppg, 3.8 rpg), G Dion Harris (13.4 ppg, 3.6 apg), F Brent Petway (6.8 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.5 bpg), C Courtney Sims (11.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.3 bpg) Postseason: NIT: Defeated Utah State 68–58, lost to Florida State 87–66 in the second round Returning Players No. Player. Pos. Ht. Yr. PPG RPG APG 24 Ron Coleman G/F 6'6" Sr. 5.7 3.1 1.1 40 Phil DeVries C 6'10" Jr. 0.0 1.0 0.0 30 David Merritt G 5'10" Sr. 1.3 0.8 0.5 21 Kendric Price F 6'8" So. 1.1 0.9 0.1 15 Jevohn Shepherd G/F 6'5" Jr. 1.9 1.6 0.6 4 DeShawn Sims F 6'8" So. 3.4 2.3 0.3 1 Jerret Smith G 6'3" Jr. 5.7 2.7 3.4 22 Ekpe Udoh F 6'10" So. 5.0 4.0 0.8 Fresh Faces No. Player Pos. Ht.. Yr. School 32 Zack Gibson C 6'10" So. Grand Blanc, MI/Transfer from Rutgers 44 Kelvin Grady G 5'11" Fr. Grand Rapids, MI/East Grand Rapids 3 Manny Harris G 6'5" Fr. Detroit, MI/Redford 2 C.J. Lee G 6'0" Jr. Pittsford, NY/Transfer from Manhattan 5 K’Len Morris G/F 6'4" Fr. Grand Blanc, MI/Medical Redshirt 2006-07 34 Eric Puls F 6'10" Fr. Alpena, MI/Alpena 12 Anthony Wright F 6'6" Fr. Sterling, VA/Redshirt 2006-07 Harris is the jewel of the recruiting class. A tremendous athlete with All-Big Ten potential, Harris should step right into the starting lineup. Grady is an undersized point guard with good quickness. Lee, who played sparingly in two seasons with Manhattan before sitting out last season, will push Grady and Smith for a starting role. Gibson, a Rutgers transfer, could back up Udoh at center. To order your 2007 Athlon Sports annual and receive $1 off plus free shipping courtesy of SI.com, click here.

John Beilein knows how to energize basketball programs in sleepy college towns. His new challenge is to awaken a sleeping giant. Tommy Amaker brought respect back to a program rattled by NCAA investigations and sanctions. What he couldn’t deliver was a Big Ten contender, or even a single NCAA Tournament appearance. Even a senior-laden roster and an 11–1 start last season couldn’t change that. That led to Amaker’s ouster and the hiring of Beilein, who has been a big winner at Canisius, Richmond and West Virginia.

Resurrecting the Wolverines in the short term will be a formidable task. Michigan lost its top four scorers and has only 11 scholarship players this season.

“Making the tournament is the eventual goal,” Beilein says. “It’s something we expect to do. In what year, I don’t know. Our goal this year is just to get better every day. We want to establish a steady diet of development.”

Beilein’s offensive scheme is a Princeton-style attack with a heavy emphasis on 3-point shooting. He’s not sure if he has the players to fire away as often as the Mountaineers did in recent years.

“We’ll tweak our philosophy to fit our personnel,” he says. “We want a high IQ team that makes good basketball decisions. In some years, we’ve averaged 20 3-pointers a game. In others, we’ve averaged 30 or in the high 20s. Obviously, if you’re not a good shooting team, you’re not going to shoot that many.”

Defensively, Beilein favors a 1-3-1 zone, though he’s not averse to playing man-to-man. “It started out as a gimmick,” he says. “We look at it much differently now.”

People will look at Beilein differently, now, too. He’ll get a honeymoon period with the Wolverines, but he knows the pressure will amp up after this rebuilding season.

“There’s a tremendously high ceiling of what this program can accomplish,” he says. “The potential is there because they’ve done it in the past during the ’70s, ’80s and early ’90s. They were always in the national picture.”

FRONTCOURT

Ekpe Udoh and DeShawn Sims will make the transition from part-timers to perhaps the two most important players on the roster. Udoh blocked 67 shots as a freshman last season, and Beilein believes Udoh could be one of the nation’s leaders in that category. In any case, the 6'10" Udoh will be the defensive anchor on a club that will have to scrounge for points. Sims could emerge as the team’s No. 1 scoring option. Beilein believes Sims’ shooting range extends beyond the 3-point line, even though he didn’t make one three last season.

Ron Coleman, the only senior scholarship player, is a solid jump shooter who should double his 5.7-point average from last season. His leadership will be just as important as the underclassmen learn how to play heavy minutes.

Jevohn Shepherd appeared in 29 games last season and is a candidate to start at small forward or shooting guard. Anthony Wright, a redshirt last season, fits into Beilein’s offense because of his shooting ability.

BACKCOURT

Jerret Smith’s growth as a point guard will go a long way toward determining whether the Wolverines transform their attack. Michigan averaged more turnovers than assists last season, and Beilein expects smarter decisions from Smith, who averaged 3.4 assists and 2.6 turnovers as a part-time starter.

True freshmen Corperryale “Manny” Harris and Kelvin Grady could jump right into the rotation. Harris, named Michigan’s Mr. Basketball as a prep senior, needs work on his jumper, but his slashing ability will create opportunities for himself and his teammates. Grady, blessed with 4.4 speed, also has the quickness to get to the basket, but he’ll have to prove he can run Beilein’s attack. “My sense is that one or both of them will get thrown in there to see what they can do,” Beilein says.

Holdover K’Len Morris, a medical redshirt last year, is a spot-up shooter. Manhattan transfer C.J. Lee is another candidate at the point.

FINAL ANALYSIS

Beilein needs a couple of recruiting classes to make a serious impact in the Big Ten. Right now, he doesn’t have the personnel or experience to get into the top of half of the standings. If Udoh, Sims and Harris develop at a rapid pace, the Wolverines could finish .500 overall — but not in the league.