There aren’t a ton of familiar faces on the Michigan men’s basketball team this season, but two of the returning players have stepped up as leaders ahead of the 2024-25 campaign:
There’s a lot of newness surrounding the Michigan men’s basketball team heading into the 2024-25 season: there’s a new coaching staff, and a roster with nine new faces, six of which coming from the transfer portal.
All that newness can rightfully cause anxiety and induce stress, in the same way that moving apartments does — you don’t know where everything is, you don’t know how to get to certain places, and a fear of the unknown can become overwhelming.
Thankfully, this basketball team hasn’t dealt with as much of that moving anxiety thanks to the calming presence of grad student guard Nimari Burnett and redshirt senior forward Will Tschetter, two of the only returning players on this roster. Head Coach Dusty May spoke highly of that pairing at Media Day last week.
“I can’t compliment those guys enough for what they’ve done and how important they’ve been in recruiting, how they’ve been just helping the staff get acclimated, at least everyone is trying to help us avoid spending time on things we don’t need to be spending time on,” May said.
A team full of newness needs leadership, an element crucial to winning games in college basketball. Burnett and Tschetter have stepped up as leaders on this roster, and their contrasting leadership styles were on full display at the team’s Pro Day : in the 5-on-5 portions, Burnett led by example and communicated well on defense when he needed to, but he mostly kept quiet. Tschetter kept the mood light with little jokes and funny comments in breaks in the action, in a necessary way that was lighthearted but also not distracting. He showcased great vocal leadership.
“Me and Will’s leadership tendencies are different, but at the same time, we both engage with the same idea of wanting to win,” Burnett said at Media Day. “He’s very energetic, very loud and I love it, because you’re not going to be the same person, so he can offer different perspectives than I can and I can offer different perspectives than he can, so talking to the young guys and just guys that haven’t been around Michigan, just showing them the ropes and communicating with them. It allows us to leaders, but also builds relationships.”
Tschetter lost 20 pounds since last season, saying that May’s pace of play played a factor into that, as he wanted to increase his switchability on defense. May said that he will play a key role on this team, much like how he was a spark plug off the bench last season.
“Will Tschetter, I don’t think anyone in this room expects him to lead us in scoring, but he’s had as big of a role as far as leadership, modeling behavior, being a voice, sharing his experiences in this conference,” May said.
An important trait that leaders need to have is respect from their peers, and both Burnett and Tschetter appear to have it. If the rotation we saw in the Oakland scrimmage win was any indication , the pair were the first two players off the bench and contributed on both sides of the ball.
Tschetter actually led the team in scoring, totaling 15 points, shooting the ball well (6-for-8 from the field, 1-for-1 from three) and thriving next to Danny Wolf and his playmaking prowess. He also showcased a lot of confidence, at one point pulling up for a midrange jumper late in the game that would have been shocking two seasons ago. Burnett didn’t shoot the ball as well (2-for-8, all from three), but he played good on-ball defense and played well in transition.
To be frank, both players were probably relied upon too much on a bad team last season, especially Burnett, who was often asked to play point guard when that is not an ideal role for him. On this Michigan team, they provide much-needed depth. May made sure to point out that they are not just leaders; they’re contributors on a very talented roster.
“Those guys have played well. Will and Nimari, they perform at a high level in practice, they bring a different element to our team that we probably didn’t have if those didn’t stay with us. We’re very, very fortunate that those guys chose to stay here and they love Michigan.”
“That’s another thing that’s contagious,” May continued. “Until you see the pride in the program and feel it, you don’t know and those guys have both talked about it extensively how much it means to wear that M. So we’re extremely excited to go through the season with those guys still being apart of Michigan.”