It's Been A Good Summer For Michigan Basketball

Michigan basketball radio analyst Chris Young explains how important it was for U-M to get Franz Wagner and Isaiah Livers back for the 2020-21 season.

Michigan basketball fans have received good news this summer with two of their best players from last year’s team, Franz Wagner and Isaiah Livers, deciding their NBA aspirations could wait, both forgoing the NBA Draft and returning to Ann Arbor for another season.

Wagner shot 45.2% from the field while averaging 11.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game his freshman season at Michigan. He played 61% of the Wolverines' minutes at the '3' and 18% of Michigan’s minutes at the '2' during U-M’s final five games before the season came to a sudden halt.

“I think Franz’s ceiling is pretty close if not right at where his brother’s ceiling is at, as far as what he can do on the court,” said former Michigan basketball center (1999-2002) and radio analyst Chris Young. “[Offseason workouts] I’m sure will be able to put 25 pounds of solid muscle on the kid, so what is he going to be able to do now?

“How is he going to be able to take contact? Where is his ceiling going to be this year if he stays healthy? I think his upside is huge, and him coming back is a very positive thing for this team because he is kind of that X-factor guy.

“I think he is going to be the one that really drives this team. We know what we are going to get from a lot of the older and experienced guys, it’s what Franz is going to bring that can really put this team over the edge.”

Young also noted how Wagner’s size at the 2-3 positions and style of play may make him one of the Wolverines’ most explosive players next season.

“He’s got that Euro-style game, which is a little bit off-speed, it’s not the traditional American style game,” Young said. “He’s able to kind of lull a guy to sleep and then use his quick first step, and at 6-9 he can get past guys and get to the rim. 

"Now, I’m excited to see if he’s got more weight put on him, if he’s attacking the rim. So, instead of getting to the rim and finger rolling, he’s trying to dunk it on people.”

Even with the NBA Draft scheduled for Oct. 16, there are still many questions surrounding how the NBA will handle the draft and the combine process that precedes it. With all of that in mind, Young believes Livers made the right decision to return to Ann Arbor for his senior season.

“I think Livers’ game has the potential to be an NBA style game, but what he showed last year, partly due to the injuries, was he wasn’t there yet,” Young said. “Had the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA Tournament happened, I think he would have put something together to really increase his value and show what his game is capable of, but where he was when the season stopped last year, I don’t think he was NBA ready.”

Livers shot 44.7% from the field and averaged 12.9 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in the 21 games he played for the Wolverines last season. The 6-7 forward played 76% of the Wolverines' minutes at the '4' and 9% of Michigan’s minutes at the '3' in U-M’s final five games of the season.

But it's more than what he brings physically on the court that excites Young. 

“It’s a huge addition to bring Livers back because of how much experience he has,” Young said. “He can become a leader on this team especially after losing Zavier Simpson [to graduation], and you need guys like that in the locker room.

“[Senior] Eli Brooks is back, but he doesn’t show me that he is that real vocal guy. He leads by example. Isaiah Livers seems like that vocal ‘rah-rah, let’s get going’ type guy, so it is a very good thing that he is back for Michigan.”

Young thinks both Wagner and Livers will be very important in helping the two transfers, point guard Mike Smith and wing Chaundee Brown, as well as freshmen Hunter Dickinson, Zeb Jackson, Terrance Williams and Jace Howard integrate into coach Juwan Howard’s system.

“The transfers have gone through another system that is different than what Coach Howard is doing, so it is important to have those guys that have already spent a year with Juwan show them the ropes,” Young said. “

There are also a bunch of freshmen coming in and a lot of them are going to have to play pretty heavy minutes, so they need to learn about what you have to do on the road in the Big Ten and those little nuances that they’re not going to know right off the bat.”