He's One Of The Top U-M Athletes You've Never Heard Of

Though Michigan is clearly leading the way when it comes to college athletics, the harsh reality is that, for many of these athletes, the impressive accolades will go largely unnoticed by the casual fan.

The University of Michigan is seemingly in its Golden Age of college athletics at the moment. From top to bottom, there isn’t a single University in the world that can compete with Michigan in terms of academic excellence and athletic success.

Over the last 12 months, U-M has produced the following:

• 2022 Big Ten Coach of the Year (Basketball)r: Kim Barnes Arico
• 2021 Big Ten Player of the Year: Naz Hillmon
• 2021 Michigan Female Athlete of the Year: Naz Hillmon
• 2021 College Football Coach of the Year: Jim Harbaugh
• 2022 College Football Big Ten Champions
• 2021 Big Ten Coach of the Year (Basketball): Juwan Howard
• 2022 National Coach of the Year (wrestling): Sean Bormet
• 2022 Men's Basketball made their fifth straight Sweet Sixteen appearance
• 2022 Women's Basketball, back-to-back Sweet Sixteen appearances and first ever trip to the Elite Eight in program history.
• 2022: Carol Hutchins became the all-time winningest coach in NCAA Softball history.
• 2021 Women's Gymnastics wins National Championship
• 2022 Women’s Gymnastics wins Big Ten Championship
• 2021/22 Men's Gymnastics wins Big Ten Championship
• 2022 Hockey wins Big Ten Championship, Frozen Four appearance
• 2022 Men's Wrestling, Nick Suriano wins NCAA Championship (125 lbs)
• 2022 Men's Wrestling wins Big Ten Championship

Though Michigan is clearly leading the way when it comes to college athletics, the harsh reality is that, for many of these athletes, the impressive accolades will go largely unnoticed by the casual fan.

Take University of Michigan Male Gymnast, Paul Juda, for instance. Juda is the back-to-back Big Ten Male Gymnast of the Year ('21-'22), two-time NCAA All-American, he recently curb stomped Ohio State in an individual competition and the majority of Michigan fans have probably never heard of him.

For Juda, the uphill battle for recognition and respect is one that comes with the territory of being a male gymnast. 

“We’ve got two national team members, an Olympic alternate, we’ve got multiple NCAA all-Americans, our GPA’s are well-above the average of all athletic teams, we’ve got an extraordinary amount of engineers that are doing really, really well. It kind of sucks because it's like we're always the butt of the joke.

"When you look at the results, it’s like, ‘hey, this is a sport and we’re kicking ass.”

Juda is just one of many athletes who are not only excelling in athletics and academics, but who also have incredible back stories that led them to the University of Michigan - stories that also go largely unnoticed. 

As a child, Juda's parents immigrated to America from Poland, a move that changed the course of his life forever. 

"My life wouldn’t be the same without my parents making the ultimate sacrifice of giving up what they call home in order to create a newer, better one for their kids," Juda wrote. "My parents moved to America for hopes of a better future for their kids. Thankfully, I’ve actually been able to go once to Poland and see the life that they left for us. There is not a shred of doubt in my mind that my parents took a leap of faith and decided that this is what would make our lives better."

Through the example of hard work and discipline set by his parents, Juda began applying those same traits his own life - including the gym. 

"My parents came to America without knowing a lick of English, yet they were committed to finding out how to become the best versions of parents in a community where they didn’t fit in perfectly," Juda wrote.  "Sometimes gymnastics’ monthly payment was going to be tight. And this provided me with an incentive to make the most of every opportunity I got to go to the gym because I didn’t know whether we were going to be able to make it there again. I wanted to provide value to my family, and especially to my family name that my parents were doing the right thing. I wanted to give back to all of the people that made it continuously possible for me to keep going to the gym and for me to keep doing what I love."

Juda's dedication to Gymnastics has certainly paid dividends at the University of Michigan. As the reigning back-to-back Big Ten Male Gymnast of the Year, Juda says that gymnastics help keep him humble, even in the midst of so much individual and team success.  

"Gymnastics humbles you, you try your absolute hardest and you can (and often will) fail," Juda wrote. "Then you will turn around and some other kid is just absolutely demolishing you on something that you thought was insanely hard. That’s gymnastics. That’s life. I’ve been able to parallel the experiences that I’ve learned from gymnastics to my everyday life. That’s why I think that sports are such an integral part of young childhood. Especially finding the real lessons in them years later."

Though Juda wishes his sport and fellow athletes received more recognition, his love for the sport is unshakable. For Juda, Gymnastics isn't necessarily about accolades and admiration, its about all of the critical life-lessons that are provided along the way.

"I wish that there was more recognition for us," Juda wrote. "However, this does nothing but fuel the fire that I have to work hard. I know that I don’t do the sport for the money nor the fame. I do it because I love it. I love the lessons that come with it and I love the fact that I will have stories to tell for the rest of my life. As for Michigan, I’ve been fortunate enough to come to a school and pursue my areas of study at the highest level possible. I’ve been given a chance to do something no one in my family has before. 

"All I wish is that people knew and cared for the success that the gymnastics teams bring."