Isaiah Livers and Zavier Simpson each led the Michigan Wolverines' basketball team in scoring last year (they averaged an identical 12.9 points per game), but with the latter gone to graduation, it would not be a surprise if someone new takes over that title in 2020-21.
Sophomore guard Franz Wagner seems to be the most likely candidate, but is the Berlin, Germany, native truly ready to take the next step and lead the Maize and Blue in scoring in year two of the Juwan Howard era?
TheWolverine's Austin Fox and Clayton Sayfie attempt to answer that question below.
Austin Fox — Buy
Michigan's starting five looks to be quite stellar in 2020-21 following Livers' return, and will only get better if senior guard Chaundee Brown is allowed to play. If he's able to compete, it would give the Wolverines three legitimate players who will be expected to average a minimum of 12 (or so) points heading into next season, with Wagner and Livers being the other two.
Livers and Brown have already cemented themselves as established scoring threats (the former averaged 12.9 points per game last season and the latter 12.1), while Wagner posted 11.6 points last season as a freshman.
The reason so many people are expecting Wagner to explode as a big-time scoring option heading into his sophomore year, however, is primarily due to the way he ended last season.
After getting off to a bit of a slow start in 2019-20 by averaging 8.4 points through his first 10 games, Wagner closed the season on a high note by pouring in 15.8 points over the club's final seven outings.
Livers, meanwhile, was very consistent in the games he appeared in last season (despite being hampered by injuries), scoring at least nine points in 16 of the 21 contests he participated in.
This may sound like a cop-out of an answer, but it's like splitting hairs when trying to decide between the two from an offensive standpoint in 2020-21, and could easily go either way.
Both players should average in the mid-teens, and finish with very similar offensive numbers. They'll each be expected to be two of the better players in the entire Big Ten as a whole.
We'll go with Wagner as the answer to this question, due to the excitement surrounding his potential ceiling (that's not to say Livers doesn't have a high ceiling). Three-point shooting was the only weakness in the German's game down the stretch last year (shot just 31.1 percent from deep), but if he improves in that area significantly, he could feasibly post a scoring total in the high teens next season.
Clayton Sayfie — Buy
Much like Michigan football's defensive ends Aidan Hutchinson and Kwity Paye being a dynamic duo on the ends of the Wolverines' defensive line, Wagner and Livers are an electric pair on the wings for Howard and Co.
Getting both to return for one more year (at least one, in the case of Wagner) in Ann Arbor is quite possibly the biggest recruiting win Howard has had since returning to U-M.
Livers has proven to be an elite shooter during his time as a Wolverine, averaging 42.6 percent from long range as a sophomore and 50 percent during Big Ten play that same campaign, before notching a three-point clip of 40.2 percent as a junior, while playing much of the season banged up.
The Kalamazoo, Mich., native actually was tied with Zavier Simpson for the team's lead in scoring last year, while Wagner checked in at third. But as pointed out earlier, Wagner really came on as the season went along.
We'll go with Wagner as the one who will average more points this upcoming season, with a major reason being that he'll be fully healthy this go around, after having to recover from a wrist fracture that set him back and forced him to miss some preseason practices and the team's first four outings during his freshman season.
Once he got his feet under him as he transitioned from Euro-ball to college, he got better just about each game. During Big Ten play, he led all freshmen in scoring (13 points per game) and shot an 62.2 percent on two-point shots, which was the third-best mark in the league. His offseason addition of 15 pounds to his frame won't hurt, either, especially when getting into the paint against tough Big Ten defenders.
He's also expected to improve on his three-point shot. He converted on just 31.1 percent of his looks from deep, but is much better of a shooter than those numbers indicate, and many believed missing time due to his aforementioned injury didn't allow him to show his potential as a shooter.
Neither would be a bad pick, since they're both outstanding players and Big Ten Player of the Year contenders, but Wagner is the selection here. The Wolverines are in good hands on the wings.
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