Some fans and analysts scoffed a bit when Mike Smith talked about championship aspirations after joining the Michigan basketball team. Juwan Howard and Co. felt the point guard and Columbia transfer could be the missing piece on a special team, and he was right.
Fast forward a year. The Wolverines are coming off an undisputed Big Ten championship, an Elite Eight appearance (minus the injured Isaiah Livers), and nobody’s laughing anymore. Most, in fact, are wondering if they can repeat after adding Coastal Carolina point guard DeVante’ Jones.
The 19.7-ppg scorer is one of them.
“I feel like we’ll be the best team in the country,” Jones said in a recent podcast. “I know that’s a bold statement, but we’ll just see that where it fits. We have a lot of talented guys, young and old. I think we’ve got the best mixture of talent — veterans that lead, a lot of freshmen that haven’t been there, so the veterans can calm them down, say ‘we’ve been there before, and we’ll be there.
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“There will also be games where the young kids are going to be hot, and we’re going to feed off them. IT’s going to be great to have that mixture.”
The similarities between Smith and Jones, meanwhile, aren’t physical, but there are plenty. Even though both put up huge scoring numbers before arriving at Michigan (Smith was 22.6 PPG), they’re also great passers. It’s a misconception, Jones said, that he’s looking to score — on the contrary, he’d rather set up his teammates.
He’s more than capable. He averaged 5.7 assists as the point guard two years ago before moving off the ball, and he expects that number to go up dramatically at U-M.
“I feel like people think I want to score first. That’s really not the case,” he said. “I was put in that position because if I didn’t score, we wouldn’t win. There was no secret about that.
“The real DeVante’ Jones game style is pass first, score within the flow of the game. I’m not going to force shots but play within the game, pick my spots to score. I’m going to pass first, be scrappy on defense, guard the best player and hold him under his scoring average, turn him over a lot. For a guard, I’ll rebound a lot, like Russell Westbrook when it comes to rebounding; have a knack for the ball, know where it’s at, bringing the energy.
“That’s my game. It’s the passion for me. You can’t coach that. The passion for the game. I love the game, and I’m going to keep loving this game.”
He’ll step aside when he doesn’t, but that will be long from now. He has NBA aspirations, and he feels like Juwan Howard and staff will help get him there. He saw Smith’s game blossom from scorer to all-around point guard and champion, and he wants to follow suit.
“To be honest, I really want to go out there and have the most assists I can,” he said. “The scoring going to come, but I’ll try to do a better job finding spots and scoring within the flow of the game, not trying to force anything.
“There are a lot of talented guys around me. I’m looking to average 10 assists, get my rebounds, score here and there. I don’t think I have to score 19 a game, so that will probably drop a little. I’m not worried about that. I know my assists are going to go up.”
He already feels part of the culture, he added. Smith, departing wings Franz Wagner and Isaiah Livers and several others helped recruit him in addition to the Michigan coaches, and he even spoke with Xavier Simpson.
All said the same thing — he could be a difference maker for a team with some outstanding pieces.
“I feel like it’s hard to describe my game. I just know I’m a dawg, both sides of the floor,” he said. “I’m definitely trying to be a two-way player. That’s just a goal of mine. If you come watch me play, you’ll see a dawg with lot of energy from both sides.
“The most important goal for me is the team goal. Conference champs, Final four and National Champions … that’s the main goal.”
Given his addition and the talent around him, nobody’s doubting it this time around.
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