Everything Terrance Williams II said during his Defend the Block appearance
On the offseason
It's been treating me well, been in the gym consistently. Got to go home and see my family a little bit. I can't complain. It's definitely going well and I definitely have more to do.
On seeing his family
I got away for like a week and I feel like it's very important. A mental cooldown, not touching the basketball for a week. Not worrying about nothing. I feel like you need those breaks because you're gone so much throughout the year where it's just strictly basketball, you don't have a lot of family time or free time. I feel like it's definitely important and I definitely want to keep using that time this offseason to go see family and stuff like that.
On whether he's playing catch up once the season ends
I try to keep up with as much work as I can during the offseason, I do a good job. But, even then, I feel like I still have more work to do. Whether it's studying for a test, whether it's missing a test and having to take a make-up test. Stuff of that nature. We have a lot of online assignments, sometimes we have practice, especially when we're traveling during March Madness, for example. It's definitely hard but our academic advisor, Ashley, she stays on us and I feel like she's very helpful through the entire thing.
On how he finished the end of the spring semester
I finished with three A's and one B, B-. That's good for me.
On whether he gets a chance to reflect on his progression after the season is over
I will say, for myself, personally, after a couple of days I thought about how the entire season went. Just reflecting on how I did, how we did as a team, how I could improve on season next season. What I need to work on, what I'm good at and need to keep perfecting. I definitely use that time during the offseason to look at it. During the season, it's more about winning. Trying to do what the team needs and the different scouting reports. You're just trying to follow along, trying to keep up. After the season ends, you just look back and see what you need to work on and stuff like that nature. Hope to be better for the next year.
On how he saw last year's offseason work come through during this season
I feel like it definitely came to light during the season. Weight-wise, I feel like I moved way better this year. I maintained around 218-220. So, conditioning-wise, I feel like I was way better. I was able to play more minutes that I could've last year. Last year, I used to get tired a lot. This year, I really didn't get tired. Even with my three-point shooting like I talked about last year, I feel like I did improve a lot. I feel like I need to be more consistent with that. It's something I can work on. All this offseason work is for me, what I need to work on and get better at. During the season, it can show like it did last year.
On his confidence building
I feel like I gained way more confidence. That's just by playing more, getting more minutes. Putting the work in. I trust my work now. I trust what I do during the season, during my workouts and the offseason work I put in. It's just mentally focusing and locking in on yourself. I feel like I did that this year, so that's why my confidence went up.
On areas of growth this offseason
On the offensive side, I would say being more consistent with my threes. A lot of ball-handling, I will do a lot of ball screen action this offseason. Just creating whenever the time is needed. On the defensive end, I just want to be able to guard one through five. That comes with a lot of mobility because my hips are tight. I'm going to start taking yoga, I'm going to start stretching a lot with Coach Sandman. I'm going to work on my lower body strength as well as my upper body strength. I'm going to be able to bang with bigs as well as guards. Those are the main focuses on the offensive and defensive ends, I would say.
On the challenge of being able to play multiple positions
It's very challenging but there's nothing I can't put my mind to. The workouts I go through, I do a lot of upper body strength. As I just said, to bang with the bigs, bang with the fours and fives, even the threes. You also have to be mobile to move with the guards when we switch one through four. Just more incorporating everything into a workout, not just working on one thing. Not just working on the lower body, not just working on the upper body. Throughout the whole entire workout, you touch on every part of the body you need to work on. I feel like I'm doing that this spring and summer with Sandman. It's definitely going to be a good spring and summer for me.
On the belief of the team through last year's adversity
We just see a lot of the doubters, we hear a lot of the outside noise. We're in the locker room together, we're in the trenches together daily. There's a comoraderie as a team. The brotherhood we created, just staying together through adversity, through the ups and the downs, because we're all we got in this organization. Just more of staying connected, staying focused, staying locked in to what we can do as a team. We had the talent, we had everything we needed, just consistency was the main problem with us. I feel like that was our downfall. Through the ups and downs, I feel like we did a good job of staying together. I feel like we didn't disconnect throughout the whole entire year. People may think we did, in this locker room, I can tell you that we did not. We created relationships that's going to last forever.
On whether the stability comes from a vocal leader or the coaching staff
I would definitely say we had senior leadership like Eli. I feel like Eli was a bg part of it. Being the oldest and seeing it all. Even with Juwan and all the coaches, at the end of some of the losses, we came in the next day and we focused on the film to see what we could do better. We didn't just harp on the things we did wrong. Not yelling, just more teaching with Coach Howard. I feel like the teaching helps us learn more, helps us see the mistakes we make. So the time we go out there, we don't try to make those mistakes even though we are going to make mistakes. The leadership, how he coaches us and how he puts us through the film sessions, specifically after losses, that and having leadership like Eli last year kept us tight in the locker room.
On his NCAA Tournament experiences
It was way more fun. Last year we were locked down in the hotel, couldn't leave. No fans. Didn't get to interact with people. This year, it felt way more better. Having sendoffs in the lobby, coming back after the win and all your fans are in the lobby. Just having fans at the games supporting us, it was loud. The Tennessee game, I felt like it was one of the loudest games I've played in so far. It was definitely better. The traveling, even though we were in Indianapolis last year and this year, it just felt better. More like an NCAA Tournament where you fly out, we drove back two days later and you fly to San Antonio for the next game. Practice, media, stuff like that. We all didn't have that last year. I felt like it was way better.
On the Tennessee game
The biggest thing I remember, that was a game where I feel like we all put it together. We faced adversity, we were down, it was a good team offensively and defensively. They're scoring, we're scoring. They defended, we defended. I feel like we just fought through that entire game. We put it all together in crunch time where it was the last media timeout and less. I feel like we had the buckets we needed and the stops we needed to win that game. That's probably the biggest thing that I remember. Not even just how I played, we all played as one unit. I feel like that was Michigan basketball and that was a great example.
On whether he could've performed like he did as a freshman
I could've but I feel like it wasn't as likely as I did this year. I put it together my sophomore year. I learned a lot from my freshman year. That's really how I did what I did. I learned my freshman year when I played and when I was on the bench, March Madness and even in normal games where sometimes people aren't looking. Then I go box you out crash the glass, stuff like that. Little things like that I learned from freshman year to now. I feel like I could've but I feel like I matured, I have a better understand of the game.
On Hunter Dickinson's return to Michigan
I literally found out when everybody else found out. I didn't even want to ask for the scoop, to be honest. I felt like he had a lot of people in his ear and it could get annoying. I was like, 'Bro, whatever you do, I support you. You're my brother forever.' I found out when everybody else did. I just feel good to have my big brother back. He's a great player, he's going to help us. He's an All-American. He's going to show it again this year. We expect big things for him for sure.
On what it means for the team to have Dickinson back
It means a lot. He's another leader on this team. A lot of maturity. He's been in the trenches. He brings that leadership, that vocal leadership that he has. He brings playing (experience). He's been in all the big games playing. I feel like we're going to need that this year and he's going to do it, for sure.
On the difficulty of replacing Eli Brooks
Losing Eli was a big, big loss. Not just the leadership but also the way he played. The two-guard spot, on the offensive and defensive end, on the defensive end he guarded the best player. The best guard player every game. On the offensive end, he had to deal with a lot of ball pressure because he's brigning up the ball. He had to know the one and the two. He had to tell people where to go because he is the leader. Even though you're supposed to know, sometimes people have brain farts so he had to tell people where to go. Losing him is going to be very hard but I feel like I could step into this leadership role. Coach Howard has been talking about that to me a lot, Coach Saddi, a lot of coaches want me to step into a leadership role. I feel like I am capable and I am going to keep working at it throughout the entire spring and summer when people get on campus.
On Frankie Collins
It was hard when he left. I was pretty mad. I feel like he was a big part of this upcoming team. He's going to do what's best for him and I support his decision through whatever he does because that's my brother for life. Even though he's going to Arizona State, we're still going to be close and I'm still going to check in on him because that's my little brother. I feel like we're still going to remain close. When we play them, November 16th, I think, at Barclay's, he already know the smoke. He's on the other side now. Off the court, we're still going to stay tight. I'm going to miss him, for sure, but that's my brother for life. I'm going to support him.
On the changes in college basketball this offseason
Just taking it with a one day at a time approach, getting 1% better each day. I feel like I'm going to get into the gym and I;'m going to keep working each day. I'm not going to worry about what people are talking about on the outside. I know what I'm doing, I know the work I'm putting in. I know I've got the trust of my brothers in the locker room and the coaches in this program. That outside noise doesn't really matter to me because I'm getting better each day, I'm working on my craft and I'm trying to perfect each thing I can do best. Hopefully, however many minutes I play this year, I'm going to show why I've been working at these specific things and I'm going to show how locked in I have been over this whole entire offseason. It's going to show whenever our first game is.
On whether the program embraces preseason expectations
We're probably going to hear it and we're probably going to hear it. We have to stay together in this locker room. We can't worry about what the media is saying, what they have us ranked, because every game is going to be hard. We play for Michigan, everybody is going to want to beat Michigan. They will give us their best shot. It's more about playing locked in. I'm going to try and tell everybody to stay locked in. Don't think ahead, don't look at the rankings, don't look at none of that. All of it does not matter, what matter is one game at a time and you win that one game. On to the next. I'm going to get everybody to stay focused, locked in this entire summer workouts before our first day of practice.
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