Juwan Howard expecting leap in production from Kobe Bufkin

The Michigan basketball program expects to compete this year not just on a conference level but from a national standpoint, too.

For them to be able to compete nationally, the Wolverines will need to have a handful of players make a leap from what was produced last year. None of the players have expectations set around him as high as Kobe Bufkin does.

Not only from a personal level but from the program headman himself.

Speaking to reporters during Media Day, Howard was asked about Bufkin and the expectations for him this season.

"Kobe has been great," Howard said. "Kobe has a chance to really impact this team in a lot of ways. He can shoot the basketball, he can score, really good finisher at the rim. He has really accepted the fact of what his timetable is, and knows that his timetable maybe is different from others. That's hard. It's hard. But he's very mature. And knowing the person as well as the player and what his goals are."

That timetable, of course, is now opened up after the departure of Eli Brooks. While Bufkin is certainly no Brooks, the elder statesman left behind a blueprint of what a successful player in Bufkin's shoes can be capable of.

Howard has been impressed with how seriously Bufkin has taken the chance to make an impact on the program.

He hopes that translates into the season.

"I said it earlier before, in some of our press conferences, this summer and spring he had stayed here in Ann Arbor and worked out pretty hard with Sand Man and also worked out in the gym with some of our managers, came here alone at times and got a lot of work in," Howard said. "Spent time in California working out with a trainer that he's very comfortable and familiar with. He is on a mission. He's going to impact and he's going to have a big year, that's what I expect from Kobe, a big year.