Michigan Wolverines Basketball: David DeJulius Staying Ready To Play

The playbook at Michigan for freshman point guard David DeJulius is significantly bigger than the one he had just a season ago at Detroit's East English Village Prep.

Gone are the isolation plays where DeJulius was the featured player on the floor, running high ball screens. Instead of playing nearly every available minute, he’s now relegated to watching from the bench and yearning to earn just a few minutes

In his first season with the Wolverines, DeJulius has only played 25 minutes in seven games. He wants to play. That much he made clear Thursday, but he knows he has to show Michigan head coach John Beilein that he’s prepared.

"I feel like I’m ready,” DeJulius said. “Now it's just about the boss man feeling I'm ready," he said "I'm going to go in day in and day out and prove that I am ready to him."

Junior point guard Zavier Simpson has talked with DeJulius about the struggles of not seeing the court in his first season at Michigan. Simpson has told DeJulius to say positive about the difficult situation.

He knows when he does get his chance, he’s got to give it his all, no matter how many minutes he plays.

“There’s going to be a time when my number is called and I’ve got to make use of it,” DeJulius said. “I’m just staying ready and when my number is called, I don’t have to get ready.”

Coming to Michigan, DeJulius had a a steep learning curve and he had to make big adjustments to how he did things in order to survive.

“When I first got here, it was a major struggle” DeJulius said. “I feel like I’ve come a long way. I have a long way to go, but I feel like I’ve made some major strides. I’m just going to use that momentum to keep going forward.”

This season has not been easy for DeJulius after scoring 26.3 points per game last season. He’s firmly behind Simpson and sophomore guard Eli Brooks in the pecking order.

DeJulius hasn’t been able to crack into the group of players Beilein trusts to play just yet. This is the first time in DeJulius’s career that he’s ever been through something like this.

“It’s very mentally testing because you just never know when your number is going to be called,” DeJulius said. “You just know you have to stay mentally strong at all times of games and practices. Just being ready for when that moment arrives.”

As the first semester of his college career comes to a close, DeJulius remains positive and trusts that what he’s going through will help him.

“I would assess it as a success,” DeJulius said. “I’m getting better each and every day, learning from my coaching staff and my teammates.”

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