Michigan Wolverines basketball senior center Jon Teske made one of the biggest leaps of any player in the Big Ten from his sophomore to junior campaign last season.
The 7-1 Ohio native became an absolute defensive menace, pulling down 6.9 boards per game while also leading the Big Ten in blocks (2.1 per outing).
Teske now has a former elite U-M big man mentoring him in head coach Juwan Howard, who — at age 46 — is more than capable of demonstrating proper techniques in the post and even throwing one down every now and then.
“It’s huge,” Teske exclaimed today at U-M’s Media Day when asked how valuable Howard’s hands-on approach is. “When we split up into our individual groups of guards, bigs and wings, he’s always working with us.
“He obviously played here and at the next level, so he knows what it takes. He’ll demonstrate a lot of the stuff in drills — he dunked one last week and we all went crazy.
“It’s cool that he can still go out there and be himself.”
Most expect Teske to take on an increased role down low when considering Howard’s affiliation with big men, despite the fact that the 7-1 senior also attempted 77 three-pointers last season.
Teske insisted today that we should still expect to see him on the outside at times this year.
“Definitely,” he confirmed, when asked if deep shots would still be part of his repertoire. “I’ll still shoot the three-ball and keep it [as part of my game].
“I’ll be in the post too but also be on the outside. If something breaks down, I’ll go set a screen and they’ll throw it in to me.
“We’ll play both inside out and outside in; regardless of what we do, we’ll have to make shots to win games. Coach [John] B[eilein] had us more on the perimeter while Coach Howard now has us inside a bit more.
“I know I can play with my back to the basket, but I also know I can play on the perimeter.”
Teske admitted there is a bit of a different feel around the program due to the change in regime, but that nevertheless, how successful the team is this season will still come down to how well they execute.
“It’s still just basketball,” he explained. “We have to go out there and play our game. Some of the ideas, philosophies and terminologies are different, and we’re still getting used to it.
“We’re coming to practice ready to learn because the coaches are all ready to teach us. In the couple weeks we didn’t have a coach, we didn’t know what to expect and were hearing a lot of rumors, and didn’t know what was going on.
“We trusted that Michigan would make the right choice and they obviously did with Coach Howard, so we’re just trusting the process now.”
‘Trust’ is a word Howard used several times at his press conference today, noting that it has been established with both Teske and senior guard Zavier Simpson.
The senior center revealed that the feeling is mutual, thanks to how genuine Howard has been from the get-go.
“In our first team meeting, you could tell he meant everything he said and that it came from the heart,” the Ohio native recalled.
“We have conversations on and off the court, and have continued to build that trust. That starts with us talking about anything and everything, and we’ve all built that with him so far.”
Notes
• Teske played two seasons with former U-M center Moe Wagner (2016-18), and now will have the opportunity to compete with his younger brother, Franz, who is currently a freshman guard on the team.
The similarities between the two German brothers are striking, Teske revealed today.
“Franz is identical to him in everything he does, in the way how he dunks, shoots and complains about calls," the senior laughed. "It’s all the same. You won’t see it right now because he’s a little quiet, but he has so much energy off the court and is so fun to be around.
"He’s very similar to Moe.”
• With Simpson and Teske being the lone two seniors on the team, the latter was asked if there's a bit more motivation than usual heading into his last go-round in Ann Arbor.
“You have to make the most of your senior year, so X, [redshirt junior center] Austin [Davis] and I have to go out there to win every day of practice," he said. "It’s our last year here, and we all want to make the most of it.
"It seems like just yesterday we were in the Sweet Sixteen, but the summer went by so fast. Every time you lose your last game, you want to get that bad taste out of your mouth.
"We’re looking forward to our first game and getting that taste out, and getting the new scheme started.”
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