Michigan Wolverines Basketball: Teske, Simpson Set U-M Record For Wins
Glen Rice, Rudy Tomjanovich, Bill Buntin, Cazzie Russell … Michigan has seen its share of elite basketball players come through Crisler Arena over the last several decades. None, however, have won more games in a Michigan uniform than senior center Jon Teske and senior point guard Zavier Simpson.
The Ohio duo each picked up their 105th wins in a Michigan uniform in an 89-65 win over Indiana Feb. 16, passing Rice, J.P. Oosterbaan, and Mark Hughes (1986 to 1989) and Jordan Morgan (2011 to 2014) for first on the all-time list.
Simpson and Teske tied the mark in a Feb. 12 win at Northwestern.
“That’s special,” head coach Juwan Howard said after the game, unaware of the record. “It says a lot about them being able to be considered a winner. They’ve won Big Ten titles. They’ve been to the NCAA championship game. They have a ton of experience.
“They’ve been a part of the big moments, but they have worked hard to get to that moment, with all the countless hours of working hard on their game individually and also being coached by a great coach in Coach [John] Beilein.”
Howard brought them up again in the Indiana postgame, and he had both Teske and Simpson say some words to the team in the postgame locker room. As usual, the humble Teske didn’t say much, teammates said.
“Sleep [Teske’s nickname], man, he’s not the loudest on the court. You don’t hear him talking a lot,” junior Isaiah Livers said. “But behind the scenes, he’s a real good big brother and I haven’t told him that. I probably should tell him that.
“Zavier, I didn’t know what college basketball was until I ran into that dude. My first open gym he was yelling at me because I let [former Wolverine] Duncan Robinson hit two threes. I’m like, ‘What am I supposed to do?’ And then I realized at the college level, scouting is serious. You can’t just allow players to get off, especially Duncan Robinson, probably the best shooter to ever come out of Michigan. That’s when I woke up and was like, ‘OK — I’d better pick it up or Zavier is going to be on me all four years that I’m here.’”
That the two broke the record together was perfectly appropriate, sophomore David DeJulius said.
“To see how well they play with each other, especially off the pick-and-roll, and just to see the mentality that they have and their leadership role in practice, it’s something that not only myself but the rest of the team feeds off of,” DeJulius said. “These two years have been nothing short of amazing, just to see the approach that they have, the winning mentality that they have. It’s big shoes to follow going forward when they leave.
" Right now, I’m just appreciating those guys for being here.”
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