A few years ago, new Michigan basketball pledge Will Tschetter was hopeful he might be able to play college basketball at some level. He was just starting to come into his own as a scorer in a small league in southeast Minnesota, wasn’t playing on the visible, high-level AAU circuit and — frankly — wasn’t sure he’d be a high-major recruit.

The 6-8, 225-pounder had his eye on Northern Iowa, North Dakota State, James Madison and a few others, in fact, before many things changed. One — the COVID-19 pandemic — altered the way coaches evaluated talent, going back to the old ways in relying on film study to fill out their rosters.

Tschetter’s film found its way to Juwan Howard’s desktop, courtesy of one of his coaches. U-M was impressed and requested more to make certain they weren’t just evaluating from a highlight film, and they weren't alone. A few weeks later, Tschetter (pronounced “Cheddar”) had offers from U-M, Minnesota, Arkansas and other high majors and was blown away.

Michigan, though, quickly ascended up his list.

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