Three storylines to watch ahead of Michigan basketball's exhibition game

Juwan Howard will officially begin his fourth season as Michigan's head coach on Monday, but before that, the Wolverines will host Ferris State in an exhibition game on Friday at Crisler Center. Here is how to watch Michigan's first public game since March.

Before Michigan unofficially begins its season on Friday, let's take a look at three storylines to pay attention to throughout the 2022-23 season.

The former second-team All-American (2020-21) is Michigan's best player. They know it, and their opponents know it. Dickinson averaged 14.1 points as a freshman and 18.6 points as a sophomore.

He played a key role in helping the Wolverines to a Big Ten Championship and an Elite Eight berth in the 2021 NCAA Tournament as a freshman. However, he was highly criticized for his lack of an outside game, which ultimately brought him back to Michigan after testing the NBA waters.

Dickinson spent much of the offseason developing a 3-point shot, and it paid dividends for Michigan in his sophomore campaign. After going 0-4 from distance as a freshman, a more confident Dickinson unleashed his 3-point shooting ability as a sophomore. He shot 21-64 from behind the arc in the 2021-22 season.

Although he developed an outside game, Dickinson didn't even bother testing the NBA waters during the offseason, and he announced he would be back in Ann Arbor for his junior season.

Now, much like in his first two seasons, Dickinson will be the unquestioned focal point of Michigan's offense. Many of Michigan's offensive possessions ran through Dickinson last season, and Wolverine fans should expect much of the same this year.

Michigan lost four starters from last year's team, and although there may be some growing pains early on, it's fair to say this team will go as far as Dickinson will take it.

For the third year in a row, Michigan will start a transfer at point guard. From Mike Smith to DeVante' Jones and now Jaelin Llewellyn, Howard has made a habit of finding point guards in the transfer portal. Llewellyn spent three seasons at Princeton, where he averaged no fewer than 10 points per game before coming to Ann Arbor.

Llewellyn isn't the only transfer, though. Joey Baker also comes to Michigan from Duke, where he spent four seasons playing for Coach K. Baker wasn't the most impactful player on any of those Blue Devil teams, but he shot better than 39% from behind the arc in three of his four seasons in Durham.

Obviously, as the starting point guard, Llewellyn will play a major role in Michigan's success this season, but Baker's role won't be anything to scoff at. Baker will likely be one of the first players off the bench, and he will bring a high level of knowledge and experience to the game.

Llewellyn will have big shoes to fill, as Michigan hopes its long line of strong point guard play continues. His 3-point percentage has increased by more than 13% from his freshman season at Princeton until now. Shooting will be something that Michigan will need early on as it tries to fit its new pieces together.

As transfers, Llewellyn and Baker will be two new pieces that will be critical to Michigan's success this season. Both players have plenty of games under their belts, and they, along with Dickinson, will need to be vocal and emotional leaders for Howard's squad.

In order for Michigan to compete for a Big Ten title, and possibly even a national title, it will need a few players to drastically increase their production. In its aforementioned Elite Eight run in 2021, Michigan had Franz Wagner and Isaiah Livers increase their scoring numbers from the year prior.

Although he didn't increase his scoring output, Eli Brooks contributed with the best shooting year of his career, both from distance and from the free throw line. All this to say, Michigan will need players to add more to the team than they did last year.

Kobe Bufkin and Terrance Williams II come to mind. Bufkin, a Michigan native, scored 3.0 points per game as a freshman last season. He showed flashes in his 10.8 minutes per game, but he was largely playing in the shadow of Brooks, who played 36 minutes per game.

The highlight of Bufkin's freshman campaign may have been his clutch 3-point shot late in Michigan's 75-69 win over Ohio State. Now, as a sophomore, Bufkin has reportedly added 20 pounds of muscle as he prepares for a breakout season.

Brooks is gone, and Bufkin is the presumed starter at shooting guard for Howard. If he can break out like some people think he might, Michigan might make some serious noise in the Big Ten.

Williams is another player who has shown flashes in his time at Michigan, but he's been largely inconsistent in his first two seasons with the Wolverines. He averaged 2.0 points as a freshman and 4.7 points as a sophomore.

Many would agree the highlight of Williams' sophomore season came in Michigan's second-round NCAA Tournament matchup against Tennessee, when he had two huge put-backs late in the game to lift the Wolverines over the Volunteers.

However, 4.7 points per game from Williams isn't going to cut it in 2022-23. The junior will likely start at power forward, and his production will need to increase greatly for Michigan to have success this season.

The Wolverines will take on Ferris State on Friday at 7 p.m. at Crisler Center. After the exhibition game, Michigan will take the court when everything counts on Monday against Purdue Fort Wayne. That game will tip off at 6:30 p.m. and be aired on BTN.

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