Will Tschetter entering sophomore campaign with a lot to prove
It wasn't easy for Michigan's rising sophomore Will Tschetter to sit back and watch the team play without him. As a competitor, the itch to go out there and help his team was one he couldn't scratch last season.
As someone who is focusing on his future, the decision to redshirt his freshman season was one he ultimately understood.
Appearing on the recent episode of the Defend the Block podcast, Tschetter discussed the process of agreeing to redshirt. After it all was said and done, it didn't take much convincing that he needed an extra year of seasoning.
"I had a sitdown talk, a heart-to-heart talk, with Coach Juwan after the Arizona game," Tschetter said. "I remember we were both like, oh, yeah, can we have a talk tomorrow? I went into his office, great talk. Just going over some things like what went into that decision. Just developing IQ, developing a few things. Improving defense and just getting more work in with Sandman. I think that was huge for me, being able to come into my actual freshman year with a year of learning and development. Knowing the culture of the program. I feel like that's going to be super beneficial in the long run not only for me but just the program in general.
?I feel like I can contribute a lot more now than I would've been able to. Obviously, part of me is wishing that I could've played but another part of me is super happy with the decision and what's to come."
Sitting back and observing his team doesn't automatically make Tschetter a better player, it took a lot of hard work and special attention from lead strength and conditioning coach, Jon Sanderson.
With separate lifts from the team, and being a vital member of the scout team, Tschetter is entering his sophomore season with a lot to prove.
And he feels confident that his game will show the progress he's made by leaps and bounds.
"I feel like my game has developed a ton with the physical aspect," Tschetter said. "When I first got here, I was fairly skinny. I was not able to do the things that I can do now. I feel the physicality has really developed. I feel like my overall skill set, being able to shoot out of different situations and my game as a whole. Defensively, I feel like I was very poor coming in. I feel like I have developed that a ton.
"Just getting in so many extra reps with the scout team. You're literally playing 30 minutes of scrimmage every day against the starting five. I feel like it was super beneficial to lock in and get that coaching. Every single person on the coaching staff, just helped me keep the ball rolling."
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