Youssef Khayat 'improved tremendously' during first year at Michigan

Despite seeing limited playing time as a freshman, Michigan wing Youssef Khayat saw the challenges of playing sparingly but also saw the value in it, too.

Coming from an entirely different country and culture in Lebanon, Khayat was already behind the curve as he missed an important time for freshmen in any program, summer workouts.

Coupled with the fact that he had to establish an entirely different way of life, Khayat had to make wholesale adjustments to practically every part of his life.

He didn't allow himself to be discouraged about playing sparingly last season. During a recent appearance on the Defend the Block podcast, Khayat expanded on what his brief stints of playing time meant to him this season.

"It's definitely hard when you're not playing, I think it's hard for every player that's not playing," Khayat said. "Just being able to watch the guys, learn, even when I'm not playing. It's easy to be down and sad that you're not playing. I didn't do that this year. That's certainly something I wanted nothing part of. Even when I'm not playing, I am not the type of guy to be down and not support the guys. Not playing for sure, that made me learn a lot. That's the first time I am in a situation like that. There's a lot of great guys around me."

"Just learning and being able to learn from coaches. I underestimate our coaches, I think. We have great coaches that are experienced. Being able to learn from them every day and being in the same atmosphere as them is certainly something I took pride in. Just learning from them."

Adding:

"When I played those games, I saw things where I need to improve for next year. I know next year, I want to help the team as much as possible. That's one goal for me. I don't want to stop here. That's not my goal. I want to keep pushing and help this team win and help this program win."

Despite his on-court development being slowed by the lack of playing time, it doesn't mean his game didn't take strides outside of game-like situations.

Khayat put in the work in all facets of his game. He identified areas he needed to improve and addressed them.

He is hoping the strides he made during his freshman season will eventually turn into an increased role in year two.

"I think I've improved tremendously in all aspects," Khayat said. "When I see myself a year ago from where I am right now, I've made a lot of tremendous strides. Basketball-wise, mentally-wise, being more strong, more confident and just being able to do more on the court. When I first came, I think I was a little bit weak, just strength-wise. I think I had a lot of pounds to gain and a lot of strength. Just being more strong.

"Working with Sandman helped a lot because I missed the summer, unfortunately, so I wasn't strong enough, I think, coming into the season. As the season went through, I became more strong and put on way more pounds."

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