Zavier Simpson Embraced The Journey, Changed Michigan Basketball's Identity
A lot of people wanted to write Zavier Simpson’s story for him. In the current climate of college basketball, a top-100 recruit that plays just 8.7 minutes per game his freshman year is often seen as a candidate for the transfer portal. Some fans were already scouring recruiting sites for potential targets to come in and man the point guard spot after Derrick Walton would graduate.
While some wrote him off, Simpson wrote his own story.
How? He embraced everything, good and bad, and used it to his advantage, becoming a Michigan basketball legend in the process.
The word “embrace” was used frequently around the Simpson household as Zavier grew up. He learned to embrace everything that came his way. That helped lead to the chip on his shoulder, one he’s carried with him for some time.
On the night of their final home game, Michigan seniors choose the picture that goes along with their framed jersey. The picture Simpson picked was one of him yelling. He said it characterized his experience as a Wolverine.
"It's just the expression I wanted to make for when I go back and look at the memories I had, the ups and downs," Zavier Simpson explained. "That's the anger I want to show. I thought that photo represented me the most from my four years of college."
The beginning of his journey in Ann Arbor, though difficult, set the stage for what was to come.
“He had an opportunity to play behind a guy that’s a pro, a guy that competes at a high level and a guy that wrapped his arm around ‘X’ as a big brother and showed him the way that it was supposed to be done,” Simpson’s father, Quincey Simpson, told The Wolverine after his son’s career at Michigan came to a screeching halt due to a season cancellation that was stemmed from the Coronavirus outbreak.
“Transferring was never even in our conversation. It was always to compete, be the hardest working guy at practice, be the best teammate you can be and build a relationship with the coaches. Continue to do the things that you can do to make yourself better.
“'X' has always, since third grade, had the ball in his hands. He’s always been on teams where when it comes down to it, he had to be on the floor. So, for him to go through that his entire freshman year, it humbled him a lot, but it also demonstrated maturity and growth and made him hungry. That’s a part of why he is who he is today.”
Walton graduated, and at the start of Simpson’s sophomore season (2017-18), he was the starting point guard. But after having a limited impact in the first four games of the year, head coach John Beilein handed the job over to then-freshman Eli Brooks.
“He had a subpar game against LSU, and then the next game when they played Chaminade, Eli took over the starting position,” Quincey Simpson recalled. “Again, we had those same conversations about adversity. You gotta be ready for that adversity.
“He wasn’t happy about losing the starting role, but he understood he had to come in everyday to compete.”
After coming off the bench for six weeks and seemingly having a bigger impact each game, Simpson was handed back the starting role in early January, in a game against Illinois. Neither he, nor Michigan, looked back. The Wolverines, behind Simpson's leadership, went on to win their second-straight Big Ten Tournament title and advance to the national title game.
“Open practice at the Final Four was the first time that I had worn my Michigan Simpson jersey, the first time I put it on,” Quincey Simpson said. “Just the attention I got and I really recognized that people appreciated him based off the jersey that I was wearing. It really hit home like, ‘These people really do love my son and he loves being at Michigan.’”
Simpson was passed over at the beginning of the season, and by the end of it, he was the team’s anchor that led the Wolverines on a magical run behind defense and the ‘pit bull’ mentality that he embodies. He changed the identity of Michigan basketball, so much so that when John Beilein was introduced as the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers in May of 2019, a reporter prefaced a question by referring to Beilein as a defensive-minded coach.
"You're the first person that's ever said that," Beilein said with a smile.
“He’s the reason why Michigan became known for defense,” Quincey Simpson said of his son.
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