Zavier Simpson Reflects On His Career At Michigan
With the season ending suddenly just before Michigan's Big Ten Tournament opener, Zavier Simpson is now faced with looking back at his U-M career, as opposed to taking one more shot at a Big Ten Tournament title and national championship.
"It was kind of emotional," Simpson told Matt Shepard on the Huge Show, talking about the moment he found out the season had ended. "The first thing I thought of was just, ‘Wow, this is how it’s going to end.’ It was surreal. I was extremely surprised at the time, but at the same time, it would be a bad time for me to be selfish when many people are being affected by this, something that can affect an individual’s life. It’s important that I just kind of put that aside for a while until it’s recovered.
"I wish we could keep going. Sadly we can’t, so just gotta be grateful and embrace every single moment of it."
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Simpson and fellow senior Jon Teske leave the program with the most all-time wins in school history with 108, something that is a testament to the impact the two had on U-M basketball in their four years.
"It shows how much commitment and dedication we had throughout our four years, even when times were rough our freshman and sophomore seasons," Simpson said. "It showed that we stayed through the course and didn’t give up. We didn’t look for a different school. We thought this was the right school for us, worked out every single day, listened to the coaching staff and executed the game plan. It’s something I’m definitely going to remember for the rest of my life. Extremely proud of myself, and Jon as well."
When asked what Simpson will remember most, it wasn't one game or one memory that came to mind, but the journey as a whole.
"Being able to compete every single day," he said. "Things not going your way, through the ups and downs, just being able to overcome those and still being able to stay focused on what’s important — the future goals. College has definitely taught me mental toughness. From my freshman year, not playing much, a big prospect coming out of high school, just learning from guys who’ve been there.
"I just said to myself that I’d embrace every single opportunity. From all the coaching staffs throughout the four years that I’ve been through, I just embraced it all.
"Embracing and grateful would be the words, because everything seemed so good this year. I got my 1,000th point, we won the early tournament in the Bahamas, we were looking to try to win the Big Ten Tournament. We thought we had a good plan for it to win it. Being national champions was one of the goals that I wanted to accomplish, for sure. Just all that stuff just going down the drain. Being grateful and embracing every single moment is something I’ve definitely learned."
Simpson is a coaches' son, having played for his father Quincey Simpson at Lima Senior High School for two years. Then, he played for John Beilein for three seasons before Juwan Howard took over. He believes his experiences playing for all three of them have helped him in different ways.
"My dad definitely taught me the small things like respect, look a man in the eye, look a coach in the eye, talk to him with respect, work extremely hard every single play, work smart. He installed the habits that can lead me to play basketball for a long time.
"Coach B was an X’s and O’s guy. He had his X’s and O’s down, it was crazy. He had a game plan for every defensive strategy, for every team. His study of the game was extremely important to him, and that motivated me to become more of a student of the game by watching more film and doing things that could help my game.
"Coach Juwan Howard was a very motivational coach, a guy you just wanted to play hard for. A guy who talked about family and brotherhood. He showed me what the definition of a family really truly is, and that definitely will stick with me forever. He’s a great guy, very influential on and off the court. He has built a strong relationship with everyone on the team, which is extremely important when you talk about college guys trying to reach goals."
Simpson is also thankful for the players he got to compete alongside with, and believes the relationships and bonds that were formed will last a lifetime.
"Out of my four years, that’s one of the things I’m most thankful for, just being able to be surrounded by a great group of young men because some colleges and some experiences are different," he said. There’s not one player out of my four years in my college experience that I feel I can’t call on to have a conversation. That’s one thing that I’m extremely happy to have in my career."
With much of the sports world in limbo, Simpson is beginning the process of pursuing his future in the NBA.
"I’m going to start talking with agents, getting that process going," he said. "We’ll see where it goes. Hopefully the world can get better and get back to the norm. I’m just going to do the most I can on my end."
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