The college basketball season ended abruptly on Thursday afternoon, when the NCAA announced that the men's basketball tournament is cancelled. That came hours after Michigan basketball was warming up at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, set to take on Rutgers in the Big Ten Tournament second round. The basketball world was stunned. Senior point guard Zavier Simpson and senior center Jon Teske's careers are finished; they go out as the winningest players in program history, with 108 career wins.
Simpson's father, Quincey Simpson, was back in Lima, Ohio, preparing for his Lima Senior High School team's upcoming regional final playoff game, when he heard the news, which came around the time that his own team's season was postponed for at least three weeks.
"I got home at about four o’clock, "Quincy Simpson said, "and I never get home that early. Ever. When I got home, I just sat on my couch and was just kind of in shock for me and my season and my kids."
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When Quincey got the chance to FaceTime Zavier, he saw the disappointment on his son's face.
"He didn’t have a whole lot of words, and that told me how he felt," the elder Simpson told The Wolverine. "We talk everyday, three or four times a day, and we text each other probably 10 or 15 times a day. We’re always communicating, and when you talk to your son and he’s not talking a whole lot, you can just tell. I could just read his facial expressions.
"He realizes that if nothing else, his relationship with Coach [Juwan] Howard, he wanted to go all out for him. They have a really good relationship, as he and Coach [John] Beilein did. But, for this to be the first group that Coach Howard has gotten his hands on, X wanted to make that group memorable. He wanted to make that group special.
"He felt that even a lot of the games they lost this year — a couple plays here and there —they were in a lot of those games. He felt a lot of those things could be tweaked and fixed when they get into the Big Ten Tournament and then going into March Madness. But, they take it away not only for him, but for everybody. So, it’s a hard pill to swallow. It’s really just a hard pill to swallow."
It hadn't sunk in yet that Zavier's career was over until Friday, when Quincey was at a weekly luncheon at the high school.
"So many people were asking so many questions about the regional and Michigan and 'X'," Simpson said. "That’s what it kind of set in, like, ‘my son’s career as a college player is over. It’s really over.’
"That’s tough to swallow. He did a lot of things to put himself in the position he’s in today, and to see it end that way — that’s tough. That’s really, really tough. It’s hard to even put into words how you feel because you at least want him to have that last opportunity to make a Big Ten run. He played in the Big Ten Championship every year. To be able to not even participate at all this year, it’s tough. To not even be able to participate in March Madness … they’ve done well in the tournament every year he’s been there."
Due to seasons being cancelled in all sports, the NCAA announced Friday that it would grant relief for the use of a season by athletes who have participated in spring sports, and that the committee would discuss doing the same for winter sport athletes.
While it's unlikely that Simpson (and Teske) would be granted another season of eligibility, the door wouldn't be closed on Simpson's career if he did get the opportunity.
"I can’t see the NCAA doing that," Simpson said. "However, if they did, that would be something that will be totally up to X. Knowing him, it would be hard to say. He’d graduate, on time, in a couple weeks — May 1st.
"He loves Michigan. He loves Juwan Howard. But at some point, you want to move on and go to the next steps. I can’t speak for him, but if it was me, I’d probably embrace that year and work on some things and try to come back and do it again, because shoot, you take that team and you put them all together again next year, they’d be really good.
"I just can’t see the NCAA doing that. I can’t see it for basketball players, but who knows? Things that seem like it’s common sense to us, other people have different ideas ... I know X loves Michigan and our entire family loves Michigan for what they’ve done for him."
Assuming this is the end of the road, collegiately, for Zavier Simpson, the next step is taking his shot at the NBA.
"You gotta come to a time where we really gotta sit down and talk about, ‘Hey, here’s what we need to improve at," Quincey Simpson said. "Obviously, his outside shooting; I’d like to see him get a little more athletic. And, you just start working on some of those things.
"Me personally, I’m not being biased, I know he’s playing in the NBA. It’s all going to be about getting with the right team and then they obviously have to like you a lot. X has never been a kid that’s just walked into a gym and won people over. You watch him a couple times, continue to watch him and then you start to see some of the characteristics that he does and that he brings and helps his team win. And then, those are the things that you fall in love with. I think that’s the reason why he’ll have an opportunity to play in the NBA.
"Obviously, he’ll have workouts and guys will be able to see 1) how he competes 2) how he defends, and then his leadership qualities, just seeing the person that he is. And, I believe that will be enough to earn him a spot on an NBA team. And if it doesn’t, there are options. You can always go the G-League avenue; you can always go the Europe avenue. His is a situation where he’s blessed to have options, so as long as you got options, you can keep working."
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