At first glance, most people would say no. However, didn’t everyone say that when Trey and Tim left? How did that turn out? I think that Michigan has a chance to be even better next year because of four key players: Mitch, Derrick Walton, Zak Irvin, and Caris LeVert.
Firstly, I think that Zak Irvin has Nik Stauskas written all over him. What was he used for this year? 3’s. Sounds familiar, right? He wasn’t known to drive in the lane and dunk it, but we all know that he is able to slash. He is more athletic than Nik Stauskas which could make him an even bigger threat. All it depends on is his work ethic if you ask me. I think that Nik will give him some tips and Caris LeVert can help him out as well.
The next guy on my list is Derrick Walton. He is another guy that didn’t get the chance to do a whole lot, but he could be vital next year. Derrick is a glue guy if you ask me. He can rebound, slash, shoot, pass, hustle, and defend well. I don’t think he is the next Trey Burke, simply because they’re two totally different players, but Trey was great at what he did and I think that Derrick can be great at what he does.
A lot of people suspect that next year Caris LeVert will be “the man” on the team just like Nik Stauskas and Trey Burke were. In my opinion, he is a mixture of Stauskas and Robinson. Another thing that I like about him is that he still has good games even when the team is doing bad (scored 24 in the loss to Duke, 22 in the loss to Iowa, and 25 in the loss to Wisconsin). He has a great work ethic (if you watched the games you’d know that the announcers don’t shut up about how much muscle he has gained last summer). Next year he will be an experienced Junior that has been to a National Championship and an Elite Eight. In my opinion, he will be the most experienced player on the team (considering Mitch is more like a Sophomore).
Finally there is Mitch. Some people are probably surprised that I put him on this list because he hasn’t announced, but I think that he will stay. Even if the surgery turns the Mitch that we saw dominate March Madness into a slow and inefficient player, he still has something that an injury can’t touch- being 6’10 and 255 pounds. As long as he can rebound and defend the paint, there is not much else that we really need from him.
I think that those four players will drive Michigan deep in March, and hopefully even into April. None of those players will likely be as good as Trey Burke or even Nik Stauskas, although LeVert and Irvin have a shot, but instead we will have four great contributors. I think that John Beilein’s system can take advantage of all the talent on the team, and next year could be an even better season.