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Michigan basketball: Two backcourt players making major strides

Chris Balasby:Chris Balas•05/09/22•

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Michigan basketball coach Juwan Howard
Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

Michigan will need to replace three guards in DeVante’ Jones, Frankie Collins and Eli Brooks, and it won’t be easy. Both Jones and Brooks are going to try their hand at the professional level, while Collins hit the transfer portal and is headed to Arizona State. 

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The Wolverines added Princeton transfer Jaelin Llewellyn to compete at the point guard position, as well as four-star frosh Dug McDaniel. Freshman Jett Howard will compete at shooting guard and wing, as will two already on the roster who made significant improvement in Isaiah Barnes and Kobe Bufkin. 

Barnes, a wing, is applying for a medical redshirt after playing only a few minutes all year and will likely get it. He’s gotten better in several areas, Phil Martelli told us recently. 

“His motor … and I think his IQ has really improved,” the Michigan assistant said. “And I think the back end of the year he was much more of a shot maker. At the beginning of the year, he was a shot taker. And his body changed. He got stronger. So, he can go, now. 

“When he gets on a run and is scoring, it’s impressive. And again … when you flip it, who he’ll guard …”

That part still needs work. 

Whether he plays significant minutes next year has yet to be determined.

“I’m not saying no, not saying yes,” Martelli said. “It’s a different setting when you’re scout team because the other team might run a drop coverage in ball screen [for example]. But he’s very explosive at the rim … very explosive at the rim. He can really finish and can dunk it.”

Michigan has one of the biggest playbooks he’s ever been around, Martelli noted, both on offense and defense. Adjusting to pace and volume helps shape the IQ, and Martelli says even he’s learned a lot coaching with Howard.

So, too, has Bufkin, who had some moments but continues to learn. He needs to commit to becoming a lockdown defender, No. 1, and then trust his instincts on offense. 

“When you’re losing Eli, that’s tough,” Martelli noted. “Offensively, you want a little bit less movement and a little less frenetic pace. But he really came on. He was one of those guys when he was working, it was evolving. 

“I just think when people say why didn’t he play more … it’s because of Eli. Eli was the security blanket for all of us. The games I had, three of them he played 40 minutes. He’s a security blanket. If there were 100 assignments, he was going to get 98 of them right. That’s not where Kobe was.”

But he made strides, the Michigan assistant said, and that pressure of being an instate McDonald’s All-American and the pressure that comes with it … 

“That’s real. You have to acknowledge it,” Martelli said. “And I’m excited because that jump is real. That jump between your freshman and sophomore year is real. He’s also stronger and tighter than he looks.”

He’s better shooter than he’s shown, Martelli added, but there’s one thing the Michigan sophomore to be still needs work on.

“He has to say a missed shot is a missed shot. It’s not the end of the world,” he said. “In practice, you can see it.” 

Now it’s a matter of doing it in games. With some work, both Bufkin and Barnes could find themselves in that position for Michigan in 2022-23. 

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