The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/447116
INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Junior shooting guard Caris LeVert has become Michigan basketball's go-to guy this year following an exodus of players to the NBA. He's relished his role as U-M's man from Columbus, Ohio, and he talked about that and more in this Q&A. The Wolverine: You look at the team now compared to the one you joined as a fresh- man that made it to the national championship game — most of those underclassmen that left for the NBA would still be here. How much do you wonder what might have been? LeVert: "A little bit. [Point guard] Trey [Burke] would be a senior this year — that's crazy to think about. But we have our team we have now, and we're happy with that. I still do talk to them a little bit, see how they're doing and things like that, pretty much all of them. I try and keep in close contact with all those guys." The Wolverine: Who was your basketball role model, the guy you looked up to when you were growing up in Columbus, Ohio? LeVert: "I don't know if there was just one. There were a lot of them, but I looked up to Trey Burke in middle school and high school. He was that guy everyone looked up to — had the major offers, won Mr. Basketball. I knew him in middle school, but we didn't really meet until I was in high school. "He's a lot of the reason I'm here. Before I got here I talked to him and his dad a little bit. They told me how good it was with the coaches, the team and the oppor- tunity I would get here. They [planted the seed] with the Michigan coaches, as well as other guys around Columbus like my high school coaches." The Wolverine: Everyone assumes Ohio State is a bigger game for you, being from Columbus … how much truth is there to that? LeVert: "It is, but at the same time every Big Ten game means a lot, especially the road games. And Ohio State is a big game for us, being a rivalry game. "That was our first loss my freshman year. It was a crazy environment. They ended up winning at the end after we came back, but [the atmosphere] definitely got to me. It was a different type of environment, playing a rivalry game, my first as a freshman and being home. It was definitely different from any game I'd played in Sitting Down With Junior Shooting Guard Caris LeVert LeVert said, "When I came to Michigan, I kind of had a vision in my head where I'd be, but I've definitely grown a lot as a player." PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL