Michigan leaning on freshmen as conference play comes into focus

Gone from last season’s NCAA Tournament team are Laila Phelia, Lauren Hansen, Elissa Brett, Cameron Williams, Chyra Evans and Taylor Williams. Phelia, Evans and the Williams duo entered the transfer portal while Hansen and Brett were out of college eligibility. All five were among the Wolverines’ top seven players in terms of minutes.

Their departure left Michigan incredibly young entering a season in which the Big Ten was shaping up to be as tough as it’s ever been. Of the 12 players on the Wolverines’ roster, five of them are freshman. So the answer as to how Michigan will be able to stay afloat in the conference this season is quite simple — they need their freshmen to grow up, and grow up fast.

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Following the Wolverines’ 78-58 loss to the USC Trojans, senior guard Greta Kampschroeder said as much when speaking about the team’s current West Coast road trip.

“A big thing we were talking about in the locker room was like, we’re going to have to grow up pretty quick. We have some new people that came in this past year … we’re not as experienced as we’ve been in the past,” Kampschroeder said. “We have three freshmen that are going to make some freshman mistakes, but they’re also super talented. We’re gonna have to lean on them and rely on them as the season goes on.”

The three freshmen that Kampschroeder was referring to are Syla Swords, Olivia Olson and Mila Holloway. Swords did not play against USC due to a leg injury, but she returned to the lineup against UCLA on Jan. 1. All three freshmen are currently in the starting lineup.

Against UCLA, Swords went off for a career-high 30 points while shooting 36.6% (4-for-11) from 3-point range. Although Michigan would end up losing, 86-70, it was abundantly clear what Swords’ presence means to the team, and why she is crucial to the Wolverines’ success this season.

Following the USC loss, Michigan head coach Kim Barnes Arico lamented the absence of Swords, and she spoke about what the star freshman has meant for the team.

“She’s an exceptional defender. She guarded Olympians this summer so she’s defended at the highest level. She’s our leading rebounder … she gives us a presence on the defensive and rebounding end,” Barnes Arico said. “It was tough to not have her out there. We asked a lot of other people to really step up.”

The role of helping the Michigan freshmen adjust to the collegiate game has largely fallen on Kampschroeder and fellow senior Jordan Hobbs. Of Michigan’s top nine rotation players from last season, only Kampschroeder and Hobbs are back this year.

For Kampschroeder in particular, her role was not as expansive last year as it is this season. She only played around nine minutes per game. Now in the starting lineup, she’s up to around 24 minutes. This is her third season with the Wolverines after transferring from Oregon State following the 2021-22 season. While her role has fluctuated during her first two seasons at Michigan, she’s putting up some of the best numbers of her career as a senior. Per Her Hoop Stats, she averages 7.1 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting 46.8% from the field and 40.9% from 3-point range.

Having transferred schools and experienced fluctuating roles, she understands what the freshmen are going through, and she knows what they need to do to settle in and help this team win.

“There are moments in the game where, in high school, when things weren’t going your way, you would just put the ball in your hands and you would just go score. It was pretty easy in high school. And now you kind of have to let the game come to you,” Kampschroeder said. “You have to slow down a bit, you have to be a little bit more methodical with how you do things … I think sometimes we just tell them to take a deep breath and don’t be so hard on yourself.”

“Just take a step back and don’t feel like you have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. I think sometimes they feel that way. I felt that way sometimes as a freshman,” Kampschroeder continued. “I think we just have to keep reminding them that they’re playing huge roles on a huge stage and they’re going to keep learning. They’ve grown a lot since they first stepped into this program. They’re going to keep working and we know they’re going to be good.”

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With USC and UCLA now in the rearview, things aren’t going to get easier for Michigan. The Big Ten is a gauntlet this season. When they return home from this West Coast road swing, they have No. 10 Ohio State waiting for them.

While that can be a daunting challenge, Barnes Arico believes this can also serve as a springboard to help the freshmen gain valuable experience.

“Just believe in yourself like we believe in you as coaches. I believe in you. As a program, we believe in you. You’re going to make mistakes, and you’ve got to be able to let them go and you’ve got to be able to move on because we don’t want to be on this emotional roller coaster of living by every play,” Barnes Arico said. “Basketball is a game of mistakes, let it go and move on and let’s just focus. I think the easiest way to do that is play hard … just try to be a great defender, just try to rebound the ball. Just have a certain level of toughness to you.”

“If you do all that, everything else is going to fall into place,” Barnes Arico continued. “They got to keep their confidence, we’re all leaning on them. They got to let it go. I’m going to start singing ‘Frozen’ to them or something.”