U-M’s DeJulius makes his case at point guard for next season
Orion Sang
EVANSTON, Ill. — With just under 13 minutes left in the first half of Wednesday night’s game at Northwestern, Michigan basketball needed a spark.
It had taken the Wolverines nearly six minutes to score their first points. And then, while trailing 13-6 to the last-place Wildcats, senior point guard Zavier Simpson picked up an offensive foul — his second foul of the half.
Michigan’s offense need to come alive on the road, and it would have to do so without Simpson, who sat on the bench for the rest of the opening half.
Enter sophomore David DeJulius.
The backup guard took over for Simpson — and promptly handed out three assists in his first three minutes. In 21 minutes, DeJulius scored seven points and added seven assists and six rebounds with no turnovers.
It was one of his best games of his young career — and the latest step in DeJulius’ audition for the point guard job next season.
“X got in foul trouble, so I just had to take that floor general role,” DeJulius said. “Where usually I come in and be more aggressive — (tonight) I just made sure I was getting my teammates involved and aggressive myself.”
DeJulius fully recognizes the opportunity in front of him. Simpson, the program’s all-time leader in wins — who also ranks second in assists — is in his final season of eligibility. The Wolverines are projected to have three scholarship guards on the roster next season: DeJulius, Eli Brooks (currently the starting 2-guard) and incoming freshman Zeb Jackson. There could be more additions as well, as Michigan is still recruiting five-star prospect Josh Christopher.
In short, the point guard job won’t be handed to DeJulius. He’ll have to beat out others — which is why opportunities like Wednesday are especially important. With Simpson still in charge, the Wolverines rarely ask DeJulius to initiate the offense.
Occasionally, he’s gotten a chance to show what he can do as a true point guard. He started at Nebraska in place of Simpson, who was serving a one-game suspension. But the offense bogged down, and eventually the Wolverines shifted responsibilities to Brooks.
Simpson’s early foul trouble at Northwestern offered DeJulius a chance at redemption — not just for next season but also when it came to gaining more of Juwan Howard’s trust season.
DeJulius has spent much of the past nine months building trust with Howard
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It has required give-and-take from both player and coach.
Early in the fall, Howard asked him to come off the bench. Most of the time that meant serving as an offensive sparkplug. DeJulius said he believes he’s naturally a point guard in the mold of Simpson. But “that’s not what’s expected from me this year,” he acknowledges.
“That’s kind of how our relationship builds — just me being that guy where I come in, whatever the team needs, I’ll do,” DeJulius said. “Whether it’s scoring, facilitating.”
Slowly, DeJulius and Howard have gotten to know each other better. While DeJulius heeded Howard’s words at the beginning of the season and settled into his role off the bench, “trust doesn’t just happen overnight.” The turning point, according to DeJulius, came “in the last month or so.”
Michigan’s past two games have been the culmination of it all; DeJulius scored 10 points in Saturday’s win over Michigan State before helping Michigan rip off a 32-10 run to end the first half Wednesday.
There are signs of the blossoming relationship between DeJulius and Howard. Shortly after beating the Spartans, the two embraced, basking in the glow of the win.
“These past two games have meant a lot for my confidence, as well as coach’s confidence in me going forward,” DeJulius said.