Michigan Basketball: Xavier Simpson Will Be The Key To Next Season

As Michigan basketball says goodbye to point guard Derrick Walton Jr., the Wolverines are getting ready to turn to sophomore-to-be Xavier Simpson.

As Derrick Walton Jr.’s potential game-winning shot against Oregon in the Sweet 16 hit the front of the rim and bounced to the right, a new chapter began for Michigan basketball.

That was Walton’s last shot in a Michigan uniform.

It’ll be Xavier Simpson at point guard next season, and whatever you think about that, you have to at least admit it’s going to be a dramatic change from the free-firing Walton.

Simpson—or simply “X,” if that’s what you’re into—didn’t show signs this season that he’s going to be developing quickly into the kind of player the Wolverines had bringing the ball up the court this season. Walton took just over 10 shots a game; Simpson took just over one.

There’s the obvious reason that Simpson was playing behind Walton, and it also wasn’t uncommon to see the two playing at the same time. Simpson hardly found himself in a position to make a significant impact offensively.

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Simpson was an incredible scoring threat at Lima High School (Ohio) during his senior year, scoring 27.2 points per game. He also broke the school’s single-game scoring record twice that season with 59- and 65-point outbursts.

Scouting reports showed reluctance to assume his high-volume scoring ability would translate to the college level for two main reasons: He’s shorter than most guards at a flat 6-foot, and a lot of his impressive offensive footprint came from a dynamic fast-break game.

And simply watching Simpson play this season showed a player who’s got a ways to go before he’s taking 10 shots a game and scoring 15.5 points along the way. And that’s if he gets there at all.

This is not a bad thing, though. It’s just different from what Michigan’s gotten used to with Trey Burke and then Walton.

At least as far as next season is concerned, Simpson’s primary role will be that of a distributor. He showed this season that he can definitely be a primary ball handler and his vision is good enough to find any number of shooters and cutters. What’s more, he showed a few times that he can work in the pick-and-roll action that gives the Wolverines a lot of their offense. That was very encouraging.

Michigan is obviously going to miss Walton and Zak Irvin next season—especially when there’s a big shot to be made—but the Wolverines aren’t going to be without shooters. Duncan Robinson, Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, D.J. Wilson and Moritz Wagner will be familiar faces on the court.

Along with them, Ibi Watson could see more playing time, and Kentucky transfer Charles Matthews will be eligible next season.

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Simpson is going to bring a different threat to Michigan’s offense next season. It probably won’t look like what the Wolverines got from Walton, especially late in the season, but Simpson’s play is going to play a key role in the success of the 2017-18 team.

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