Zaiver Simpson, Jon Teske just won during Michigan basketball careers
By Seth Berry
There is one only word need to describe Jon Teske and Zavier Simpson during their time with Michigan basketball: “Winners”
When Zavier Simpson and Jon Teske joined Michigan basketball as part of former coach John Beilein’s 2016 recruiting class, the Wolverines were already thriving as a program.
The 2013 Final Four run followed by a 2014 run to the Elite Eight undoubtedly had put Michigan hoops on the map.
But with that success also meant early NBA departures. The 2014-15 Michigan basketball team was hit the hardest, having to replace Nik Stauskas, Mitch McGary and Glenn Robinson III, who all declared for the draft after the previous season.
Due to those losses and a devastating injury to guard Caris Levert, the Wolverines took a step back in 2014-15 and missed the NCAA Tournament.
The “dark days” clearly didn’t last too long for the program, but even the following season, Michigan found itself barely scraping into the tournament.
The Wolverines had simply lost too much talent in a short amount of time and were having some trouble recovering. As every coach would love to have NBA talent, to sustain success, a program also needs solid four-year players to stay consistent.
And looking back, Simpson and Teske gave the program just that, while becoming the winningest players in Michigan basketball history.