Report Card 2011: Evan Smotrycz

Before the season I mentioned that Evan Smotrycz might have one of the most difficult transitions of any of Michigan’s freshmen. That sounded odd because Evan was the top rated recruit in Michigan’s class, an RSCI consensus top 100 player, and appeared to be a perfect fit for John Beilein’s system.

One of the toughest positions to transition from the prep to college level is a perimeter oriented four man. 6-foot-9 players with skill show out on the AAU circuit, where the level of defensive intensity is a bit lacking, but to utilize all of those skills on the college level is a different fight. There are exceptions to this rule (see: Robbie Hummel) but for the most part it’s tough for these type of players to play an efficient brand of basketball as freshmen and Evan Smotrycz’s up and down year followed this rule. He displayed tantalizing flashes of his potential with nine double figure scoring games, tied for 4th on the U-M roster, including game changing performances versus Clemson and Michigan State. There were also a boatload of 2-9 and 3-11 type performances that demonstrated the freshman wasn’t quite there yet.