Jaron Faulds knows the drive from Holt to Ann Arbor well. He’s made the roughly hour-long trek before, many times when he was still in high school, a three-star prospect being recruited by both the Wolverines and Spartans.
East Lansing was closer — a mere 15 minutes from home — and Faulds grew up a Michigan State fan though, he clarifies, nothing near a die-hard. But Michigan stood out for Faulds then, just like it does now.
Problem was, an offer never came, from either program. Both coaches talked with Faulds about redshirting, or going to prep school for a year, but he wanted to play right away. Ivy League and MAC schools had been recruiting him hard — Faulds picked Columbia.
“It really appealed to me, being in the Ivy League and being the Ivy League student, the Ivy League athlete and everything,” Faulds told UM Hoops on Sunday. “But yeah, just through the whole process, I was just thinking, ‘What’s a place with great culture, great teammates, coaches, just overall, what’s gonna prepare the best for when I’m done with basketball? When the ball stops bouncing, which school is gonna prepare me the best?’ ”
US News and World Report ranks Columbia in a tie for fifth in national universities. There aren’t many better places to get someone ready for life after basketball.
Faulds knew that. This wasn’t a case of going somewhere with the intention of leaving after a year — he planned to spend the next four years in New York City. His freshman year was solid on the court. Faulds averaged 4.5 points and 3.2 rebounds over 14.2 minutes per game, making the top-10 in the Ivy League for blocks. He felt he held his own.
“I played a decent amount for a freshman at Columbia,” Faulds said. “But I just realized that I wasn’t as happy as I had hoped to be.”
When asked, Faulds didn’t pinpoint a specific reason for wanting to leave Columbia. Part of it though, was being an 11-hour drive from home. He felt out of touch with family and friends, and wanted to reconnect. So when he got his release form, Faulds had a destination in mind.
He contacted the Wolverines that day and spoke with assistant coach Saddi Washington. Faulds said he wanted to be a part of the program and thought he’d fit well. Within a week, John Beilein called and soon enough, a visit was planned.
Faulds made that drive from Holt to Ann Arbor again, this time to meet with the coaching staff. They laid out the situation.
“Beilein, he, I mean really what he wanted to do is just to see if that’s really what I wanted to do,” Faulds said. “He said, ‘You could go, you could play tons of minutes for any other school. You could go and make an immediate impact. You could play, you could get a lot more minutes, playing time from another school. A lot more touches from other schools.’ He said, ‘Is this what you really want to do? To come here?’
“And I told him, I said, ‘Yeah, I wouldn’t wanna be anywhere else.’ I said, ‘Anything that I get here, I know that I’m gonna have to work for, but I’m ok with that.’ ”
On Friday, the transfer became official.
The path in front of Faulds isn’t easy. He’ll have to sit out the coming season, spending the upcoming season on the scout team. His playing time and any opportunity at a potential scholarship will depend on the roster situation in a given season.
As Faulds’ new teammates are gearing up for summer school, he’s at a cottage with his family on the Upper Peninsula. He’s still navigating a sea of rules from both the NCAA and the University to figure out what he can and can’t do this summer, after missing the deadline to register for summer classes.
Faulds thinks he can lift with the team, but doesn’t believe he’ll be able to participate in on-court activity if the coaches are in the gym.
Giving up a roster spot at Columbia for a preferred walk-on spot at Michigan was a unique choice. Not many would have made it.
“I do not expect anything, or I don’t think that I deserve anything,” Faulds said. “I don’t believe that I’m entitled to anything, but I’m going to work for (a scholarship).
“I don’t think that (sitting this year) will be as hard as people think it will be. Just because that gives me an extra year of school, and so that might actually really help with my workload and I can really — I just have a year, just to really grind on the court and in the classroom.”
Faulds will be making the trip from Holt to Ann Arbor once or twice a week until the fall semester starts. It’s the road less traveled, but a path he’s content to follow.
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silverblue
Ahhh, “The Road Less Traveled,” one of my favorite poems. It IS a great concept. Not everyone takes that road, perhaps only a very few. Not all who take that less traveled road find success, but those who do often find great reward. Oftentimes it makes “all the difference.” I’m rooting for this young man…to find his path at Michigan.
AC1997
If Michigan had used one of their scarce scholarships on Faulds I would be concerned. As a preferred walk-on this is a GREAT signing. I know it is a highlight tape, but in those clips you see him being a rotation player against major college programs like PSU and BC. If that’s your 13th guy and the person pushing the scout team in practice the team will benefit from it. He’s instant insurance against unexpected injuries, departures, or foul trouble.
Longer term he also seems to have some upside. The fact that he was at Columbia implies intelligence and I could see that in his highlight tape (all caveats understood). He found his way to spots around the basket, he got open, he boxed out, he used some crafty post moves to score, etc. I only saw one jump shot in that entire tape so who knows if he has much of a ceiling, but as someone to have in the program without giving up a scholarship I think this is excellent.
The comparison I’d make is to Max Bielfeldt. Max barely played for most of his career and then jumped into the rotation later after some players left and his skills improved enough to contribute. He was always limited and not your ideal rotation piece, but he held his own and did some dirty work - eventually starting his 5th year for Indiana. Now imagine that Max was a preferred walk-on who already played division-1 for Columbia and was a few inches taller…
Champions
With him playing the big on the scout team, it will free up Davis and Castleton to concentrate on our defensive and offensive sets.
HustleCat
Is it possible that Jaron Faulds (and U of M) benefits greatly by the hiring of Juwan Howard as head coach?
I looked back to highlights of Jaron’s first year at Columbia. He has a nice jump hook, good footwork down low, even a running sky hook.
Would it be too much of a stretch to think of Jaron Faulds as a three-star version of a five-star Juwan Howard coming into college?
No one on the board has really talked about Faulds. But I’m wondering if now that he has Howard to coach and mentor him in a similar style of play, with Juwan’s 25 years of experience, is it possible Jaron Faulds gets some meaningful playing time this season? Thoughts?
nswan
Unfortunately the C is the position that Michigan has the most depth and so Faulds has a considerable uphill battle for playing time. Teske is one of the top centers in the B1G, Castleton has a ton of talent that just started getting showcased at the end of the season and Davis is a guy who, at the very worst, has seen some time on the court and is an upperclassman.
I would be surprised if we see him much this year or going forward but that certainly is not a knock on him.