Game 4: William & Mary at Michigan Preview

Michigan hosts William & Mary on Sunday afternoon (2:00 p.m., B1G+) as it looks to build momentum from Wednesday’s win over Marquette.

Tribe head coach Brian Earl is in his third season at William & Mary, and he flipped the program immediately, with back-to-back winning seasons and a 174-spot climb through the KenPom ranks.

Earl is a product of Princeton basketball. He was a star player there, playing in the famous upset over UCLA as a freshman, and he started his coaching career as an assistant. Early on as a head coach at Cornell, he ran the Princeton offense. During the Ivy League’s COVID-19 shutdown, he adapted his system from the typical slow-paced Princeton style to a turbo-charged, uptempo Princeton style.

The change worked. Cornell went from a team ranked in the 200s to 103rd in three seasons. Next, he moved to William & Mary, where he brought his scheme with him. William & Mary finished 20-12 (10-8 CAA) last season and 145th on KenPom, but lost its top nine scorers from last year’s roster and welcomed 13 newcomers.

With three games played (wins over Norfolk State and Bridgewater and a narrow loss at Florida Atlantic), it’s clear Earl is still figuring out how the newcomers fit individually, but his scheme remains.