ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Dug McDaniel endured a trial by fire during his freshman season with the Michigan men’s basketball team.
After Jaelin Llewellyn suffered a season-ending ACL injury, McDaniel started 26 games for the Wolverines. He averaged 8.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, and he featured in 86.5% of available minutes during Big Ten play as U-M’s point guard.
That means McDaniel enters 2023-24 with a wealth of experience and bigger expectations on his shoulders. On Thursday, he interviewed with The Michigan Insider to preview his sophomore year.
McDaniel spoke to The Michigan Insider at a meet-and-greet hosted by Stadium and Main, an NIL collective that helps support Michigan Athletics. On Thursday afternoon, players from the men’s and women’s basketball teams distributed Coca-Cola products to patrons of the Ann Arbor Art Fair and raised awareness for organ and bone marrow donation.
Select athletes from the basketball, hockey and football programs will continue participating in the meet-and-greet on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, weather permitting, in front of the Brown Jug restaurant.
Here’s what Dug McDaniel said:
Alejandro Zúñiga: How has your summer been?
Dug McDaniel: It’s been good. Just been working — trying to lock in. I’ve been here all year round.
I gained a few pounds. I’m up to 170 now. I’m trying to gain five more by the first practice. So just really locking on that so when I get in the game, I can take those bumps and just really physically adapt to the league.
AZ: How excited are you to enter a season with a defined role and experience under your belt?
DM: I’m definitely excited. Year Two, I’m expecting to make a huge jump. Me personally, I have a lot of big goals in mind. So this year is definitely important in my journey.
AZ: Is the pick-and-roll game with Olivier Nkamhoua and Tarris Reed where you expect to make those big jumps?
DM: Definitely. That has always been a strong suit of mine and I got my primary scoring from there. But just working with the bigs hand-and-hand, working on those lob passes, those dump-offs — just really sharpening that up. I feel like yeah, that’s gonna play a huge role in my development and all of our development this season.
AZ: I know it’s early, but who are the guys who have impressed you so far?
DM: George definitely opened some eyes. His shot-making ability is the best I’ve seen so far. Tray and Olivier, they they surprised me as well. I knew how good Olivier was coming in, but to see it firsthand — seeing his athleticism and his leadership — definitely was very inspiring. And then Tray, he actually played Michigan in recent years. They actually beat Michigan. Seeing a lot of guys firsthand really surprised me. That work ethic and their willingness to buy in and how they all just want to be better for the team.
AZ: As a returning starter, you’re a leader on this program. What’s the identity of this Michigan basketball team going to be?
TMI: We’re going to be a very defensive, gritty team. All our weaknesses from last year, we’re going to hone those into our strengths. We were a very weak defensive team last year, so this year we’re gonna try to make that a focal point. We’ve got interior shot blocking now; we didn’t really have that last year. So just defense — picking up 94 feet — and we’re going to outwork our opponent every night.
George Washington III, Tray Jackson, Harrison Hochberg, Dug McDaniel, Laila Phelia and Whitney Sollom of the Michigan men’s and women’s
basketball teams. (Photo: Alejandro Zúñiga , 247Sports)
This article was published on 247Sports