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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — There was no fanfare, no official announcement. And it didn’t even come before the season. That is, the naming of team captains for the 2019-20 Michigan basketball team.
At the outset of the season, the team didn’t have captains, but — though he can’t remember precisely when it happened — that changed, according to head coach Juwan Howard.
As he explains, he intended on having a team vote to name captains, but after putting some thought on it, Howard nixed that idea, noting that really, the choices were obvious.
“When I thought about team captains, I said, ‘You know, allow players to vote who they think is the best suited to become captain. Who earned it.’” Howard explained. “Then, one day, at night, I was thinking – I’m always thinking – I said, ‘I know who the captains are. It’s plain and simple. It’s staring all of us in the face. Jon Teske, Zavier Simpson.’ Not just because they’re seniors, it’s just that: X is the ultimate leader there is. I haven’t seen a better leader than Zavier Simpson. Holds his teammates accountable, he’s a guy who he doesn’t just talk the talk, the cliché ‘you walk the walk’ – that’s what he does. It’s that simple. One of the hardest working guys on the team. Smart player. I’ve said it before, he’s my Tom Brady. He makes my job a lot easier as a coach. I can lay my head down at night knowing I have a guy like X in the trenches.
“Jon Teske’s a guy who’s won many games like X. Proven. They both, in my opinion, will have a chance to play on the next level in the NBA if they want to. Jon, elite-level center, smart defender. Quiet assassin. I would say, leads by example. Because all leaders are not vocal, either. It doesn’t mean he’s not a leader. He just leads in a different way. And it’s good also to have balance. And I think with Jon and X, it’s a great balance of the two. You may be able to get a few words out of Jon, but if you talk to X for awhile, you’ll get a lot of words out of him.
“So, I told the guys: ‘Captain is chosen! I’m choosing Jon and X! It’s that simple. Does anyone have any input? Please feel free! Is anyone against it?’ Just like how this room is right now, it was quiet.”
As the two seniors on the team, and two of the obvious leaders, the choice is a perfect one for Howard and the basketball team. Naturally, there are other players who could have been candidates — juniors Isaiah Livers and Eli Brooks — but Michigan is certainly in good hands with Simpson and Teske leading the charge.