How the early schedule for the Wolverines sets them up for March and the veterans holding the group together.
While basketball doesn’t have the same rivalry week feel as the football season, the No. 9 Ohio State women’s basketball team heads north to Ann Arbor on Wednesday to face the No. 25 Michigan Wolverines.
Before the two sides take to the court, Land-Grant reached out to Maize n Brew, SBNation’s Michigan Wolverines site, to talk about a Maize and Blue side that looks vastly different than the recent Naz Hillmon or Laila Phelia-led teams.
It’s now centered around a dynamic trio of freshmen including a frontrunner for Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Writer Kellen Voss talks about them and more from the visiting locker room.
Land-Grant Holy Land: The storyline for Michigan in the offseason was losing their star guard Laila Phelia to the transfer portal but once games actually started the story quickly shifted to a trio of freshmen who aren’t making a team of the future but a team of right now. Syla Swords was the No. 4 ranked freshman in the 2024 class and immediately made an impact nearly leading Michigan over the defending national champions South Carolina on the first night of the season. What makes Swords so effective so early in her NCAA career?
Maize n Brew: Syla impresses me more and more every time I watch her play. She doesn’t really have any weaknesses, she can score at all three levels, and she sets up her teammates incredibly well with her court vision. She’s got WNBA potential written all over her, she’s already got Olympic experience, and she is the main reason why the future is so bright in Ann Arbor.
LGHL: Around Swords are two other freshmen in Olivia Olson and Mia Holloway. Olson and Swords take turns leading the Wolverines in scoring each game and Holloway is already averaging over four assists per game as a freshman. What do Olson and Holloway bring to the team?
MB: Olson and Holloway play nearly perfectly alongside Swords, as the fit is pretty seamless. Olson hasn’t gotten off to the best shooting start, but she’s an excellent cutter, a good finisher around the rim and plays solid defense. Holloway is the biggest surprise of the team, with all the preseason hype surrounding Swords and Olson.
She drives to the rim with authority, and has great court vision. One thing that is clear is the chemistry developing amongst the group, which has gotten better since November. They all play well around each other and the trio is incredibly unselfish. Swords brings the starpower, but Olson and Holloway lift the ceiling for this team over the next few seasons as well.
LGHL: Head coach Kim Barnes Arico didn’t go the way that some coaches in her shoes would go. Usually, a coach with practically a new side would try to lighten up their non-conference schedule to help players align but Barnes Arico started the year with the Gamecocks and then games against Virginia Tech and a ranked Oklahoma Sooners side. Despite going 1-2 in those games, how do you think they’ll help this team in the long run?
MB: That schedule has been hard on the team, especially coming off the California road trip with two top-five matchups against UCLA and USC. But I think this scheduling will be good for the team in the long run. The tough non-conference schedule reminded me of Tom Izzo testing his team with difficult games in November and December; yea it can be tough to swallow in the moment, but it will help Michigan in the long run face better teams on paper in an elite Big Ten and potentially upset better teams in March Madness.
LGHL: Roster talk is justifiably focused on the freshmen trio this season, but Jordan Hobbs seems like the glue holding the team together. What does she do for the team as its senior leader and who else on the roster is standing out for the Wolverines this season?
MB: Hobbs brings the stability that you would expect from a senior leader on this young team. She’s a good rebounder and she’s always been a good defender, but her scoring ability has improved drastically over the years. She’s gotten more versatile, scoring around the rim and from deep. Both her and Greta Kampschroeder have benefitted from playing alongside the three freshman, as their ball sharing is contagious and they often get set up for wide open threes.