{"id":61631,"date":"2018-03-28T11:55:02","date_gmt":"2018-03-28T11:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=61631"},"modified":"2018-03-28T11:55:02","modified_gmt":"2018-03-28T11:55:02","slug":"moritz-wagner-is-final-four-bound-michigans-emotional-spark-plug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/moritz-wagner-is-final-four-bound-michigans-emotional-spark-plug.html","title":{"rendered":"Moritz Wagner is Final Four-bound Michigan’s emotional spark plug"},"content":{"rendered":"

Moritz Wagner is Final Four-bound Michigan’s emotional spark plug<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Michigan likes to fancy itself a national brand, with an alumni and fan base that stretches coast to coast. Wolverines basketball coach John Beilein knows this, and so when he boarded a plane to Berlin a few years ago to follow up on a tip about a prospective recruit, he did so incognito.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ruse lasted roughly 48 hours. When he landed back in Detroit, a group of UM fans spotted him and soon enough, news was out on Twitter that Beilein had been overseas recruiting.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou can run, but you can\u2019t hide,\u201d Beilein cracked at the West Regional last weekend in Los Angeles.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s understandable that Beilein would be concerned. It\u2019s not every day you find a 6-9 German forward with a mature, engaging personality, the type of kid anxious to travel across the ocean to better his basketball skills.<\/span><\/p>\n

But as everyone learned last weekend at Staples Center, Moritz Wagner is truly one of a kind.<\/span><\/p>\n

The junior forward \u2014 who pronounces his name \u201cMORE-rhet\u2019z VOG-ner\u201d according to the UM media guide and who has grown to 6-11 in three seasons in Ann Arbor \u2014 is more than just the Wolverines\u2019 leading scorer (14.3 ppg) and rebounder (6.9). He is their emotional spark plug, talking trash to opponents (and teammates), sticking his tongue out for effect after big plays.<\/span><\/p>\n

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, speaking to reporters last February, summed it like this: \u201cWagner can be a pain in the butt. Let\u2019s not kid ourselves.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That comment, by the way, made Wagner smile. He has made a career out of annoying opponents, and then telling them \u2014 and fans \u2014 about it. Of his tongue-wagging habit Wagner said, \u201cMy dad always says the tongue is nice and my mom is like, I hate that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

His mom, Beate, is the one Michigan fans should be thanking for putting Wagner in basketball. A soccer player growing up, Mo Wagner said his mother got \u201csick of standing outside in the rain, so she dragged me to a gym.\u201d By high school, basketball was his sport of choice.<\/span><\/p>\n

That Wagner has helped Michigan to the Final Four this week in San Antonio is somewhat serendipitous. Five years ago, when the Wolverines lost to Louisville in the 2013 NCAA title game, Wagner watched from his home in Berlin with his father, Axel Schulz. Mesmerized by the pomp and circumstance surrounding the NCAA tournament, Schulz told Wagner, \u201cThis is crazy, with the music and the band \u2014 you\u2019ve gotta go there, you\u2019ve gotta go to college!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Who knew it would actually happen though?<\/span><\/p>\n

It surprised Wagner as much as anyone when Beilein showed up in Berlin.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis dude who was on the TV, all the sudden he\u2019s in your living room,\u201d Wagner said. \u201cIt\u2019s weird, because America is another world for you as a kid.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Beilein first heard about Wagner from Yenal Kahraman, the same guy who helped former Connecticut forward Niels Giffey, who played for the Huskies from 2010-2014 and won two NCAA championships, get to the U.S. Beilein called Wagner after reading an email from Kahraman, and knew he had to meet Wagner immediately.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe energy on the phone was incredible,\u201d Beilein recalled last week.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you talk on the phone with recruits, it’s not always comfortable. They’re not comfortable talking with adults or they just don’t communicate. He was an incredible communicator.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It was more impressive in person. When Beilein arrived in Berlin, he met Wagner at his family\u2019s home, where he ate \u201ca big German dinner and a beer.\u201d By the end of their elevator ride upstairs, Beilein was sold.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBy the time I got out of the elevator I said, if this kid\u2019s good at all, I\u2019m going to give him a scholarship,\u201d Beilein said. \u201cHe was so engaging.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Reporters in L.A. got a taste of that last week. Wagner has a playful easiness around the media, and a genuine charisma that\u2019s evident the first time you meet him.<\/span><\/p>\n

When a reporter commented that his English was perfect, Wagner bowed his head and responded, \u201cBless you.\u201d Wagner said no one has ever described his second language that way and in the process, stumbled over his words a bit. Without skipping a beat, he explained, \u201cI\u2019m nervous now!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On mentoring hard-headed freshmen, he sighed and said knowingly, \u201cIt sucks to admit that coach is right.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In talking about mixing sports with scholastic activities \u2014 normal to Americans but a foreign concept to other countries \u2014 Wagner described it as, \u201cthe way they do it here, with all the bling-bling.\u201d He went on to say that it\u2019s sort of bizarre, having a gym all to yourself, because in Europe you typically have to share with other sports. \u201cYou play in a gym with volleyball stripes on the court,\u201d he said before hurriedly adding, \u201cNot that (volleyball\u2019s) a bad thing!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On handball, his father\u2019s extracircular of choice, Wagner informed everyone that he did not play \u201cthat ugly European sport.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In talking about his growth as a scorer he quipped, \u201cI wasn\u2019t as good of a shooter then as I am now \u2014 and I\u2019m saying that as a confident guy, not a cocky guy.\u201d He added the last part with a smile, lest anyone misjudge him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of improving his accuracy: \u201cEven back when I sucked (at shooting), I kept working on it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This chatter, coaches and teammates agree, is totally normal for Wagner.<\/span><\/p>\n

It makes sense, too, when you consider his idol, Kevin Garnett. A longtime Boston Celtics fan, Wagner adores KG because, \u201cHe\u2019s crazy. He could miss a million shot and still affect that game in a way no one else on the basketball floor was able to do with his intensity and energy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cObviously he\u2019s a little crazy in the head, but I really appreciate that. I\u2019m a little crazy out there, too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/ncaab\/2018\/03\/27\/moritz-wagner-energy-journey-michigan-wolverines-final-four\/464985002\/<\/span><\/p>\n

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