No. 42 – Michigan Wolverines | |
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Position | Forward |
League | Big Ten Conference |
Personal information | |
Born | Rochester, Minnesota | January 31, 2003
Nationality | American |
Listed height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) |
Listed weight | 245 lb (111 kg) |
Career information | |
High school |
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College |
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Will Tschetter (born January 31, 2003) is an American college basketball player for the Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten Conference. In high school, he played for Stewartville, where he led the state in scoring as a junior. As a senior, he was third in the state in scoring and finished as runner-up in the Minnesota Mr. Basketball and as the state's number-2 ranked recruit behind Chet Holmgren. Tschetter is the son of Minnesota Miss Basketball, three-time All-American and three-time NCAA Division II national champion Kasey Morlock.
Early life
Tschetter was raised on a farm on the outskirts of the small town of Stewartville, Minnesota in Southeast Minnesota. The town, which is a suburb of Rochester, Minnesota, has a population of 6,000 and the farm is a distance from central Stewartville.[1] His family's 160-acre (0.65 km2; 0.25 sq mi) farm with about 35 head of cattle is about 12 miles (19.3 km) south of Rochester. His grandfather bought the farm as rental property when his mother was in high school and his grandparents live in a separate residence on the farm, while his uncle owns an additional 80-acre (0.32 km2; 0.13 sq mi) parcel nearby. His mother and father moved in when they landed engineering jobs at IBM in Rochester. Tschetter spent two years in China when his father was on assignment in Beijing before returning to the farm for sixth grade.[2] Upon leaving for China in fourth grade, Tschetter was already 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m). While there, he attended International School of Beijing for 4th and 5th grade.[3]
Tschetter's mom coached his eight grade travel team and was the Stewartville Freshman coach as of the 2020–21 season. He was a straght A's student in high school with the exception of an A-minus in Spanish as a sophomore. Before his freshman year, he joined the Minnesota Heat AAU boy's basketball program coached by Johnny Tauer who encouraged his outside shot. Tschetter began trumpet studies in fourth grade and switched to french horn as a freshman. He was a member of the school marching band despite the interference from his athletic commitments. He performed yearly with the band at the Minnesota State Fair and in band competitions.[2]
High school
By July 2019 following his sophomore basketball season, Tschetter's only offer was a Division II school.[4] He took an official visit to attend the January 19, 2020 game between North Dakota State and North Dakota.[5] Tschetter had a 5:30 routine that included making 100 three-point shots ever day.[6] Most teams double team or triple team him, but some good schools felt they could handle him with single coverage, often resulting in his big games. E.g., he posted 50 points against Columbia Heights.[1] As a junior, Tschetter averaged 33.4 points per game,[7] earning 2nd team All-state recognition from the Associated Press.[5] Yet as of April 2020, he only had mid-major interest.[4] Tschetter had intended to make his college choice in April of 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. However the resulting lockdown led to AAU event cancellations and in-person recruiting bans. Talent evaluations were suddenly based on film analysis and review. Tschetter had to build interest by tape.[4] Michigan assistant coach Phil Martelli had initiated contact to request game film.[4]
Because he is from a remote area and does not play for an AAU team that participates in the shoe-sponsored circuits, Tschetter remained relatively unknown until Rivals.com published a May 14, 2020 story on him.[1] By May 25, 2020, Tschetter had offers from NDSU, Appalachian State, Colorado State, James Madison, Loyola Chicago, Northern Iowa, South Dakota, Toledo, William & Mary, Wyoming and Richmond and strong interest from Arkansas, Minnesota and Michigan.[5] Tschetter was also the starting quarterback for Stewartville. As a junior he threw for 1,429 yards and 15 touchdowns in nine games last year.[8] Minnesota Golden Gophers football recruited him as a tight end.[7] While Mark Dantonio was the head coach of Michigan State Spartans football, they were also interested in him as a tight end.[1] Other Big Ten Conference football programs recruited him as well.[7] However, some of the tight end transition conversations extended to his eventually performing as an offensive lineman, which did not interest him.[2] While Tschetter was still fielding offers, the stay at home ban was lifted and he invited the Cincinnati bound Class of 2020 Madsen twins (Gabe and Mason) to practice.[9] Tschetter also competed in the discus throw in high school.[10]
Michigan zoom recruiting entailed a series of virtual meetings. Tschetter, who had a 3.9 G.P.A., was enticed by Michigan's academics.[4] For basketball, Tschetter's first Power Five conference offer came from Arkansas coach Eric Musselman. On June 1, he got his first Big Ten Conference basketball scholarship offer from Michigan. Hours later, Nebraska and Minnesota followed and Iowa made an offer on June 23.[7] By late June, his ranking was up to 149 in the 247Sports composite rankings.[4] During the Covid pandemic, his June schedule was packed with zoom recruiting meetings but no official campus visits were allowed before August 31. So Tschetter and his mom drove 588 miles (946.3 km) from Stewartville, Minnesota to Ann Arbor, Michigan to visit the University of Michigan campus during the quiet of lockdowns for a 4th of July road trip. Tschetter could only interface with head coach Juwan Howard and assistant coach Martelli via zoom.[7] He wanted to wrap up his recruiting before school resumed and decided to commit on July 5. However, because he had no social media accounts, his announcement came from the Stewartville High School boy's basketball Twitter account on Monday July 6.[4] He had tried Snapchat in high school briefly, but found it too distracting.[2] Although Tschetter had no social media accounts, he had on occasion scrolled his mother's twitter account and had seen the Stewartville basketball account with its 800 followers and wanted the experience of an official social media announcement. Stewartville assistant coach, Brad Vaught, made it happen.[6] His mother was also an assistant coach at Stewartville for coach Adam Girtman.[6]
Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date | |
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Will Tschetter PF |
Stewartville, MN | Stewartville | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 225 lb (102 kg) | Jul 6, 2020 | |
Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 81 | ||||||
Overall recruiting rankings: Rivals: 51 247Sports: 44 ESPN: 40 | ||||||
Sources:
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College
Tschetter was part of the top-ranked recruiting class in the national class of 2021 along with Caleb Houstan, Moussa Diabaté, Kobe Bufkin, Frankie Collins and Isaiah Barnes.[11] As a redshirt freshman, he earned a reputation as a spark plug.[12] Following his redshirt freshman season, he did an internship on a bison ranch.[13] After taking a break in Stewartville, he then built a garden with coach Howard's wife Jenine.[3] After Houstan and Diabaté were taken in the 2022 NBA draft,[14] Bufkin was taken in the 2023 NBA draft,[15] and Collins and Barnes entered the NCAA transfer portal,[16][17] Tschetter entered his redshirt sophomore season as the only member of his signing class to remain at Michigan.[18]
Personal life
Tschetter was born to Kasey Morlock and Garth Tschetter. Morlock is the all-time leading scorer in North Dakota State Bison women's basketball history (2233 points) and his father made 34 receptions and 3 touchdowns as a wide receiver for North Dakota State Bison football.[5] Garth was listed as 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) as a senior in high school.[19] His younger brother Henry (class of 2025, 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)) has committed to play NCAA Division III basketball for College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University and he has a second brother Pete (class of 2027).[20]
Notes
- ^ a b c d Kahn, Andrew (July 9, 2020). "Will Tschetter: The farm strong, social media averse, high-scoring Michigan basketball commit". MLive.com. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
- ^ a b c d Scoggins, Chip (February 28, 2021). "Top recruit Will Tschetter will get to basketball once his chores are done". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
- ^ a b Kahn, Andrew (February 20, 2024). "The Michigan basketball player whose life is worthy of a movie". MLive.com. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g Hawkins, James (July 10, 2020). "'Personal, genuine' approach helps Michigan basketball reel in three-star Will Tschetter". The Detroit News. ProQuest 2422079766. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
- ^ a b c d Izzo, Dom (May 25, 2020). "Minnesota's top basketball prospect has deep Bison ties". The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
- ^ a b c Bastock, Ashley (July 16, 2020). "Old school meets new school; UM commit avoids social media to work". The Blade. ProQuest 2430009336. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Trotter, Isaac (July 6, 2020). "'It just felt right': Inside Will Tschetter's decision to commit to Michigan". Post-Bulletin. ProQuest 2421152625. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
- ^ Quinn, Brendan (July 8, 2020). "Meet Will Tschetter, Michigan's most interesting recruit in recent memory". The Athletic. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
- ^ Trotter, Isaac (June 19, 2020). "Isaac Trotter: Five things I learned from Mayo standout Gabe Madsen". Post-Bulletin. ProQuest 2414765778. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
- ^ Mackie, Theo (July 9, 2020). "Following in his mom's footsteps, Will Tschetter forges his own path". UMhoops.com. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
- ^ Sang, Orion (November 11, 2020). "Meet Juwan Howard's No. 1-ranked Michigan basketball recruiting class for 2021". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
- ^ Kahn, Andrew (January 24, 2023). "Will Tschetter emerges as Michigan basketball's energizer off the bench". MLive.com. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
- ^ Kahn, Andrew (June 8, 2023). "Michigan basketball player did internship on a bison ranch in Montana". MLive.com. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
- ^ Cohen, Michael (June 23, 2022). "NBA draft: Michigan's Moussa Diabate a surprise pick by LA Clippers in second round". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
- ^ Hawkins, James (June 22, 2023). "Michigan's Jett Howard drafted 11th by Orlando, Kobe Bufkin 15th to Atlanta". The Detroit News. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
- ^ Kahn, Andrew (2023-04-07). "Michigan's Isaiah Barnes announces transfer destination". mlive. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
- ^ Kahn, Andrew (May 4, 2022). "Michigan transfer Frankie Collins commits to Arizona State". MLive.com. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
- ^ Kahn, Andrew (July 21, 2023). "The last man left from Michigan's '21 class, Will Tschetter is ready to win". MLive.com. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
- ^ Winter, Abe (February 3, 1994). "Feeney going to Bison". The Bismarck Tribune. p. 01D. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
- ^ Limbeck, Guy N. (January 26, 2024). "Stewartville's Henry Tschetter has stepped out of shadow of brother to excel for Tigers". Post-Bulletin. ProQuest 2918756492. Retrieved March 6, 2024.