Defend the Block: Tschetter Ready to 'Bring the Juice' in First Season as a Wolverine
8/31/2021 9:45:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Features
On this week's episode of the "Defend the Block" podcast, incoming freshman Will Tschetter discusses the acclimation process to Ann Arbor from a small town in Minnesota, his recruiting journey and how he arrived at Michigan, and how he would describe and assess his game at this point of the offseason.
By Brian Boesch
Will Tschetter raves about his parents, who raised him and his two brothers on a farm in the small town of Stewartville, Minn. Tschetter began doing chores around the farm as early as the first grade, starting with feeding animals before quickly picking up more responsibilities.
As Tschetter progressed through grade school, his mother Kasey and his father Garth helped him grow as a person and as an athlete. They both understood the process after playing collegiately at North Dakota State. Kasey is one of the greatest athletes in Bison history, as she set 14 school records for the women's basketball team en route to a spot in the athletic department's hall of fame, while Garth suited up for the Bison as a wide receiver on the football field. Despite that family success in sports, Kasey and Garth never pushed Will to compete.
"There was no pressure from them to play sports whatsoever," Tschetter said on this week's edition of the "Defend the Block" podcast. "They were cool if I wanted to do nothing in college and just go be a college student. They would've been 100 percent fine with that."
Tschetter did end up playing sports -- and plenty of them. He was an excellent football player and discus thrower, in addition to his prowess on the basketball court. It was difficult to give up these other sports, especially football, but Tschetter not only enjoyed his time in those sports, but improved as a basketball player by participating in them.
"Being competitive and just being put in competitive decisions -- you just can't replicate that," Tschetter said. "That's something my football coach always said at high school, just to try to promote three-sport athletes. You can't replicate being put in those high-pressure situations, other than when you're in that game. You're in that moment. The more that you can do that to yourself, the more it's going to help you in every other sport."
Thanks to his body of work, Tschetter now finds himself at one of the top basketball programs in the country. Based on his positive and impactful upbringing, it should come as no surprise that Tschetter sought out a family-based approach, something on which Michigan prides itself.
"When you're in those Zoom calls, a lot of them are just like same old, same old -- just kind of like a business pitch," Tschetter said. "I would say that, with (Michigan), it felt more genuine. Not as much business-like, more of, 'we want you to actually join our legitimate family.' People always say that, but you could tell that they meant it."
Michigan does have a family approach, with the family focused on winning. Earlier this month, associate head coach Phil Martelli compared Tschetter to sophomore Terrance Williams II in that both "affect winning." Williams' playing time was inconsistent last season, but he still found a way to make an impact when necessary. Tschetter plans to do the same.
"The big thing for me is always bringing my positive mental attitude," Tschetter said. "I'm gonna bring the juice, and that just kind of translates on the floor -- just flipping that switch, knowing when it's time to go."
