From the beginning of the season, the Michigan women’s basketball team’s freshmen had the opportunity to define the Wolverines’ trajectory.
The highest-rated recruiting class in program history immediately earned three starting roles in a lineup full of vacancies, with freshman guards Olivia Olson, Syla Swords and Mila Holloway bursting onto the scene. Since then, the trio has started every healthy game.
While it often takes freshmen time to adjust to the next level, the starting trio learned quicker than the curve and have found success both as individuals and a collective unit. Olson and Swords were both named to the All-Big Ten Second Team, with Holloway as an Honorable Mention. Olson was recognized as Co-Freshman of the Year, and Swords became the first freshman honored on the Big Ten All-Tournament Team.
The trio isn’t just good for being freshmen, they’re good, period.
“They’re just built a little bit differently,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said Sunday after the NCAA Tournament Selection Show. “… And they’ve always shown a willingness to grow and to learn from when they haven’t been as successful when they haven’t had a great game. … They were all in (the office) after USC, (asking), ‘How can we get better? How can we win that game the next time out?’ This moment is big, but I think it’s something that they’re really looking forward to.”
“Built differently,” the starting freshmen leveraged previous high-level experience to turn a broad jump into a hop. More than just their talent, they stood out immediately because of their leadership and composure.
“They’re very, very mature players,” Hobbs said Oct. 2 at Big Ten Media Day. “I’ve never seen freshmen play like they do and make the passes that they do. Typically when freshmen come in, the game is super fast and they’re not getting the reads that juniors and seniors can make. But they can see those passes, and I just think they’re very mature in their skill set and making the right shots or taking the right shots and making the right passes to people.”
From the get-go, Michigan’s freshmen made the reads and the plays, executing at high levels against high–level opponents.
Clearly, the Wolverines have stuck with the same starting lineup for a reason. Nearly every game, one of the three was having a 20-point night. Swords, Olson and Holloway are three of Michigan’s top-four players in both scoring and assists. Combined, they contribute 42.1 points and 8.9 assists per game. Simply put, Michigan’s offense often flows through them, particularly with Holloway as the starting point guard.
“This is a big stage,” Barnes Arico said March 8 after the Big Ten Tournament semifinal. “She’s our point guard and has been our point guard all season long against this schedule that we played on a big, big stage. And there’s a lot on her shoulders, and she’s doing a heck of a job. She’s getting better every day. Her assist-to-turnovers the last four games have been ridiculous.”
Holloway had back-to-back eight-assist nights to start the Big Ten Tournament, reaching the mark for the second time in just 21 minutes on the court. Her vision has improved throughout the season as well as her discipline, with assist numbers rising while her turnover mark drops — she’s averaged less than two in Michigan’s past nine games.
To keep dancing, the Wolverines are going to need the best out of their freshmen. They’ll need the high-scoring nights from the first round onwards. They’ll need the rebounding. They’ll need the defense. But most of all, Michigan will need their composure.
The Wolverines need their freshmen to be more than freshmen.
Swords, Olson and Holloway have been playing like veterans all season. When the lights are brightest, when the stage is the biggest, the trio will need to deliver their best performance in the Big Dance. With the pressure cranked all the way up, they could crumble, or they could crystallize into a shining gem of a performance.
