Wolverine Forward Tschetter Developing into Formidable Player with Nothing but Upside

His mother, her college's career scoring leader, helped him develop his shooting and game on the family's backyard basketball court

Photo by Derek Kornacki

Will Tschetter goes up for 2 points Tuesday night against Indiana.

By Steve Kornacki

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Wolverine forward Will Tschetter smiles when recalling where he developed his sweet shooting touch. It was back home in rural Minnesota on the family’s backyard basketball court, and mostly with his mother.

Tschetter said, “I was always just getting shots up with her out there or in the high school gym, the middle school gym – really any gym we could find. Up at our cabin, we’ve got a hoop up there, and we spend a lot of time up there in the summer. So, there’s never a question if you can find a basketball court, and just do a lot of work.”

His mother, Kasey Morlock, scored 2,233 points as the career scoring leader at North Dakota State, where she met her future husband and Will’s father, Garth Tschetter (pronounced cheddar), a football wide receiver there. She’s in the Bison Athletic Hall of Fame, and was the 1997 Honda Award winner as the Division II Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.

Tschetter is nothing if not a competitor, and credits his family for that.

“If we’re really going to be honest,” he said, “my mom and dad growing up, my grandpa, they would always [say], ‘If things aren’t going your way, work a little bit harder. So, that’s kind of where it stems from.

“I’ve always had to work in order to get where I’m at. Every night, empty the tank is my mentality. Give it all you’re got. That way, when you walk off the floor, you have no regrets.”

Tschetter, a 6-foot-8, 245-pound redshirt sophomore, was a force Tuesday night at Crisler Center against Indiana.

That smooth shooting stroke complements his true grit on the court, and he came up big Tuesday night in the Big Ten opener with 17 points and 6 rebounds. But it wasn’t quite enough as the Hoosiers beat Michigan, 78-75.

He hit a 3-pointer from out top, and scored 3 points the hard way when fouled after making a basket on a put back.

He posted up not one, but two defenders, in the key to drain a 12-foot jumper, and scored on a layup after a sweet pass from Olivier Nkamhoua on an odd breakaway play.

Tschetter made 7-of-8 shots – going 1-for-2 on treys – to come close to his career high of 20 points last month against Youngstown State.

I asked Michigan interim head coach Phil Martelli about the improvement, offense and fiery play he’s getting from Tschetter.

“The source of his improvement is the man in his mirror,” said Martelli. “Flat out, the man in his mirror. You want to come tomorrow, and I will pick a time, say 8 o’clock [in the morning], and he’ll be in there shooting.

“And then he’ll be on campus, getting set to graduate from Michigan in three years. It’s extraordinary. And to see his work paid off.”

Tschetter, an Earth & Environmental Science major, developed a strong interest in freshwater ecosystems on his grandfather’s dairy farm in Minnesota. Last spring, he worked at the North Bridger Bison ranch in Bozeman, Mont., on two projects to maintain that area’s wetlands.

He returned here in the summer to focus on basketball and is making great strides.

Martelli said, “Ironically, [Saturday] at Oregon, I told him there were a couple of plays he passed up. A couple shots. He made a really big one to tie it at 81, passed up a 3, and looked like the freshman Will. His feet and his brain and his heart were all racing.

“But it’s flat-out that his absolute fire to improve comes from inside, the way he’s been raised. And he’s also cherishing this opportunity, right? A lot of guys -- call it the way it is…He started [eight] games at the end of the year last year; he looked out of place. He doesn’t now. He can play.”

He could be pushing sophomore Tarris Reed, Jr. (9.1 points, 6.1 rebounds in 21.2 minutes per game) for playing time and perhaps the starting lineup. Though, Martelli praised Reed for not “dropping his head” when Tschetter had 22 minutes against Indiana compared to 18 for Reed, who finished with 5 points and 3 rebounds.

Tschetter frequently took late shooting practice after games when he wasn’t playing as a true freshman two seasons ago.

“I feel like every one of our guys is getting extra shots [and] working on their game,” said Tschetter. “Now, we’ve just got to translate it into some wins [for a 4-5 team]. Obviously, in my red-shirt year and last year, it’s never been a question of working. But my confidence is a little up and I’ve got great teammates around me.”

When asked about the success behind the arc, he noted that he’s been strong there since he was a dominating four-year starter at Stewartville (Minn.) High – where he also was the starting quarterback, threw the discus and played the trumpet in the school band.

“But that’s not the important thing right now,” he said of his shooting prowess. “We’ve got to win.”

Tschetter has increased his 2.3 points per game as a freshman to 9.3 this season with his minutes going up from 10.7 to 17.6. He’s also had a slight increase in upping his rebounding averages from 1.4 to 2.1.

He’s earned more minutes, and has been making shots at an unusually high clip.

Tschetter is shooting .775 (31-for-40) from the field and .733 (11-for-15) on 3-pointers after making only 20 percent last season. Both percentages are easily team highs.

He scored 2,467 points for Stewartville’s Tigers, averaging 33.6 as a junior and 30.6 as a senior. He finished second for the state’s 2021 Mr. Basketball award to Chet Holmgren, who was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft by Oklahoma City.

His mother was Minnesota’s Miss Basketball as a senior in 1993 at the same school her son attended.

Like mother, like son.

Though, his father also needs to take some bows. His son plays basketball with his football mentality, and has used grit and skill to become a formidable player with nothing but upside.