Michigan basketball freshman ready to make ‘loud, immediate impact.’

ANN ARBOR – Kim Barnes Arico has always had a willingness to play freshmen. She tells recruits in all sincerity that they will play if they deserve to be on the field. But starting multiple rookies, as Michigan will do this season? That is unprecedented.

Circumstances forced her hand. Michigan’s freshman class is talented and there is playing time to be had.

Syla Swords and Olivia Olson are McDonald’s All-Americans, the first players to commit to the Michigan women’s basketball program out of high school. Both were five-star recruits, with Swords ranked fourth in the class and Olson at 30, according to ESPN.

Swords played for Canada in the Olympics this summer, the youngest player in the team’s history. One of her Canadian teammates, Natalie Achonwa, now coaches her at Michigan. Swords is 18, looks more like her jersey number (12) and has a game that belies her age. She is a 6-foot-1 guard who plays with maturity and confidence.

This is how she described her playing last week: “Energetic and very goal-oriented. I think everything I do, on and off the field, is with a purpose, with intention.”

Olson, a 6-foot-2 guard from New Hope, Minnesota, could have gone just about anywhere in the country. She didn’t want to go to a place like Connecticut with an established championship tradition. Michigan has gone to the last six NCAA Tournaments and reached the Elite Eight in 2022, but never advanced.

“I wanted to be part of something that hadn’t been done before,” Olson said. “I wanted to be part of building that and coming together with like-minded people. Coach Arico and I have the same vision and hope for the program.”

Olson is a strong rebounder, can score from all over the court and play both with and without the ball. She had 22 points (on 21 shots) and 10 rebounds in Michigan’s exhibition game against Division II Northwood on Sunday. She was the first in the class to commit and helped recruit the others to Ann Arbor.

That includes Mila Holloway, a true point guard from Charlotte, North Carolina, whose mother and grandfather graduated from Michigan; guard/forward Te’Yala Delfosse (Ewing, New Jersey); and forward Aaiyanna Dunbar (Murfreesboro, Tenn.). Each member of the class won at least one state championship in high school (Swords for Long Island Lutheran in New York).

Barnes Arico said last week that three freshmen could start this season. That was the case in the exhibition, with Swords, Olson and Holloway as the opening tip. The coach also praised the 6-foot-4 Delfosse for her athleticism and length.

If a preseason photo shoot last week was any indication, the rookies have great chemistry. “We’re already a family,” Holloway said. “These are definitely all my sisters. I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world. We are always together, always, on and off the field.”

It is translated into success in practice.

“If you’re a skilled freshman, if you deserve to be on the court, if you’ve earned those minutes, then you’re going to play,” Barnes Arico said. “We’re in a position where possibly a few of them are going to play and probably play some pretty good minutes.”

Michigan lost a lot from last season: two starters were no longer eligible; six other contributors, including two starters, transferred. There are opportunities for everyone, and the freshmen will get their chance. “There’s going to be some ups and downs because they’re freshmen,” Barnes Arico said. “There will definitely be some bumps, but they are able to get the job done.”

Barnes Arico will officially conclude her 13th season at Michigan when the Wolverines play No. 1 South Carolina on Nov. 4. In her previous 12, she has had four freshmen start at least half of that season’s games, and never two in the league. same season. That will probably change this year.

Senior Jordan Hobbs understands her coach’s excitement about the freshmen. Hobbs said Holloway “has been crushing it” and the game appears to be slowing down for Olson and Swords, both of whom can hit “incredibly hard shots.”

These newcomers seem ready. Hobbs said, “They will make a very loud, immediate impact.”