One reason Elliot Cadeau was drawn to Michigan as a transfer last spring was the size of the Wolverines’ starting front line, with 7-3 center Aday Mara flanked by 6-9 forwards Morez Johnson Jr. and Yaxel Lendeborg.
Being surrounded by this length and athleticism has given the more diminutive former North Carolina point guard room to dip and duck his way through coach Dusty May’s read-and-react system, where spacing and ball movement are mandatory and players are “encouraged to pass up good shots for great ones,” according to the program’s definition.
“I would say that he does an amazing job dissecting the offense,” said Michigan guard Nimari Burnett. “He makes it so much easier for us all around the court that played with him, just getting us easy shots. I’m just joyful to play with him every single game.”
Along with Mara and Lendeborg — from UCLA and Alabama-Birmingham, respectively — Cadeau has helped transform the No. 1 Wolverines into one of the best teams in the nation and the favorite to advance out of the Midwest Region for the ninth Final Four appearance in program history.
“Elliott runs the show,” Johnson said.
There have been a few hiccups along the way to Friday’s matchup in Chicago against No. 4 Alabama, including a dud in Michigan’s nonconference loss to Duke in February and a run of poor shooting performances late in Big Ten play.
But Cadeau has rebounded to play some of his best basketball in the past few weeks, including a stretch of 26 assists against just five turnovers in his past three games. That he’s done so while dealing with medical issues has made Cadeau one of Michigan’s unquestioned leaders both on the court and off.
“I think he’s really relatable in terms of where he’s from, what he’s been through,” guard Roddy Gayle Jr. said. “He’s always a guy that you can rely on. I feel like most point guards have that trait, but really, he has been someone where if someone isn’t going right, I’m able to lean on him.”
Hearing, vision issues haven’t stopped Elliot Cadeau
That Cadeau has remained unflappable amid his high-profile transfer from Chapel Hill and the stress of running the show for the Wolverines shouldn’t come as a surprise.
As a child growing up in New Jersey, Cadeau was diagnosed as partially deaf in his right ear. He’s had to manage asthma. As a freshman with the Tar Heels, he needed to have surgery to treat a progressive eye disorder called keratoconus, which thins the cornea and can often cause blurred vision and a sensitivity to bright lights and glare.
None of these conditions would seem to be conducive to playing point guard for a team with national championship goals, let alone playing basketball, period.
Yet these same issues have helped define Cadeau, shaping the way he approaches his role as the Wolverines’ facilitator.
“It kind of just made me feel like I just can’t make excuses,” he said after Michigan’s win against No. 9 Saint Louis in the second round.
“I have really close friends when I was growing up who are all at the highest level of the NBA, high-major basketball players, and I wanted to be just as good as them. I was trying to be better than them.
“Even though they didn’t have the same issues as me, I couldn’t just make excuses about it and not be as good as them.”
Handling this adversity helped Cadeau weather a tumultuous two-year run at North Carolina, where he often became the poster child for the Tar Heels’ unrealized expectations after ranking near the bottom of the ACC in turnovers and fouls as a sophomore.
“That’s just kind of a testament to who he is,” said Gayle. “Because of everything that he’s been through, he’s able to kind of separate himself from everything that’s going on and be able to give you advice.”
And despite the challenges he’s faced to reach Friday night, Cadeau insists he’s never been slowed down by the conditions that could have easily derailed a promising career.
“There are no adjustments made,” he said. “Me not being able to hear fully didn’t really make any difference on the court, because you don’t really need hearing unless you’re listening to a play call or you’re listening to your teammates. I feel like basketball-wise, it doesn’t affect me.”
Cadeau a ‘savant’ at the controls of Michigan’s offense
Cadeau’s game has blossomed as the showrunner for one of the top offenses in college basketball. The Wolverines enter the matchup against Alabama ranked ninth nationally in scoring, fourth in field-goal percentage and fifth in assists per game.
The junior is averaging a career-best 10.1 points per game with 57 makes from 3-point range, nearly doubling his total from his final season at North Carolina. Cadeau has 28 fewer turnovers in one fewer game compared to last year while posting 5.7 assists per game, good for fourth in the Big Ten.
Cadeau has been the perfect fit for a system that needs a happy-to-share distributor, especially as Michigan looks to quickly turn defensive stops into transition.
“He’s a savant with what he’s doing,” May said. “He probably doesn’t even realize a lot of the things he’s doing because he’s so intelligent. He’s able to get us into close-out opportunities without really having to run any offense. His ability to read the floor, read the game, manipulate defenses, is incredibly impressive.”
His arrival in Ann Arbor has sparked a clear increase in confidence. Cadeau has been much more willing to chase his own shot, especially given the attention paid to Michigan’s imposing frontcourt. He made three from long range against Saint Louis, helping the Wolverines take control in the first half and cruise to the 95-72 win.
Adding another outside shooter to Burnett and fellow guard Trey McKenney has made the offense even more dangerous, teammates said.
“The difference between him and last year, he was more pass-first,” Lendeborg said. “He’s still pass-first now, but he’s become way more of a scoring threat. You can’t guard him anyway. So having to compete with him and trying to stop him when you think he’s going to pass, it’s good night pretty much honestly.”
Said Gayle, “It wasn’t the fact that he couldn’t, he’s just more confident in doing so. And he works really hard for it.”
This same level of dedication — one needed to fight through his medical conditions and to become a more complete and well-rounded player on both ends — has built Cadeau into an elite college point guard, and in turn made the Wolverines into a team capable of winning the second national championship in program history.
“He’s what we want in a point guard,” May said. “He’s a guy that makes everyone on the team better.”