Much has changed in the five months and a day since Will Cheddar's last appearance on Defend the Block.

Dusty May was only a few weeks into the job.

Michigan only had a handful of players on the roster for sure,

and Will himself was in the early stages of slimming down from the 245-ish pound mark

that he had at the end of last season to his current 230-pound frame.

And also, Will had not yet started his master's program work.

This week, we circle back with the second longest tenured Wolverine, who has experienced a

bunch of change this off-season.

Roster-wise, he went from plenty of individual workouts with coaches in the spring because of how

small the roster was to a busy summer with his new teammates who started to announce their

decisions to come to Michigan in the days and weeks after that April conversation.

And role-wise, Will's going from what Dusty May described as too physical to an unknown, quote, unquote,

position, but one that can take advantage of his efficiency and decision making.

And yes, school-wise, Will's immersed in coursework that's more demanding, but also more fulfilling,

and he's in a program where he's the only student athlete around and one of the youngest

individuals part of it, too. There is still plenty to learn about how Will and this team and he's in a program where he's the only student athlete around and one of the youngest individuals,

part of it too. There is still plenty to learn about how Will and this team will play this season,

but considering the context around our conversation five months ago, many more blanks have been filled in.

You'll hear Will say multiple times in this conversation that he can just lose himself in the work,

whether that's in a basketball practice or during a school assignment.

For a while, he was trying to do that without much of an idea of how that basketball work

would fit into the upcoming season and roster.

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