Niyo: Michigan's Brazdeikis vow(el)s to make name for himself

Ann Arbor — The full introduction — much like the proper pronunciation — will take some time yet.

But Michigan’s Ignas Brazdeikis is well aware that Wednesday’s nationally televised nightcap in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge — the seventh-ranked Wolverines will host No. 11 North Carolina, with Dick Vitale providing the colour on ESPN’s broadcast — is another opportunity to announce his arrival in college basketball.

And that, quite clearly, is something he revels in.

“Every time there’s a big game,” the 6-foot-7 freshman forward said Tuesday, “I look at it as an opportunity to make noise.”

Vitale certainly will chime in as well, as Roy Williams' powerhouse program makes its first-ever visit to Ann Arbor. Only six games into his collegiate career, Brazdeikis is both Michigan’s leading scorer and still a relative unknown, even after his impressive start this season, highlighted by an 18-point, seven-rebound performance in the rout of defending national champ Villanova two weeks ago in Philadelphia.