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Michigan hitting the weight room hard this offseason with “Camp Sanderson”

Zak Irvin, Pat Birt

Michigan’s Zak Irvin (21) shoots over Tulsa’s Pat Birt (11) during the second half of a First Four game of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Wednesday, March 16, 2016, in Dayton, Ohio. Michigan won 67-62. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

AP

One of the secret strength’s of Michigan’s program under John Beilein has been the summer strength and conditioning program. Under strength coach Jon Sanderson, “Camp Sanderson” has gained a lot of traction thanks to huge gains from NBA draft picks at Michigan like Nik Stauskas and Caris LeVert.

The program is in place once again this offseason and a few players appear to be making the most out of the time in the weight room. According to Beilein’s radio show “Huge Show,” some returning players are making positive gains.

“It’s hard to be tough when, physically, your strength is not there yet,” he said. “Duncan Robinson is a stronger kid than he was (last year) at this time. D.J. Wilson is stronger. Zak Irvin had nothing going.

“It’s tough sometimes being perceived as being tough when, right now, your strength is not at the level of the other guys. Another year in the weight room? See how tough we are.”

As noted in a story from Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press, Irvin was injured last offseason as he was recovering from back surgery. Now that the senior guard has another full offseason to work on his body, it’ll be interesting to see how that translates in his senior year.

Michigan assistant Jeff Meyer also noted that Duncan Robinson is now up to 215 pounds, which should help the floor-spacing forward play more inside next season.

Irvin and Robinson will be two of the key players for the Wolverines next season and if both of those guys are rolling as scorers, then Michigan could surprise some people in the Big Ten. Health will be a huge part of that, however, as the injury bug has been biting the Michigan program the last few seasons.

(H/T: Mark Snyder, Detroit Free Press)