Will Tschetter’s parents thought his boat was going to sink.
He was racing back to their cabin across the lake, the back of his boat filling with water, seemingly missing the plug. But once he got close enough to his parents, they realized he hadn’t forgotten the plug. He had taken it out, intentionally.
Why?
Well, Tschetter had just caught a massive sunfish, large enough that he wanted to show it off to his parents in person. So, naturally, his solution was to remove the boat’s plug, filling it with enough water to keep the fish alive until he could show his parents. Then, he’d release it back into the water so the fish could swim off unscathed.
“It’s kind of Will in a nutshell,” Kasey Morlock, Tschetter’s mom, told The Michigan Daily. “If he is excited about something he is all in. And so he is all in on basketball. He is all in on fishing. He’s all in — he loves the Environmental Science program. So that’s my favorite story about Will. He sunk his boat basically to keep the fish alive.”
It isn’t just fishing that gets the redshirt sophomore forward on the Michigan men’s basketball team excited. It’s any of the many things he’s passionate about. Just spend some time talking to Tschetter himself, and that shines through.
His dedication is clear when he mentions the work ethic he gained growing up on a farm. His passion shines through as his voice goes up a pitch when he starts talking about regenerative agriculture and his internship on a bison ranch in Montana. It’s even audible when he discusses going to class.
“I absolutely love going to class,” Tschetter told The Daily. “I love my major. I love what I learn in the classroom probably equally as much as I love going to practice, I love playing basketball.”
Tschetter’s commitment is palpable beyond just his words, though. His passion is also visible on the court, and in his story.
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Tschetter was raised in Stewartville, Minn., a farm town with fewer than 7,000 people and approximately five stoplights. Towns like that don’t often breed Division I prospects.
In Stewartville, chores came first and basketball came later. While that could lead to fewer practice hours and a less refined game, it also produced certain values and perspectives that translate to the court.
“I feel like growing up on a farm teaches you so many different lessons you can apply to just basketball as a whole,” Tschetter said. “Obviously, waking up before school to do chores some days, similar to when you’re here at college, waking up getting in the gym early. … On the farm, crap’s gonna break, animals are gonna get sick. In basketball, shots aren’t gonna fall, you might get hurt.”
Tschetter’s strong work ethic, instilled by his family, shows up on the court, too. His mom — the women’s basketball all-time leading scorer at North Dakota State — serves as a prime example.
Tschetter calls Morlock his basketball trainer. She calls herself a professional rebounder for all her sons. But regardless of which label you use, Morlock was an integral part of Tschetter’s basketball upbringing.
Tschetter vividly remembers the first time he beat his mom in PIG. Morlock doesn’t remember that moment, admitting that perhaps she blocked it out. But she vividly remembers another defining basketball moment between the two of them.
“I remember taking him to the University of Minnesota, a men’s basketball game and — because he was in the band — pointing to the pep band,” Morlock said. “I’m like, ‘See, Will, there’s lots of ways you can be part of a team.’ And because I know how hard it is, I know, especially with men, sometimes it’s just God’s gifts too, along with work ethic.
“And he looked at me and he’s like, ‘Mom, I don’t want to be in the band. I want to be on the court.’ ”
Eventually, with a lot of hard work, Tschetter ended up as one of the kids on the court. But before he could end up there, he had to attract the attention of college coaches. To do so, he had to go all in once again.
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During his sophomore year at Stewartville High School, Tschetter approached his coach and asked if he could address his team about their practice habits.
“I said, ‘Yeah, that’s fine, go ahead. But if you do do that, then you’re gonna have to hold yourself probably to a higher standard than everyone else,’ ” Stewartville coach Adam Girtman told The Daily. “And he did, and he talked to the team, but he led by example, as a vocal leader too. … He set the tone.”
Girtman still doesn’t know what Tschetter said in that meeting — he left the gym to give Tschetter and the team space. But what Girtman did know was that whatever Tschetter said worked. From that moment until graduation, Tschetter became the unequivocal leader on his team. He made it abundantly clear how much he cared, and his teammates naturally began to follow their best player’s lead.
And because Tschetter goes all in on everything he does, he didn’t stop with his school team. Like pretty much everything about Tschetter’s journey, his AAU experience was far from typical.
Tschetter joined the Minnesota Heat, a small “non-shoe circuit” team, in eighth grade, commuting 90 minutes each way for practice. Even when bigger AAU programs started coming for him, he stayed loyal to the Heat. It was a loyalty he never thought twice about, feeling he owed his coach for taking a chance on him in middle school. It was also a loyalty that came into full display through tragedy.
“In 2022, my wife and I’s five-year-old passed away and some of the stuff (Will) put on Instagram and some of the messages he sent to me, I just really viewed that as unique for someone his age to be able to do,” Heat coach Willie Vang told The Daily. “A lot of people are not good with grief and just the way he was there for me. … (He) just did a lot of stuff that I think at his age should be commended.”
Tschetter never thought twice about any of it. It was almost as if it was his instinct. Because Tschetter’s dedication also manifests in his loyalty to those he cares about. Tschetter wasn’t just all in for the Heat on the court — he was all in for those in the program off the court, too.
“I owe a ton to Willie,” Tschetter said. “… Honestly, ever since he took me on his team in eighth grade, I just stuck with him the whole way. And I was super grateful for what he had done for me as a person, as a player. … So for him to show that strength and confidence in me early on in my basketball career and show up to my high school games, show up to my graduation party. … I’m super thankful and obviously I’m gonna be there for him like he was there for me.”
That unwavering dedication to the people who have been there for him travels with Tschetter at every step of his journey.
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Just a few games into the 2021-22 season, Michigan coach Juwan Howard had to have a conversation that he was dreading.
Tschetter hadn’t cracked the lineup yet, not even in any of the blowouts. Howard wanted to broach the topic of Tschetter taking a redshirt season, but he was nervous about how Tschetter would respond. The words Howard heard back shocked him.
“Will said to me, ‘Coach, you know what, I was thinking the same thing,’ ” Howard said. “I’m like, ‘Whoa, you were thinking the same thing?’ Here I am, I’m scared and afraid to bring that to you as something that I feel will be best for you for your freshman year. And we never discussed that while recruiting you. And this was the first time that I ever had a conversation with a student-athlete about redshirting and I was so nervous and he just made it so comfortable.”
The redshirt year gave Tschetter the chance to put in hard work without losing a year of eligibility, and the decision paid dividends. Two years later, after 12 games and a hot start to the current season, Tschetter momentarily found himself as the most efficient scorer in college basketball.
When Tschetter found out, though, he didn’t really care.
“At that point, I was probably just hoping that we could win some games,” Tschetter said.
Tschetter didn’t care about the personal accolade, likely for the same reason he decided to redshirt — he wanted to win for his team, a group he really cared about. All the individual steps he took were just working toward that greater goal.
Ultimately, it’s the same reason he almost sunk his boat to keep a fish alive long enough to show his parents and the same reason he gets so excited talking about regenerative agriculture.
Because no matter what he’s doing — he’s going all in.