New York — Mortiz Wagner, an 18-year-old freshman from Germany who's not even close to being used to the attention he's received in the past two weeks, stood before the cameras early Saturday morning and answered every question with the composure of a seasoned veteran.
Then, as Derrick Walton Jr. in the locker to his right was asked a question about a pivotal late charge called on Wagner, the kid lost it, pulling his jersey over his head to hide the tears, but not the sniffles.
Duncan Robinson, in the locker to the left, put his hand on Wagner's back, and kept it there in a touching sign of solidarity, not 30 minutes after Michigan's season came to an end in crushing fashion against Notre Dame, 70-63, in a first-round NCAA Tournament game Friday night at a sold-out and screaming Barclays Center.