Before Marcus Møller ever set foot in Ann Arbor, he had already faced something far more challenging than any basketball game.
In January, the 7-foot-2 Danish freshman was diagnosed with testicular cancer, six months after committing to Michigan and five months before he was supposed to arrive on campus to begin his college career. He returned home to Denmark from Spain, where he had been playing overseas, to receive treatment. But even in the middle of one of the most difficult stretches of his life,
Møller never stopped working.
“I was kind of determined that I would just try to do as much basketball and work out as much as I could because that’s kind of a thing that I find a lot of joy in,” Møller said on the Defend the Block podcast. “So kind of to keep my mental state good and stay positive through it all. I think it was really important for me to just try to get on the court and do as much as I could.”
Møller announced he was cancer free in late May, and by the time he arrived in Ann Arbor, he had one message for head coach Mike Boynton Jr. — do not ease me in.
“When I came here, I’ve been already working out for like two months pretty intensively,” Møller said. “So I just felt ready. I’ve been looking forward to it and preparing for that moment and for my first weeks here. So yeah, I just wanted to be thrown out into it, and I think that’s also what I kind of got into, and that’s how they threw me in. So I was just glad that they gave me the opportunity.”
Stepping up on the Europe trip
Møller got to Ann Arbor later than his fellow freshmen — more for visa reasons than health reasons — but wasted little time making an impression. On Michigan’s trip to Europe this summer, he was thrust into a larger role than anticipated when center Moustapha Thiam went down with an injury early in the trip.
Møller responded by averaging 19 minutes, five points and four rebounds per game across the three contests.
“I was prepared to probably not play as much,” he said. “But always just have it in mind that if anything happens, I’ll be ready. And I want to, when I get on that court, just give everything that I can. I mean, it ended up pretty well.”
Beyond the individual performance, Møller said the trip was invaluable for team chemistry, particularly for someone who had not been around the group as long as everyone else.
“I learned a lot about tendencies and learned decision-making and what to expect from my teammates on the court,” he said. “And I think that is really one of the positive things that not only me, but just as a team, we picked up each other tendencies and communicating really good and getting to know each other.”
Adding to the experience was the presence of his family, his parents and two younger brothers made the trip overseas to watch him play.
“My family has been really important for me,” Møller said. “… They came (for the Europe trip) and I was really glad that they had the opportunity to come. So I think that they’ve always been supportive and said that if a bird can fly, they wouldn’t cut the wings off. And so they’ve kind of just let me go. I left home to play in Spain, away from family, when I was turning 16. And that was also just — they wanted to give me the opportunity to follow my dream, so they’ve always been really supportive.”
The Player
Møller started playing basketball when he was nine years old in Denmark. His competitive mindset settled in when he was around 14 years old, when he began playing for Denmark’s youth national teams.
At 7-foot-2 with the ability to hit some three-point shots, Møller profiles as exactly the kind of modern big man that translates to today’s college game. He credits his overseas experience with helping him develop a versatile offensive skillset.
“I think I’ve always wanted to kind of be versatile and be an all around player,” he said. “So if I had any things on the court that I didn’t think I was really good at, I would always try to work on it. … So I think my goal for my game is to be versatile, and I think it’s also modern day basketball, good thing to be able to do it all. So I try to just put myself in uncomfortable positions and work on the stuff that I’m not good at.”
Defensively, Møller acknowledges there is work to do — particularly defending on the perimeter against guards — but he sees his daily battles in practice against guards Elliot Cadeau and Trey McKenney as the best environment to accelerate that development.
“Well, they make me a better player because they just see everything,” he said of Cadeau and McKenney. “And I’m not used to playing with point guards that can kind of — when I look back to get the ball, the ball is already in my hands, so I kind of had to get used to that. It’s really nice to play with (them) and I think that it helps me grow as a player also.”
Møller’s primary goals between now and the start of the regular season are straightforward: get stronger, improve his perimeter defense and continue absorbing as much as he can from the veterans around him. Strength and conditioning coach Matt Aldred has been a key figure in that process.
