From left: Michigan's Zack Novak, DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris, shown here answering questions during last season's NCAA Tournament run, are all expected to help fill the leadership void left by departed seniors.

Alan Warren | The Ann Arbor News

There were days during open gyms this summer that Matt Vogrich, like a lot of freshman shooters who show up on college campuses, couldn’t hit anything.

Down and frustrated, it was those days that Michigan sophomore guards Zack Novak, Stu Douglass and Laval Lucas-Perry pulled him aside and told him they’ve all been there before.

After C.J. Lee and David Merritt graduated, Michigan’s players knew there would be a leadership void. Never mind both players had started their Michigan careers as walk-ons. They provided the base for a young team in 2008-09, and became the guiding power to an NCAA tournament berth.

With them gone Michigan’s players, for now, are looking at a group approach to leadership.

“I shot poorly one of my first times here,” Vogrich said. “I was upset and Laval talked to me and said, ‘It doesn’t matter. It’s open gym, coaches aren’t here. You’re going to get your shots.’”

Novak said Vogrich reminds him of what he looked like a year ago. It is why he’ll pay extra attention. On the court, he teaches Vogrich how to go through screens and where to position himself, because they’ll likely have the same role in the offense.

Vogrich is trying to get into the Ross School of Business, the same school Novak is in. Plus, Novak hosted Vogrich on his official visit. So there are familiarities and similarities, on and off the court.

At least twice a week, Vogrich heads to Novak’s apartment and the two talk basketball, school and life while watching a bit of Entourage and Gossip Girl.

This is all part of leadership, something this Michigan team is still searching for.

“It might have been a little bit of uncertainty of who was going to take over that role of who was going to be the guy that is going to push the team over the edge when everybody is tired or it’s the end of the game and we just need that little extra push,” Novak said. “A lot of guys are trying to step up into that role. We’re going to see how that plays out as the year goes on, but it is something that I’ve been conscious of.”

This Michigan team, though, will likely end up with a bunch of leaders. DeShawn Sims is the senior, a 1,000-point scorer and one of the best players in the country.

Manny Harris is trying to be the vocal leader, a junior guard considered the best player on this Michigan team. When he speaks, he knows players will listen.

This is something Harris knew he needed to pay more attention to this season. Michigan coach John Beilein talked with him about it. Also, as the Wolverines began working out as a team after last season, Harris saw he needed to fill the void as the outspoken one.

“I think a lot of people listen to me and will listen if I say something and it’ll stick to them,” Harris said. “Not because I’m the best person on the team or anything like that but because of the type of person I am. But I think a lot of people listen to me and if it comes from me rather than someone else, it’ll stick to people better.”

Then there is Novak.

A sophomore, he has fallen into a behind-the-scenes leadership role. During Michigan’s preseason track workouts, he seemed to be always talking to guys after they finished their runs. He’d encourage redshirt freshman center Ben Cronin, who is finishing recovery from a hip injury that cost him his freshman year.

He’d cheer on junior Anthony Wright, himself coming off of a preseason injury. Basically, he became the guy in the background who is transforming into a leader, something almost every good team in college basketball has.

“He has as much respect as any sophomore has ever had from seniors or underclassmen,” Beilein said. “At any of our programs, wherever we’ve been, they have had to prove their mental toughness, their ability, a lot of things as sophomores to get the respect Zack has right now of his teammates. I’ve had several over the years and it’s hard or a sophomore to do.”

Right there is Michigan’s balance. It has its three leaders and despite playing a group mentality, those three will end up carrying the Wolverines in a leadership capacity - Sims and Harris as the public face of the program and Novak in the background, waiting his turn.

All of this, according to Sims, Novak and Harris, works as they try to build on what Lee and Merritt started last year - both in on-court results and off-the-court relationships.

“You just come together,” Novak said. “So I think behind the scenes, not even re-establishing that because it’s still around but maintaining it and growing it even further is big.”

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.