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14 // VARSITY April 10, 2014 Continued from page 16 LUCAS AT LARGE believable, really. It's unheard of to me. It takes a certain type of player to do it and I just think Mike is a special player. "Center could be one of the hardest positions on the line just because you have to make the calls. Especially with the defenses we run, you always have a head-up nose guard. You're going to be hit right away and you don't have time to get steps in the ground. He has handled himself damn well." Others are saying the same thing about Deiter. "He's handling the ball on every snap, directing protections, and making line calls," marveled of- fensive coordinator Andy Ludwig. "His confidence and comfort level with the offense builds every day and he'll come back a much better player in the fall than he left us in the spring." Deiter, who had never played center before, could wind up at of- fensive guard. "Michael Deiter," Andersen said, "has been an unbelievably pleas- ant surprise from his competitive- ness to his toughness. Just getting knocked around a lot of the time early in the spring, he didn't let that get his dobber down and he just kept battling through the practices. I'm proud of him." So are all of his mentors, all of the starters on the Wisconsin of- fense line, from Havenstein to left tackle Tyler Marz, from right guard Kyle Costigan to left guard Ray Ball, from Voltz to Lewallen. "They've all helped me tremendously," Deiter said. Being here for spring practice will obviously help accelerate his development. "I wanted to learn how it is here ― to kind of get a feel for everything and to know what to expect ― that's what I wanted to get done," he said. "I'll also have credits under my belt and know how to handle studying." It's a win-win for everyone in- volved that Deiter has been able to get a "leg up" on his freshman team- mates who will join the program in the summer and fall. "In the sum- mer, you don't play football, you just lift, you don't actually hit," he said. "I've already hit and seen the speed of the Big Ten." Havenstein, who will turn 22 in May, had different objectives for the spring; understandably so given his seniority. "I really wanted to clean up my pass protection," he said. "I've been saying that for a couple of years now. I thought I got bet- ter last year, but it wasn't there, it wasn't good enough." For someone who had gone through the monotony of spring ball as many times as Havenstein has, for someone who's going to be a fifth-year senior, you would think there would be the temptation to put everything into cruise control in March and April. Havenstein bristled at the thought. "That's not how I'm built," he said. "The O-linemen at the Univer- sity of Wisconsin don't have that attitude or mentality. For me, I've already lost the season if I do that (gear down in the spring). I need every single rep I can get whether coach is going to give it to me or not." During the last scrimmage, Havenstein balked at offensive line coach T.J. Woods subbing for him. He just felt that he needed more reps to achieve his goal of "getting better each day." It certainly reso- nated with Woods who sees Haven- stein as one of the team leaders. "He's motivated, he's driven," said Woods. "They're competing with themselves at a lot of spots and that takes a mature individual that can handle that. Rob is one of those guys. So are Kyle and Ty- ler. They come out and compete. Whether they're trying to earn a spot or not, they're here to get bet- ter. "It's their group and we're going to go where they take us." Maybe not to a Final Four. But Havenstein would settle for the football equivalent.