When then-sophomore point guard Darius Morris missed putting Michigan into the Sweet Sixteen by a couple of inches last March, the feeling surrounding the Wolverines did not turn as sour as expected. If Morris could have capitalized on that last-second running layup against No. 1 seed Duke, Michigan would have advanced past the round of 32 for the first time since 1994 — also known as the glory days of Chris Webber and the Fab Five.

It is hard to imagine optimism after such a disheartening loss, but Ann Arbor did not go into panic mode. The team was not graduating a single player, and coach John Beilein was getting rapid development out of his young team.

Most importantly, the core of the Wolverines was slowly forming into a very impressive unit. They were going to be a contender as soon as next season, placed in the preseason Top 20 by most pundits.

But then Morris decided leave Michigan to enter the NBA Draft, and questions haven’t stopped rolling in ever since. Who would fill the void left by Morris? Was a Big Ten championship now out of reach? Who would Beilein entrust as his floor general, someone who would have the confidence to take that last second shot without hesitation?

The answer, more often that not, was Tim Hardaway Jr., Michigan’s potential Big Ten Player of the Year candidate.

Without Morris, the sophomore guard has become the face of Michigan basketball and the de facto best player. The Wolverines have two senior captains — Stu Douglass and Zack Novak — but Hardaway Jr. is going to be the story of the season.

If he continues to improve on his stellar rookie campaign that earned him an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention, Michigan has a shot at going on a run in the tournament. If not, they are a bubble team. The potential for success, and failure, is high for the team ranked No. 3 in the preseason Big Ten media poll.

Hardaway Jr., plain and simple, will be the most important Wolverine on the court this season. His chances of earning Big Ten Player of the Year are slim — sharing a conference with Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger, Wisconsin’s Jordan Taylor and Purdue’s Robbie Hummel will make postseason awards difficult to come by — but he has an outside shot at contending. Before we go into why Hardaway Jr. has a shot at the award, let’s look at why he won’t.

The biggest potential detriment to his season is something that he can’t control — the departure of Morris. The current Los Angeles Laker was more than just a scoring threat for Michigan last year. He set the Michigan record for assists in a season last year, 235, and led the Big Ten in assists per game, 6.71.

The beauty of Morris’ game came from his ability to drive to the rim and the resulting kick out passes. He led the Wolverines in free throw attempts lat year, but the assists he accrued from driving were far more valuable to Michigan and Hardaway Jr. When you have a 6-foot-4 point guard with the vision of Morris, scoring opportunities from the perimeter are a lot easier to come by.

Beilein hasn’t made up his mind on who is going to start at point guard, and that will have a monster impact on the type of season Hardaway Jr. has. The decision comes down to freshman Trey Burke and Douglass, who played the position a bit in relief of Morris last season.

Not just for Hardaway Jr., but also for Michigan in general, Burke should be the choice, pretty much by default. Douglass is not a point guard — he didn’t start playing the position until college. He is not a great dribbler, and cannot create shots for himself. Douglass is a very good spot up shooter and has great fast break instincts, but he should not be entrusted with leading the offense. That isn’t his game.

But Beilein has been hesitant to hand over the reins to a true freshman, even though the decision to start Douglass at shooting guard instead of point guard is pretty clear. Burke was Mr. Basketball in Ohio last year, averaging almost 24 points and 7 assists a game. He is only 6-foot-1, but might already be the fastest player on the roster and seems to have great court awareness for an 18 year old.

The point guard battle will have a massive impact on Hardaway Jr.’s season, even if the issue is out of his hands. Burke will give him scoring opportunities that Douglass will not, especially on the perimeter. Plus, Douglass playing shooting guard gives the defense another accurate shooter to worry about, which will free up space in the key for Hardaway Jr.

With Burke at point guard, Hardaway Jr. will have an outside shot at contending for Big Ten player of the year. The move for Michigan is Burke at point, regardless of his age.

The prospect of Hardaway Jr. after an entire summer of workouts, which included playing on the FIBA U19 World Championships for Team USA, has Michigan fans salivating. Hardaway Jr. can be considered a dark horse candidate for Player of the Year because of how much he improved over the course of last season. The kid seemed to be growing up before the very eyes of those seated in Crisler Arena, quarter by quarter, game by game.

The splits between his non-conference and conference statistics are telling enough, especially when you consider how much tougher the competition gets once conference play starts.

Before conference play, Hardaway Jr. shot 37-percent from the floor and 29-percent from beyond the arc, averaging almost 13 points and a little over one assist a game. During Big Ten play, he elevated to shooting 46-percent from the floor and 44-percent from deep, averaging 15 points and two assists a game.

On January 18, he scored eight points in a loss to Northwestern. From that point on, he scored double digit points in every game until the end of the season, 16 games in a row.

In that game against Duke, Hardaway Jr. played 39 minutes and scored 15 points, but that doesn’t paint the full picture. He had been struggling from the field all game, including 0-5 from downtown, before he scored seven straight points to get Michigan within one point of one of the best teams in the country. The kid has no fear.

So yes, the Big Ten player of the year will probably be Sullinger, Hummel or Taylor.

But Hardaway Jr. has an outside shot, as does Michigan.

And those two are not mutually exclusive.