“I had the mindset coming in that I can’t be too nervous, and I expected good things,” Schilling said. “Nothing new, nothing surprising. I played good and brought a lot of good things to the team tonight.”

He scored four points and grabbed five rebounds in 14 minutes.

The transition has been easy for Schilling with the solid team around him and good summer workouts the squad routinely had.

He said down the line, he hopes to break into the starting five, but to get there, there are still facets of his game that need to improve.

“Coach wants to go with experience first and put (sophomore forward) Matt (Costello) in, but we’re always going at it in practice,” Shilling said. “I’m fighting for that fifth starting spot. I come out a little too aggressive on my screens and it’s something I have to work on.”

Many times, Schilling was on the floor with fellow freshman and Chicago native, guard Alvin Ellis III.
Senior center Adreian Payne said Schilling is exactly the type of player that can help the Spartans get to the next level because of the added pressure he continues to put on the starting five.

“It’s great for us because it makes us have competition for a spot everyday, and that’s what we need,” Payne said. “He’s good. He’s got some growth he’s gotta do and he’s gotta learn. He plays hard and he rebounds and that’s all we can ask of him right now.”

Schilling was born in Germany and raised in France, and played for Germany in the 2008 FIBA U18 European Championship.

Head coach Tom Izzo said Schilling is the best ball screener on the team, and compares him to the likes of Andre Hudson.

His only foul of the game was an offensive foul after setting a moving screen.

With the Spartans relying on sophomore guard Gary Harris and senior guard Keith Appling as shooters, Schilling said his role as a screener fits well into the Spartan system.

“I just have a good instinct on when to come out and when not to come out on ball screens,” he said. “I just like to guard so that’s something that comes. I like to make contact and be physical and I just contribute that to the team.”

For Izzo, getting a guy like Schilling is a victory because he adds so much in ways that haven’t been seen at the Breslin Center for years.

“In Schilling, it goes to prove that you can recruit some guys for four years and you can recruit some guys for months and rankings are this and that, but those guys can play,” Izzo said. “We’re going to be able to use him in a lot of way, plus he can rebound. I was impressed with both freshman and hopefully it will continue.”