The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/100796
2011-12 basketball preview ������ women���s basketball Wolverines Anticipate Player Development ��� Center Opening M ichigan spent the first month of practice on the gym floor at Crisler Arena, awaiting the opening of the Player Development Center ��� a $23.2 million state-of-the-art practice facility. The PDC was originally on Head coach Kevin Borseth (right) and assistant Dawn Plitzuweit (left) were all smiles after catching a glimpse of the Player Development Center. photo by per kjeldsen track to open before practices in midOctober began, but problems with the installation of the floor delayed its availability. It is now scheduled to open in November. ���We���re anxiously awaiting the day. I am so excited to see it,��� senior guard Courtney Boylan said. Head coach Kevin Borseth has caught glimpses of the PDC, and like his men���s team colleague, John Beilein, cannot wait to have access. ���The gym is a lot bigger than you���d think,��� he said. ���When you walk in, you look at this vast space. Standing outside, you���re thinking how did they fit two courts in there? No way. But when you walk inside, that gym is just huge. Lots of locker room space, strength and conditioning has a lot of space, it���s really nice. ���It���s like a new car. You take care of it and polish it every day, and it makes going to work a little bit better. ���The biggest change for us is the players are going to be there. That���s been the biggest gap for us. Prior, I was in Weidenbach, where now our office space is right there. PDC is there, Crisler���s there, we���re there. That really shrinks the gap between the coaching staff and the players, and Basketball Notebook Big Ten Favorite ��� Head coach Kevin Borseth believes Penn State, which finished second last year with a 11-5 record, is the conference favorite. ���You���d think on paper, Penn State would be, because they���re returning a lot of players from last year and finished second, but I wouldn���t forget about Minnesota,��� he said. ���Minnesota���s games last year, even though they finished somewhere toward the bottom, they���re returning everybody, and their games were three-, four-, five-point games last year. So I think the gaps are going to shrink. ���Ohio State lost the Player of the Year, but they have a lot of athleticism. [Michigan State head coach] Suzy Merchant lost a lot of her team, too, but she���s got a lot of kids and talent that she���s brought in there. They���ll compete, too. ���Purdue���s good, Northwestern has brought a bunch of kids in. I don���t think there���s anybody in this league that I would count out.��� Departed ��� Mike Williams is no longer with the program following four seasons as one of Borseth���s assistant coaches. U-M had not hired a replacement by the Media Day Oct.��11. 82��� the wolverine��� ������ November 2011 brings us closer together.��� In addition to the Player Development Center���s opening, Crisler Arena received a major facelift. U-M redid the court, added lighting to brighten the arena, and swapped out every seat, installing blue leather chair backs. Michigan also flipped the benches to the other side of the floor, while the Wolverines will enter from locker rooms connected to the PDC. ���It���s unbelievable,��� junior guard Jenny Ryan said. ���When they said they were going to renovate it, I thought they were going to put a new covering on something old, and I thought we���d still feel that old vibe. But when we walked in here the first time ��� the biggest thing is how bright it is. It���s exciting.��� ���It���s amazing. Is it not?��� Boylan asked, rhetorically. ���It looks so different in here. I like the floor. It looks pretty cool. This place looks brand new.��� ��� 2011-12 Women���s Basketball Schedule Date Opponent Result/Time Nov. 11 at Florida 4:30 p.m. Nov. 14 Florida Atlantic 6 p.m. Nov. 17 Utah 6 p.m. Nov. 20 at Seton Hall 2 p.m. Nov. 24 vs. Prairie View A&M* 5:45 p.m. Nov. 25 vs. Washington State* 8 p.m. Nov. 26 vs. Marquette* 8 p.m. Nov. 30 at Maryland^ 7 p.m. 2 p.m. Dec. 4 Iowa State# Dec. 8 at Detroit 5 p.m. 2 p.m. Dec. 11 at Eastern Michigan Dec. 17 Indiana State 7 p.m. Dec. 22 Illinois State 1:30 p.m. Dec. 30 at Illinois 8 p.m. TBA Jan. 2 at Michigan State Jan. 7 Ohio State 5 p.m. Jan. 12 at Penn State 6 p.m. Noon Jan. 15 Minnesota Jan. 19 at Northwestern 8 p.m. Jan. 22 Indiana 2 p.m. Jan. 26 Penn State 7 p.m. Jan. 30 at Wisconsin 7:30 p.m. Feb. 2 Northwestern 6:30 p.m. Feb. 5 Michigan State 3 p.m. Feb. 9 at Nebraska 8:05 p.m. 8 p.m. Feb. 16 Iowa Noon Feb. 19 at Indiana Feb. 23 Purdue TBA Feb. 26 at Iowa TBA Mar. 1-4Big Ten Tournament$ TBA * Paradise Jam at St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; ^ Big Ten/ACC Challenge; # Big Ten/ Big 12 Challenge; $ at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis