The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/111015
������ inside michigan athletics this waterfall entrance, but I want to make sure you know what the other ���wow��� is.������ It was a magical moment, Brandon said, and it took Russell a few seconds to react after he became emotional. ���It was a thousand flashbacks, to Billy Buntin, who sort of talked me into coming to Michigan ��� a big kid, 6-8, telling me that Michigan is on the upsurge ��� to the great teams I played for in ���64 and ���65. It was a great flash of memories as I saw that picture,��� Russell said. ���It was a very humbling experience. I���m very grateful to know that I got a chance to play at this great institution. And to be remembered, that���s a great feeling. ���Thank you, University of Michigan.��� Glen Rice, the MVP of Michigan���s 1989 national champions, called Crisler Center ���s transformation breathtaking. ���To walk around the whole arena and see everything, it was amazing,��� Rice said. ���It was actually like Disneyland. So much has changed, but it still feels the same.��� Former women���s basketball great Diane Dietz also joined Russell and Rice for an interview session Feb. 15, hosted by former U-M wide receiver and Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard. ���People want to focus more on the athletes that want to go professional, but there are 900 student-athletes here, and they���re all ���Leaders and Best,������ Dietz said. ���Every single person here is invested in making them ���Leaders and Best.��� Everything they do, every single day. ���We watched them practice in the new facility. You look at the new academic center ��� it changes you as a person. Everyone up here will tell you that, whatever success you had after graduation has everything to do with showing up to practice every day and the people who were there to support us.��� Much of the support for former players now comes from head coach John Beilein, who Russell credits for reaching out. Championship programs are built on the backs of those who played before them, and Beilein is well aware. ���There���s some healing that needs to be done along the line,��� Beilein said before meeting Russell and the others. ���All of us, we���re just embracing it ��� they should root for the team no matter how it ended there for them.��� Russell has been back a number of times since Beilein took over the program. ���Apparently there���s a resurgence here to reach out,��� Russell said. ���Why, what started it, what was the catalyst, those are some of the questions I asked Mr. Brandon and Coach Beilein. ���After talking with Coach Beilein, you get a sense of where they���re headed and what the long-term plans are. I wasn���t skeptical, but no one in the previous administrations had reached out. There was no influx of people coming back. Our basketball team had reunions, but we didn���t need to come back and be a part of this. Mine started when Coach Beilein reached out.��� Michigan beat Penn State 79-71 in the rededication game Feb. 17.