The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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AUGUST 2019 THE WOLVERINE 11 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS MEN'S BASKETBALL RELEASES FULL 2019-20 NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE The Michigan men's basketball program announced its complete 2019-20 non-conference schedule July 10, with the Wolverines tipping off the Juwan Howard era with a lone exhibition contest against Saginaw Valley Nov. 1. The campaign will then officially get underway with a visit from Appalachian State Nov. 5. U-M will next welcome Big East foe Creighton to Ann Arbor Nov. 12 for the annual Gavitt Tip-Off Games, before facing off with Elon (Nov. 15) and Houston Baptist (Nov. 22) at Crisler Center. A trip to the Bahamas to play in the three-day Battle 4 Atlan- tis tournament will ensue from Nov. 27-29 over Thanksgiving weekend. The M aize and Blue will first take on Iowa State in the event's opening round, and will clash with either Alabama or North Carolina Nov. 28 before closing out the tournament with a third game Nov. 29. U-M will then play its lone road tilt of the non-conference slate when it travels to Lou- isville Dec. 3 for the Big Ten/ ACC Challenge, an event that it blew out (84-67) No. 11 North Carolina in last year. Three straight contests at Crisler Center will wrap up the pre-conference portion of the schedule, with the Wolverines hosting Oregon Dec. 14, Presbyterian Dec. 21 and UMass- Lowell Dec. 29. "We have put together a very challenging and balanced non-conference schedule," Howard said. "These 11 games give us not only 11 opportunities to grow and get better as team, but it also helps to face several high-caliber oppo- nents prior getting into the Big Ten schedule. "I am looking forward to seeing how we progress." Specific dates have not been released yet for the con- ference slate, but U-M will host Indiana, Penn State and Wisconsin, and travel to Maryland, Minnesota and North- western in their lone regular-season matchups with those squads. The Wolverines will play home-and-home series with Nebraska, Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan State, Illinois, Iowa and Rutgers. CBS TABS MICHIGAN AS THE NATION'S BEST ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT IN 2018-19 CBS Sports handed out its Best in College Sports Award July 11, and tabbed Michigan as having the best overall athletic season of any school in 2018-19, crediting them with 501.75 points in their formulaic system (they rated every program in football, men's basketball, women's bas- ketball and each respective school's two most successful non-revenue sports). Kentucky checked in second nationally with 494.25 points, while Ohio State was the second-highest Big Ten team (and fifth overall in the country) with 456 points. While Michigan's football (a 10-3 record and a No. 14 rank- ing in both final national polls) and men's basketball (a 30-7 record and Sweet 16 appearance) squads obviously had successful campaigns in 2018-19, CBS Sports analyst Chip Patterson actually revealed that U-M's baseball team — which advanced to the College World Series Finals before falling to Vander- bilt — is a large reason the Wolverines took home the site's top award. "Their basketball team went deep in the NCAA Tournament, the foot- ball team won 10 games and made a New Year's Six bowl game, but the key to me was the baseball squad," he noted. "It was one of the best stories in the College World Series. That was the thing that probably carried Michi- gan the most, so they should get real credit and a tip of the hat for taking the Wolverines to No. 1 in CBS Sports' rankings." THREE INCOMING ICE HOCKEY FRESHMEN SELECTED IN NHL ENTRY DRAFT Michigan saw three of its incoming ice hockey players chosen in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft June 21-22, when de- fenseman Cam York, center Johnny Beecher and winger Eric Ciccolini each heard their names called. York was taken 14th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers and Beecher 30th by the Boston Bruins, while Ciccolini came off the board in the seventh round (205th) to the New York Rangers. The former two became the 23rd and 24th first-round draft picks in program history, with it also being just the fourth time that two Wolverines were chosen in the first round in the same year (Zach Werenski and Kyle Connor in 2015 were the most recent). When Ciccolini was taken in the seventh round, he became the 71st Michigan Man ever chosen in the NHL Draft. U-M has now had at least one player come off the board every year since 1996, and has had a player picked in all but five editions since the event's inception in 1969 (1970, 1971, 1972, 1981 and 1995). York finished fifth on the USA Hockey National Team De- velopment Program (NTDP) U-18 team with 65 points (14 goals and 51 assists) in 63 contests last year, while Beecher tallied 43 points (15 goals and 28 assists) for the same club. Ciccolini, meanwhile, poured in 62 points (27 goals and 35 assists) in 48 games as a winger for the Toronto Jr. Canadiens of the Ontario Junior Hockey League last season, which was good for ninth best in the league. — Austin Fox Juwan Howard will make his official debut as the Wolverines' head coach Nov. 5 against Appalachian State at Crisler Center. PHOTO BY BRANDON BROWN MAIZE AND BLUE NOTEBOOK