The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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28 THE WOLVERINE AUGUST 2020 BASEBALL JACOB CRONENWORTH (2013-15) Cronenworth was a unique player at Michigan, a three-year starter who both pitched and played infield for the Wolverines. The 2015 team was the last to really make waves on the national scene before last year's run to the best-of-three finals of the Col- lege World Series, and he was a big reason why. The three-year standout finished his U-M career with a .312 batting aver- age, 10 home runs, 117 RBI and 42 stolen bases, plus a 2.76 earned run average and 27 saves on the bump. The latter still ranks second all time in Michigan history, and he holds the single-season saves record with 12. He also ranks 13th with 211 career hits. Cronenworth earned Perfect Game third-team All-America honors in his third year. He was an ABCA All- Mideast Region first-team selection, an All-Big Ten second-team honoree and the Big Ten Tournament Most Valuable Player on U-M's conference championship team. A former sev- enth-round pick, he currently plays shortstop for the San Diego Padres. — Chris Balas WOMEN'S BASKETBALL KATELYNN FLAHERTY (2015-18) The 5-7 guard is not only the top U-M women's basketball player of the past decade, but the best in pro- gram history. Flaherty wrapped up her Wolverine tenure in 2018 as Michigan basketball's (both male and female) all-time leading scorer, having poured in 2,776 career points. Her 410 three- pointers were a U-M women's record, making her just one of two female players in NCAA history with at least 400 triples. The Point Pleasant, N.J., native be- gan her career with a bang in 2014-15 by averaging 14.3 points per game. She increased that total to 22.1 in 2015-16, poured in 20.2 as a junior and posted a career-high 22.9 clip as a senior. Flaherty racked up an impressive list LEADERS & BEST The Wolverine Names Its Athletes Of The 2010-19 Decade For Each Varsity Sport MEN'S BASKETBALL TREY BURKE (2012-13) Burke was initially one of John Beilein's Plan B recruits, and the Colum- bus, Ohio, native probably would have ended up at Ohio State had point guard Aaron Craft not been there. Instead, Burke came to Michigan and dominated as a freshman, earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors in 2011-12 while leading the Wolverines to their first Big Ten championship since 1986 and averaging 14.8 points per game. A year later, Burke led the Wolverines to the national championship game and was the consensus National Player of the Year after averaging 18.7 points per game and finishing fifth in the country with a 3.02-to-1.00 assist- to-turnover ratio. Captain Zack Novak, a senior on the 2011-12 team, said he knew imme- diately Burke was special. "I knew from the first open gym he was the best player I had played with at Michigan," Novak recalled. After his two standout campaigns, Burke was the 2013 NBA Draft's ninth pick and he still plays for the Dallas Mavericks. He was the only Wolverine recently named to the Big Ten Network's All-Decade Team. "It has a special place in my heart and always will," he said of Michigan. "I'm just thankful to be able to be recognized as one of the greats in the last 10 years." — Chris Balas O ver the last 10 years, the Wolverines have certainly lived up to the school's motto of "Leaders And Best" on the athletic playing fields. During that time period, Michigan has won four team NCAA champion- ships, several more individual crowns and no fewer than 75 conference championships, plus countless other prestigious honors. The honored athletes below include national champions, multiple-time All- Americans, and national and conference award winners. Some are not only the top player of the last 10 years for their teams but the best in program history. Here's a look at our staff's picks for each sport's top athlete of the last decade: