The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MARCH 2021 THE WOLVERINE 11 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS THEY SAID IT PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN "They're good. Legitimate. I don't get too much into top five, No. 1, No. 1 seed, but they can win the Big Ten championship. If you can win the Big Ten champion- ship, you can win the national championship. It's that simple. "There's a lot of basketball to be played, and you've got to have some breaks. Look at some of our runs to championship games. We needed a Trey Burke three from 40 feet [in 2013] and Jordan Poole's shot [in 2018] — you need some breaks to get there, but they do have a lot of what it takes to get there." — Former Michi- gan head coach John Beilein, discussing this year's Wolverine crew and the excellent job Juwan Howard is doing "Maybe this is overblown, but maybe not: Michigan made a big statement on [National Signing Day] as coach Jim Harbaugh looks for that spark to get the Wolverines going again. [Oak Park (Mich.) High] four-star [defensive] lineman Rayshaun Benny flipped from Michigan State, which was a huge win for the Wol- verines, and [Garland (Texas) Lakeview Centennial three-star defensive tackle] Ikechukwu Iwunnah backed off his Colorado pledge and signed with Michigan. The Wolverines now have a top-10 class and momentum heading into the off- season." — Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney on why he listed Michigan as one of his nine biggest "winners" on Signing Day 20 Is where U-M baseball checked in on Baseball America's national pre- season rankings. Head coach ERIK BAKICH'S squad was the only Big Ten team to appear in the top 25. The Wolverines posted a record of 8-7 last season before the conclusion of the campaign was canceled. "Michigan had a wild 2020 season that saw it ranked No. 1 after opening weekend and ranked No. 25 just three weeks later," the Baseball America staff wrote. "The Wolverines did lose quite a few key players to pro baseball this past summer, but it still has more than enough talent to spend 2021 showing that it is closer to the team that earned the No. 1 spot than the one that was just clinging to a spot in the rankings as the season ended. "Left-hander Steven Hajjar gives Mich- igan a first-round arm at the front of the rotation, and that's a great place to start when building a pitching staff. The lineup has some question marks, but the addition of transfers like shortstop Benjamin Sems from Kansas should help." 23 Days In between games for U-M men's basketball. The Wolverines beat Pur- due, 70-53, in West Lafayette Jan. 22, one day before the university shut down all athletic activities for "up to 14 days" due to COVID-19 concerns, and didn't return to the court for a contest until Feb. 14 at Wisconsin. U-M saw five of its tilts postponed during that stretch. 48 48 Is how many years old U-M head men's basketball coach JUWAN HOWARD turned Feb. 7. His birthday coincided with the day the Wolverines returned to the practice court after the pause, making it extra special for the second-year head man. "It was a great day," Howard said on the 'Inside Michigan Basketball' radio show. "It was great to get a chance to celebrate my birthday with the players and staff, having our first official practice back in the building that we love, that we call home — Crisler Center. We had a really nice hour and a half practice." PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY Blessed beyond measure to be a part of this great staff and outstanding university!" — Michigan offensive line coach/co-offensive coor- dinator SHERRONE MOORE on Twitter Jan. 28, after U-M finalized its football staff for the 2021 campaign PHOTO BY BRANDON BROWN