The Wolverine

May 2021 Issue

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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MAY 2021 THE WOLVERINE 17   INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS 20 Days was how long U-M basketball was in Indianapolis for the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments, which was longer than any other program, considering the Wol- verines were the last Big Ten team standing in the Big Dance and their league was the only one to have held its conference tournament in town. U-M arrived March 11 ahead of its Big Ten Tour- nament quarterfinal win over Maryland, and left March 31, the morning after a heartbreaking loss to UCLA in the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight. "Juwan and our support staff have done a ter- rific job making sure the players take care of their school work, tutoring meetings and then handle basketball joyfully when it's basketball time," associate head coach Phil Martelli said during the postseason when appearing on 97.1 The Ticket, pointing out how the squad actually had fun with its time in 'The Bubble.' "We're one of 16 teams left in the country, and we're allowed to enjoy it." THEY SAID IT Definitely that 2019 monsoon game against Notre Dame. I'll remember that night forever. I felt like it was one of the best games we played as a team. It was like a movie and was so much fun for all 60 minutes." — Former Michigan linebacker Cameron McGrone, declaring U-M's 45-14 beatdown of Notre Dame in 2019 as his favorite game in a Wolverine uniform "Paye is my top-ranked defensive end [in the 2021 NFL Draft]. He has big-time upside, even if he didn't have the production in college. If he lands in the right spot at the next level, he'll get 10 sacks a year." — ESPN NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. on Kwity Paye "The past 3 months of around the clock preparation in Florida led to @QuinnNordin's eye-opening Pro Day performance [March 26]. It was probably the single best kicking workout I've ever witnessed!! 1st 13 FGs: 13/13 (long of 58). 4.3+ [sec- ond] hangtime on all 8 kickoffs." — National kicking instructor Brandon Kornblue, praising Quinn Nordin's performance at Michigan's pro day "We always kept our eye on him, and when we built that championship-level team, we thought he'd be the perfect component because of his experiences, leadership and abili- ties. Juwan was someone we always thought would be good in the Heat culture. We liked his set mentality of hardest work- ing, best conditioned and most professional — that's a picture of Juwan Howard." — Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra March 27, recalling the attributes Howard brought to the table as a player and coach when he was with Miami "We moved MOUSSA DIABATE up last time and I think he could possibly add a star. The Michigan commit has looked like a five-star prospect, as his game on the offensive end has caught up with the way he changes the game on defense. I've had the chance to see Diabate play multiple games against elite competition this year and he's answered the bell on each occasion." — Rivals.com national basketball recruiting analyst Rob Cassidy, praising Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy four- star power forward and Michigan signee Moussa Diabate PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM 2 2 People in NCAA history have been named an Associ- ated Press All-American player and later been selected as the AP Coach of the Year, with U-M head coach JUWAN HOWARD joining only Clem Haskins before him. Haskins was an All-American in 1967 while playing for Western Kentucky and the Coach of the Year with Minnesota in 1997, while Howard was an All-American in 1994 and was honored as Coach of the Year this season. The AP started its All-America team in 1948. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN

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