The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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14 THE WOLVERINE OCTOBER 2021 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS CHRIS WEBBER INDUCTED INTO HALL OF FAME The evening of Sept. 11, former Michigan basketball star Chris Webber (1991-93) was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's 2021 class and gave a speech to the audience in Springfield, Mass. A consensus All-American in 1993, Webber helped lead the Maize and Blue to two straight NCAA title game appear- ances during his freshman and sophomore seasons in 1992 and 1993, before becoming an NBA early entrant. Webber thanked the University of Michigan, former Wol- verine head coach Steve Fisher and his Fab Five teammates — Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson, Jimmy King and Jalen Rose — all four of whom were in attendance. "To the student body, the alumni, and the faculty and staff at the University of Michigan, I flat-out love you," Webber said with a smile. "It was my pleasure to don the No. 4 jersey in the Maize and Blue. I loved every moment at the Univer- sity of Michigan with my teammates, my brothers. "First, I would like to thank Coach Steve Fisher and his wife, Angie. Coach, your calm approach, focus, and deliberate ways and intense practices allowed us to be ourselves. We could stick to the structures and just let it all hang out. "Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King — I love you. All of my former teammates at Michigan, I love you. I can't believe what we accomplished. I'm proud." In the NBA, Webber, a five-time All-Star, was the 1993 No. 1 overall draft pick, 1994 Rookie of the Year and 1999 rebounding leader (13 rebounds per game). He played 15 professional seasons and saw action in 831 career games, registering 20.7 points, 9.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists per outing. MICHIGAN BASKETBALL RELEASES 2021-22 BIG TEN SCHEDULE The defending Big Ten champion Michigan men's basket- ball team has its full schedule for the 2021-22 campaign, with the Big Ten revealing the conference slate Sept. 8. For the fourth straight year, the Maize and Blue will play a 20-game conference schedule, beginning with two Decem- ber games, before reentering the conference slate after the new year for the final 18 outings. After the conclusion of the regular season, U-M will compete in the Big Ten Tournament March 9-13 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. The Wolverines' Big Ten regular-season schedule is as fol- lows: at Nebraska Dec. 7; vs. Minnesota Dec. 11; at Rutgers Jan. 4; vs. Michigan State Jan. 8; vs. Purdue Jan. 11; at Illinois Jan. 14; vs. Maryland Jan. 18; at Indiana Jan. 23; vs. North- western Jan. 26; at Michigan State Jan. 29; vs. Nebraska Feb. 1; at Purdue Feb. 5; at Penn State Feb. 8; vs. Ohio State Feb. 12; at Iowa Feb. 17; at Wisconsin Feb. 20; vs. Rutgers Feb. 23; vs. Illinois Feb. 27; vs. Iowa March 3; at Ohio State March 6. U-M MEDICAL STUDENT SAM GREWE WINS PARALYMPIC GOLD After two years of battling osteosarcoma stemming from a tumor on his right leg and enduring 21 chemotherapy sessions, Sam Grewe — 13 years old at the time, in 2013 — decided to get the leg amputated so that he could return to normal physical activities, with a prosthetic limb allowing him to do so. Grewe began participating in the high jump, and was able to compete at a high level, having won gold medals in the 2015 and 2017 World Championships, and 2019 Parapan American Games, while taking silver in the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Grewe got the chance to compete at this summer's Para- lympic Games in Tokyo, and won gold with a leap of 1.88 meters. "In the pouring rain, across the world, I had to get up to that line and kind of mentally recalibrate and convince myself to go and do the jump that I've done so many thou- sands of time before, when it really counts," Grewe said of his performance in Tokyo while appearing on MGoBlue. com's Conqu'ring Heroes podcast. "Once I started heading toward the bar, there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to clear it. "Once it stayed up, the wave of emotions came over me because that's what I had worked towards for so many years. It really was a moment of joy, as well as relief." A medical student at U-M, Grewe is back in Ann Arbor for the school year, taking what he's learned in his athletic ca- reer with him into his studies and future profession. "High jump is the most frustrating thing I have ever done, so I really do think that having the ability to stay mentally strong, to persevere, is going to be so important moving forward in medicine," he said. — Clayton Sayfie Webber is the second Wolverine enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, joining class of 2020 inductee Rudy Tomjanovich. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY MAIZE AND BLUE NOTEBOOK