The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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AUGUST 2022 THE WOLVERINE 55 MICHIGAN IN THE PROS range (36.4 percent) and the free throw line (92.48 percent, which led the league). The Warriors have been on quite the journey. They've now won four cham- pionships in the last eight years, but it didn't come without adversity. Riddled by injuries, the club finished with the worst record in the league (15-50) in 2019-20, Poole's rookie season, and missed the playoffs in 2020-21. They got healthy, regrouped and received help from emerging stars, Poole being one of them. "It's amazing. Amazing," Poole said on "SportsCenter" after the championship- clinching victory June 16. "Two years ago, we had the worst record in the league. That makes it all the more special. We went from being all the way at the bottom to all the way at the top. "It's just amazing to be here, to be a part of this group. This team is special; this organization is special." — Clayton Sayfie THREE FORMER MICHIGAN HOCKEY PLAYERS WIN THE STANLEY CUP WITH COLORADO AVALANCHE The Colorado Avalanche won the most recognizable trophy in all of sports, beat- ing the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games in the Stanley Cup Finals. Three former Michigan Wolverines hockey players are now NHL champions — center Andrew Cogliano, left wing J.T. Compher and de- fenseman Jack Johnson. The three players are Michigan's first Stanley Cup champions since Carl Hage- lin and Kevin Porter, who went back to back in 2016 and 2017 with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The trio are the 11th, 12th and 13th former U-M players to win the cup in history. The Avalanche won 72 games on the year (regular and postseason), tying the 1976-77 Canadiens, 1983-84 Oilers and 1995-96 Red Wings for the most victories in a season. Colorado defeated the Nash- ville Predators, St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers and Lightning during its postsea- son run, with a 16-4 record across those four series. Cogliano posted 4 goals and 12 assists in 74 regular-season tilts, before registering 3 goals and 3 helpers in the postseason, while primarily playing on the team's fourth line. The former Michigan forward had 2 assists and 1 goal in the Finals. He was re-signed by the team July 5, inking a one-year contract. Johnson did not register any statistics during the playoff run, but he did appear in 12 games. He had 5 goals and 16 assists in 42 regular-season games. Compher posted 5 goals and 3 assists during the postseason. In 70 regular-sea- son contests, the former Michigan for- ward notched 18 goals and 15 assists. — Clayton Sayfie Fifteen Wolverines Drafted To Professional Leagues In 2021-22 Fifteen former Michigan athletes were drafted in their respective sports across six different professional leagues, highlighted by five first-round picks. Defensive end Aidan Hutchinson was taken No. 2 overall by the Detroit Lions, becoming the Wolverines' 11th-ever top-five NFL Draft pick and highest selec- tion since Jake Long went first overall in 2008. U-M had another first-rounder in defensive back Dax Hill (No. 31 to the Cincinnati Bengals). For a second straight year, the hockey program boasted multiple first-rounders, with Frank Nazar III (No. 13 to the Chicago Blackhawks) and Rutger McGroarty (14th to the Winnipeg Jets) going on back-to-back picks in July's NHL Draft. Both are incoming freshmen, along with second-rounder Seamus Casey, who was chosen No. 46 overall in the second round by the New Jersey Devils. Women's basketball forward Naz Hillmon made history, standing as the Maize and Blue's highest-picked player in the WNBA Draft when she was nabbed No. 15 overall by the Atlanta Dream. Hillmon is the seventh U-M player to be selected to the league and the program's first WNBA draftee since 2005. Women's soccer midfielder Raleigh Loughman, a first-team All-Big Ten selection and Offensive Player of the Big Ten Tournament in 2021, was taken in the fourth round of the NWSL Draft by the NJ/NY Gotham FC. Outfielder Clark Elliott was picked No. 69 overall in the MLB Draft after leading the Cape Cod League with a .344 batting average this summer. Pitcher Cameron Weston and outfielder Joe Stewart also were selected in the draft. U-M Athlete League Round Overall Pick Team Clark Elliott MLB 2 69 Oakland Athletics Cameron Weston MLB 8 227 Baltimore Orioles Joe Stewart MLB 9 268 Los Angeles Angels Caleb Houstan NBA 2 32 Orlando Magic Moussa Diabate NBA 2 43 Los Angeles Clippers Aidan Hutchinson NFL 1 2 Detroit Lions Dax Hill NFL 1 31 Cincinnati Bengals David Ojabo NFL 2 45 Baltimore Ravens Hassan Haskins NFL 4 131 Tennessee Titans Andrew Stueber NFL 7 245 New England Patriots Frank Nazar III NHL 1 13 Chicago Blackhawks Rutger McGroarty NHL 1 14 Winnipeg Jets Seamus Casey NHL 2 46 New Jersey Devils Raleigh Loughman NWSL 4 46 NJ/NY Gotham FC Naz Hillmon WNBA 1 15 Atlanta Dream — Clayton Sayfie Poole became the first former Wolverine since Juwan Howard in 2013 to win an NBA championship as a player. PHOTO COURTESY GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS