The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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8 THE WOLVERINE ❱ APRIL 2023 M arch Madness can seem so all consuming, it's tough to consider the month without a Wolverines presence anything but empty. That would be a huge mistake. Juwan Howard's Michigan team didn't learn to finish this year — in heartbreaking individ- ual losses, in the stretch run of the Big Ten, in a Big Ten Tourna- ment representing a last chance to dance, or even in the NIT. There wasn't any extension of the five straight Sweet 16s the Wolverines had seen. But else- where, U-M teams were winning like they were ice cream in a Final Four with raisins, pickles and lima beans. Bev Plocki's women's gymnastics team won the Big Ten title in Iowa, and — blessed with the heart of a roster that's already won a national championship — threatens to do much more. Grad Abby Heiskell, who clinched that natty in 2021 with a clutch performance, won her second straight Big Ten all-around title March 18 in helping the Wolverines to a potential warm-up championship. Fifth-year senior Mason Parris stands atop the wrestling world, becoming the heavyweight national champion with a 5-1 decision over Penn State's Greg Kerkvliet. Parris finished the season with an incredible 33-0 record for a team that placed sixth at the NCAA Champion- ships. He also became the first Wolverine ever to earn the Hodge Trophy as the na- tion's best collegiate wrestler. Michigan hockey blazed its way into the Frozen Four, getting a game-winner from sophomore Mackie Samoskevich just 52 seconds into overtime of the NCAA Regional Championship. The Wolverines sent Penn State packing in the 2-1 title game — in Allentown, Pa., no less. Interim head coach (how much longer can that title last?) Brandon Naurato gets a chance to pull a Steve Fisher, if he can win a national championship before being named U-M's full-time head coach. In short, anyone experiencing March Moodiness isn't looking hard enough. * * * Here are two predictions on Michigan football. One, the Wolverines win the an- nual spring game, set just days after this publication comes out. Two, not much that happens on that April 1 afternoon matters in the long run. This crew is loaded, and they know it. They're not talking about getting respect back anymore. They're not talking much about winning the Big Ten championship, although to a man they want to do so. It's all about taking the next step. They want "the natty." Those who came back, returned to do so. Those just entering the program believe it's possible — and with good reason. Former Wolverine and local radio host Jamie Morris sees a defense reloading and an offense jammed with talent, from junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy to po- tential 1,000-yard backs in senior Blake Corum and junior Donovan Edwards, to capable wideouts, tight ends and another beast of an offensive line. It's enough to make an old tailback wish away the summer. "They have an abundance of weapons, and I think they know that," Morris said. "You keep Edwards on the field, you keep Blake on the field, and you've got other weapons. Who you going to cover? Who you going to double? You can't. You get the single-ups. "If the offensive line is close to as good as they were last year, they're go- ing to roll." * * * Carol Hutchins became such a fixture at Alumni Field over 38 seasons as head coach, it's hard to imagine a Michigan crew without her name attached. There will now never be one. The new designation for the ball yard — Alumni Field at Carol Hutchins Stadium — delivers the permanence one of Michigan's all-time greatest coaches in any sport deserves. Yost? Of course. Berenson? No doubt. Schembechler? Abso- lutely. Hutchins? Oh, yes. In fact, one can make the argument she overcame more than all of them in becoming college softball's all-time winningest coach. She came away victorious 1,707 times in almost four decades of coaching, tuck- ing away the national championship in 2005. No team east of the Mississippi had ever pulled that off. She won 22 Big Ten titles and 10 Big Ten Tournament cham- pionships, and made a dozen Women's College World Series appearances. But her biggest victory might involve seeing women's softball — and women's sports in general — emerge from the deep shadows over the years. Her sport went from a well-kept secret in the early days to a national phenomenon now, with a huge audience hanging on every pitch of the WCWS. "I cannot think of a better way to rec- ognize Carol Hutchins' contributions to the University of Michigan community, to the game of softball and to women's ath- letics than to rename the venue that she put on the map," noted Michigan athletics director Warde Manuel. She did far more, like her players will attest. "Hutch" was tough, demanding, and one who would inevitably make those under her guidance better. For 38 years, it was her field. It still is. ❏ WOLVERINE WATCH ❱ JOHN BORTON March Winds And April Showers Interim head coach Brandon Naurato received a celebratory shower from his hockey team after a thrilling 2-1 overtime win against Penn State on March 26 advanced the Wolverines to the Frozen Four for an NCAA-record 27th time. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPY Editor John Borton has been with The Wolverine since 1991. Contact him at jborton@thewolverine.com and follow him on Twitter @JB_Wolverine.