The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/201975
A Whole New Team The Wolverines Graduated The Winningest Class In Program History, And Now They Are Determined To Build On That Foundation D By Andy Reid uring four different answers at the annual Michigan women's basketball media day, second-year head coach Kim Barnes Arico brought up Jenny Ryan. The only problem? Jenny Ryan doesn't play for the Wolverines any more. In her first year in Ann Arbor, Barnes Arico led Michigan to new heights, tying a team record for single-season wins (22); advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2001 season; and breathing new, strong life into a program that has struggled for the better part of 40 years, with just 13 seasons above .500 since its inaugural campaign in 1973-74 and just one toptwo finish all time in the year-end Big Ten standings (2000). In 2012-13, Michigan was the definition of a veteran team. Its top five scorers were seniors, with Ryan, the point guard, providing the emotional core, and guard Kate Thompson racking up a team-high 14.3 points per game. Of the 1,984 points scored last year, a whopping 1,666 of them were totaled by that deep, experienced senior class (84.0 percent). "I don't think I could have imagined as special of a year as it was," Barnes Arico reflected. "We miss our senior class; they are the winningest class of all time in Michigan women's basketball [80 wins in four years], and they really helped promote a culture and a winning tradition." Ryan came to embody the hardnosed passion and attitude that Barnes Arico preached to the Wolverines — and, in some ways, she remains the gold standard to which each player is expected to meet. Now, Ryan and the rest have moved