The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/213966
where are they now? he said 'Glen [Rice], you're going to lead these guys.'" In other words, basketball received a healthy dose of Bo. "He went at us on our faults and things we complained about during the season. When it was all said and done, you could hear a pin drop," Mills said. "He'd challenged everyone. After that, he walked away and it was like, 'Okay guys, let's practice.' For the first hour of practice, you could hear a pin drop.'" Soon enough, NCAA foes began dropping. Led by an NCAA Tournament-record scoring performance by Rice, tough rebounding from players such as Mills and Loy Vaught, Robinson's floor leadership and more, Michigan battled its way to the Final Four, and the players found themselves wishing they could be two places at once. After they'd clawed past North Carolina 92-87 and blown out Virginia 102-65, Mills noted: "All of us went back to the room. I remember us cutting on the TV, and they went back to Ann Arbor to show the people in Ann Arbor, after we had won. "To see people on University, and on State Street, in front of the Union, climbing poles … we actually wanted to be there. We're like, 'You're kidding? This is what's going on back in Ann Arbor.' "To see all those fans back in Ann Arbor, going crazy, and us having something to do with it, was just unreal." It became crazier, and revenge sweeter, when Higgins' late put- Mills is in his first season serving as the color analyst alongside play-by-play man Matt Shepard on the Wolverines' radio broadcasts. photo by andy reid back of a missed three-pointer gave U-M an 83-81 win over Illinois in the national semifinal. Then with three seconds remaining in the title game, the Wolverines trailed Seton Hall 79-78 with Robinson heading to the free throw line. "I can remember a game earlier in that season when Rumeal had an opportunity to win that Wisconsin ballgame at the free throw line, and he missed the free throws," Mills recalled. "I think he was a mid-60 percent free throw shooter. I remember how bad he felt when he went to the locker room. Everybody was consoling him, putting their hands on him: 'Hey man, you'll get an opportunity.' "I can remember the words he said: