The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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michigan basketball Final Four Banner Evokes Pride And Inspiration For The Wolverines N one of John Beilein's players were on the planet the last time Michigan put up a Final Four banner that remains in place. So watching their own unveiled for all time made for an emotional night Nov. 8 at Crisler Center. Michigan hoisted the banner from last spring's run to the national championship game to the top of Crisler, as well as presenting commemorative rings to the Wolverines. A quarter century is a long time. Since Glen Rice and Co. shocked the world in the spring of '89, the Fab Five came and went, Michigan basketball rolled over into disaster, and the program slogged through a decade in an NCAA Tournament-less wilderness. Heartbreak, futility and near misses marked the years leading up to Beilein's arrival. Even when he came, and the Wolverines stunningly reached the tournament promised land in his second year, the ascent wasn't without stumbles. When Michigan plunged back to 15-17 in his third season, some waved off the year-two breakthrough as a fluke. Then the Wolverines went back to the tournament in 2011, destroying Tennessee by 30 and coming within a three-pointer of sending Duke packing. The next year, Michigan shared its first Big Ten championship since 1986. That stunner rolled into a banner year in 2012-13, and they unfurled the banner on opening night, prior to tak- ing on the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. For Beilein and his players, the banner and rings presentation provided a quick prelude to the main event — the new season, with a host of new opportunities. But those keepsakes represent unbelievable toil that onlookers will never fully understand, and will only grow more meaningful as the years pass. "I sat there and just looked at it," Beilein said. "To have those two banners with our teams is a great step in the right direction. Let's put some more up." That step re-energized a fan base, which had begun to smile again a year earlier, watching a pair of basically unrecruited seniors and a breakthrough freshman point guard lead Michigan to a title. But this? This was another level. This was all about the brightest lights on the national level. This was what every player who's ever performed at the collegiate level dreams about. For some, it happened right out of the gate. "It was an amazing feeling," sophomore forward Glenn Robinson III said. "I remember being a freshman last year and sitting on the bench, looking at that [Big Ten] banner being raised, and just wanting that feeling so bad. "To be able to hang another banner up in the rafters means so much