The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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in three recruits most high-major pro- grams would have considered after- thoughts. Big man Ben Cronin, who'd at least had some interest from Syracuse, would have been the headliner. The seven-footer would never see signifi- cant action at Michigan, though, a hip injury finally ending his playing career before it got started. "Indiana leftovers," though, is how one outlet described the guard duo of Zack Novak and Stu Douglass. Doug- lass earned his scholarship at the Mich- igan camp with a lights-out shooting display, and he eventually earned a scholarship offer from Colorado State. Novak's one offer — from Valparaiso — disappeared, and he was prepared to head off to Indiana for baseball and to try to walk on the basketball team before Beilein discovered him late in his senior year. Few knew it, but Novak — not the four-star and heralded Harris — would become one of the most critical recruits in the program's recent history. He's still the example for junior point guard Spike Albrecht, his close friend and one of the likely captains on this year's team. "Zack was obviously a phenomenal leader," Albrecht said. "And we are completely different people. They say Zack was crazy, this and that, but he was a great leader, and that's definitely something you look at and model yourself after because you look what he did here in his four years and it's incredible." Michigan went to the NCAA Tour- nament in Beilein's second year, ad- vancing to the second round with a win over Clemson before losing to Oklahoma. Chemistry was an issue in year three, also the season in which an NBA exodus began. Beilein signed his first top-100 recruit in Los Angeles point guard Darius Morris following U-M's tournament run, but when Har- ris left after his third year for a shot at the pros, some thought Michigan would take a step back. The Detroit News even picked U-M to finish 10th in the 11-team Big Ten. Morris' development put an end to that talk. After starting the conference schedule with a 1-6 record, the Wolver- ines ripped off eight wins in their last 11 games. Novak made 6 of 8 three- pointers in the program's turning point, a 61-57 road win over Michigan State that started the resurgence; Dou- glass provided the nail in the coffin with a triple that put the Wolverines up five with 20 seconds to play. Michigan beat Tennessee 75-45 in the NCAA Tournament round of 64, the largest victory margin ever by a No. 8 seed. Only Morris' last-second missed shot from eight feet prevented overtime in a 73-71 loss to top-seeded Duke in the round of 32. When Morris surprised and left for the draft after only his second year, Michigan was back to relying on a freshman to fill in the gaps. Four-star guard Carlton Brundidge of South- field, Mich. was supposed to be the gem of the 2011 class, ranked No. 106 nationally. Another signee, though, would become the face of the program. OUT OF NOWHERE Young Trey Burke arrived in the summer before his freshman year