The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS MICHIGAN DEDICATES NEW PLAYER DEVELOPMENT CENTER Michigan enjoyed a special Sunday afternoon on Jan. 6, and not just be- cause John Beilein's basketball team thumped Wisconsin, 59-41. A num- ber of former Wolverines returned to what is now called the Crisler Center, for the dedication of the new Player Development Center. The Player Development Center, part of a near $100-million makeover of Michigan's basketball facilities, recently reached completion. The mammoth addition onto the east side of Crisler provides two full-sized practice courts, coaches' offices, new locker rooms and lounge facilities for both men's and women's squads, training rooms and meeting areas. Extensive renovations have also been made to Crisler Arena itself, including a new scoreboard, floor and seats, with a reconfiguring of the arena. Additional extensive renova- tions will come into play following the present basketball season. It wouldn't be a celebration at "The House That Cazzie Built" without Ca- zzie Russell, and the legendary U-M basketball performer was on hand, along with a number of other Michi- gan basketball notables. Rudy Tomja- novich, Phil Hubbard and Daniel Hor- ton were also among the dozens who returned for the facility dedication. Russell, now an administrator at the Savannah (Ga.) College of Art and Design, noted: "From what I un- derstand, Michigan is playing catch- up. You're Division I, you've got to have this. This could be worth five to eight more games in terms of guys going in to shoot. "I had access to the intramural building, a little different than the Player Development Center, espe- cially when you hear them say they try to make it equivalent to what it's like in Crisler, the baskets, the light- ing. Come on. I don't want to sound too hard on the players nowadays, but you have no excuse. Condition- ing, shooting, training … it's good to see this, because you've got to have this to compete." Horton always claimed he needed only two rims and a court when he played. He committed to former head coach Tommy Amaker's staff in the days when enhanced basket- ball facilities were still in the dream/ development stages. 18 THE WOLVERINE FEBRUARY 2012 Many former Michigan players returned on Jan. 6 to see U-M defeat Wisconsin 59-41 and for the dedication of the new Player Development Center. PHOTO COURTESY U-M SPORTS INFORMATION Looking around, the former stand- out point guard did acknowledge all of the amenities probably wouldn't have hurt. "I told them yesterday if we had this stuff, my percentages might have been better," Horton quipped. "I'd have been able to get in the gym and get some more work in. But all this is first class, what they've done to raise money to build this, provide a facil- ity that will be attractive to young players and help the current players — it's big time." "It's nice to finally see it come to fruition," noted Chris Hunter, a con- temporary of Horton on Amaker's squads. "You've got to move along with the times, and we're probably ahead of the times right now with the facilities they've built. "It's great. I was wowed by the new seats, the floor, the scoreboard. The atmosphere is great." The final phase for the Crisler Center renovations should be com- pleted in roughly a year, U-M athlet- ics director David Brandon revealed. Workers will be widening and trans- forming the concourse area to allow an easier flow of traffic, but also cre- ating a compelling place for fans to visit. The concourse will feature displays of all 29 Michigan varsity sports, including memorabilia, video pre- sentations on flat-screen televisions, photos, etc. There will also be a por- tion of the concourse devoted to Michigan's Hall of Honor. A rededication — complete with a high-powered opponent — will take place next January or February, Bran- don noted. "We have a natural opportunity next season, because we're going to hold a massive celebration when we complete the entire Crisler project," Brandon said. "We hope to bring back more players from all over the country to celebrate that. It's going to be a big deal. "We want there to be a big-brand opponent that rounds out the whole thing … a big game, big turnout of former players, men and women, hopefully some coaches, and really celebrate the investment we've made in this program as well as the tradition and history of Michigan basketball." That investment, Brandon insisted, was overdue. "It's fundamentally important," Brandon said. "We were not com- petitive. We knew it. Frankly, we were not competitive for too long, and it hurt us. When you're spend- ing hundreds of millions on the foot- ball stadium next door and a young student-athlete for basketball gets driven past The Big House and sees we only have one gymnasium floor and don't have the infrastructure of support many of the other premium basketball programs have, it's very difficult to recruit. "Now we have it all. We have the practice facility, strength and condi- tioning, training, academic facilities … everything they could possibly want to allow them to come here and have a great athletic experience."