The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/641955
INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Five Years Ago, 2011: Michigan routed Tennessee 75‑45 in its NCAA Tournament opener in Charlotte, N.C. Junior captain Zack Novak paced the Wolverines with 14 points and 10 rebounds in the runaway victory, with junior Stu Douglass, sophomore Matt Vogrich and freshman Tim Hardaway Jr. tossing in 11 points each. The Wolverines ran away from the taller, more athletic Vols to the point that Tennessee freshman Tobias Harris — who led all scorers with 19 — insisted his team "quit." "Lineups don't matter," redshirt freshman forward Jordan Morgan said after contributing 10 points. "It's the team, and we're a really united team. We're close, on and off the court. We're hard to separate. We're fighting together. "Matchup‑wise, it might look like they might be better than us, but when we fight together we're a hard team to beat." Michigan's victory continued a major turnaround season for the Wol‑ verines. They started Big Ten play 1‑6, but rallied to earn themselves a tournament berth. 25 Years Ago, 1991: Birmingham Detroit Country Day High School won the Michigan Class B prep basketball championship March 23, and shortly thereafter came the verbal commitment from one of its players — one that would change University of Michigan basketball for the next decade. Chris Webber pledged to become a Wolverine. He joined Jalen Rose of Detroit Southwestern, who announced the same day after winning the Class A state title. Michigan already had commit‑ ments from Juwan Howard of Chicago Vocational, Jimmy King from Plano (Texas) East High, and Ray Jackson from Austin (Texas) Lyndon Baines Johnson High. Bob Gibbons, publisher of All-Star Sports, had all five among his top 100 players nationally and Webber at No. 1. He rated Michigan's class as the best ever secured, beating out North Carolina's 1990 group that was led by center Eric Montross. "No one has ever signed four players in the top 12," Gibbons said. "This is a class that all classes in the future will be judged by, because it will be impossible to match. This will be the ultimate silencer for [Steve] Fisher." — John Borton THIS MONTH IN MICHIGAN ATHLETICS HISTORY