The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS MAIZE AND BLUE NOTEBOOK REPRESENTING THEIR COUNTRY • Three Michigan women's soccer players participated in the CONCACAF U-20 World Championships March 1-11. Rising juniors Nkem Ezurike and Shelina Zadorski played for Team Canada, leading the Canadians to a berth in the final after accumulating a 3-0 record in pool play and a 6-0 victory over Panama in the semifinals. Team Canada then fell 2-1 to Team USA. Rising sophomore Christina Murillo, meanwhile, led Team Michigan Basketball To Collide John Beilein's Past, Present be revealed. One big game for the Wolverines and head coach John Beilein, though, will likely stir a little nostalgia in the U-M boss. Michigan is set to face West Virginia in the Brooklyn Hoops Most of Michigan's 2012-13 basketball schedule has yet to Winter Festival on Dec. 15, at the brand new Barclays Center. One of the ESPN networks will broadcast that showdown. Beilein, of course, coached at West Virginia in the five seasons Mexico to a semifinal berth with a 3-0 mark in pool play. Mexico lost to the United States, but rallied for a 5-0 victory over Panama in the third-place game. Ezurike netted two goals during the tournament. The three Wolverines helped their respective countries qualify for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Aug. 19-Sept. 8 in Japan. The three are expected to play for their countries and could miss three weeks of Michigan's season. ball games in 2011, including 1,218,043 at Michigan games, home or away — a tally that led the country last season. U-M led the nation in home-field attendance for the 14th consecutive campaign, averaging 112,179 fans per game. Despite the fact that Michigan, Ohio State (105,231) and COLLEGE FOOTBALL NUMBERS • An NCAA-record 49,699,419 fans attended college foot- Penn State (101,427) were among just five teams nationally to average better than 100,000, the Big Ten (71,439 fans per game) actually ranked second to the SEC (75,832 per game) in attendance. • The Big Ten Championship earned a 4.6 rating (7.8 million prior to taking over at Michigan. He guided the Mountaineers to a 104-60 record, including taking teams to the NCAA Elite Eight and Sweet 16, as well as winning a National Invitation Tournament championship. Beilein has guided the Wolverines to three NCAA Tourna- ments in his five seasons as head coach, including three of the last four. Prior to his arrival, Michigan hadn't been to the tournament since the spring of 1998. "We are excited about playing West Virginia at the Barclays Center," U-M athletics director David Brandon noted. "We have a great group of alumni in New York and the surrounding areas. Playing in Brooklyn presents a unique opportunity for our men's basketball program. It's something that our current players are really looking forward to experiencing. ball court. Beilein has never been shy about taking on tough non-conference foes, his U-M teams having battled Duke, Con- necticut, UCLA, Kansas and other high-profile programs in his seasons in Ann Arbor. He's welcoming the challenge of facing his old school and its Michigan and West Virginia have never meet on the basket- " viewers) to rank second only to the SEC Championship (7.3 rating) among conference championship contests. The Big Ten did enjoy an 11 percent increase in ratings on the Big Ten Network from 2010. Michigan's night game against Notre Dame drew a 4.5 rat- ing and 7.541 million viewers, ranking as the seventh most viewed regular-season game in ESPN history. ACADEMIC ACCOLADES • The men's and women's cross country teams earned Divi- sion I All-Academic Team honors from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The Wolverines' women's team sported a 3.43 GPA through the fall semester while the men carried a 3.06 team GPA into the winter term. has been named the state of Michigan's Miss Basketball for 2012. The Grosse Pointe University Liggett senior point guard averaged 19.2 points, nine assists and six rebounds this season and led Liggett into a Class C quarterfinal against Riverview Gabriel Richard March 13. Ristovski received 1,333 points, her 214 first-place votes TOP HONORS • Michigan women's basketball signee Madison Ristovski more than double runner-up Branndais Agee of Cass Tech (850 points) while Michigan signee Kelsey Mitchell of Ink- ster finished third (808 points). Current Michigan junior guard Jenny Ryan was the Miss Basketball award winner in 2009. Former Wolverines Krista Clement (2004) and Tabitha Pool (2001) were also named Miss Basketball during their senior seasons. coach, Bob Huggins, as well. "Playing in the new Barclays Center will truly be a great opportunity for us," Beilein said. "Michigan has such a strong alumni base in New York City and surrounding areas that we could not turn down the chance to play in front of them. "I have many fond memories of my time at West Virginia. Fac- ing them and their tremendous coach, Bob Huggins, will give Michigan another opportunity to play against one of the very best teams in college basketball today. West Virginia entered NCAA Tournament play this year with a 19-13 record and a No. 10 seed in the pairings. " Next season, Beilein will lead the Wolverines against West Virginia, where he coached for five years. APRIL 2012 THE WOLVERINE 13 PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL