The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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ketball's version of heaven — at least from a facilities standpoint — before they passed on to other endeavors. They're leaving the program in good hands, not to mention great surroundings. Even the summer before their senior season, they'd go lift CENTER GIVES U-M A BOOST Zack Novak and Stu Douglass got to set foot in Michigan bas- PLAYER DEVELOPMENT weights at Michigan's new wrestling facility. Then they'd move to the U-M intramural building, hoping to put up some shots if it wasn't closed for some reason. These days, they lift at the $23-million Player Development Center, connected to the east side of Crisler Arena. When they finish, they can jog down a flight of stairs and shoot all they want, on one of two full-sized practice courts, with eye-in-the- sky cameras and a video monitor to give practice feedback. If they need to see a coach, the offices are all in the PDC — men's and women's. When the Wolverines of either gender come off the court, plush locker rooms await, circular inner sanctums with rich-looking wooden storage space, a removable I-Pad im- bedded in each locker. Adjacent to the locker rooms are lounge spaces for bonding time. The men's area features plush lounge chairs, facing an 84- inch flat-panel television monitor, for watching contests, video game battles and the like. Not far away, other rooms await, with comfortable theater seat- ing and mammoth projection capabilities. The men's and wom- en's video rooms allow coaches to deliver X's and O's in a setting that fairly well shouts the importance of the strategy meetings. The entrance to the PDC itself involves a high-ceilinged atrium, a wall mural of past and present Wolverines and television moni- tors that can display nearly every NCAA Tournament game in which the Wolverines have participated. On the other end of the striking structure, a new tunnel into Crisler leads the Wolverines under angled panels hailing "The Team, The Team, The Team." In short, Michigan no longer lacks anything, facilities-wise, in the race to compete with the best in the Big Ten or the country. "No expense was spared, In practice, guys get more shots up. Guys can come in whenever they want to. We've had more time to hang out together, in the players' lounge. Everything is in one place. We were kind of all over for a while. This is a one-stop shop. enter a training area that offers a cold tub, a hot tub, a mini-pool equipped with an underwater, inclined treadmill and a host of other paths to healing. Not only does the PDC serve players well now, it can impact those considering becoming Wolverines, Novak acknowledged. "This was a big step for recruiting," the senior captain said. If that stop requires medical attention, the Wolverines can " " Novak said. "We're just more efficient. "Before, you'd bring a recruit in, and take them through Crisler. We've got the dusty yellow seats up top. And you'd take them to the locker room, and that wasn't too kind on the eyes. "We didn't have a practice court. We'd practice in Crisler ev- ery day. Going from that to taking them in here, it makes the coaches' jobs much easier. "renting" the PDC for a few months, he promises to be back. "They're going to give guys a swipe card, some James Bond fin- ger thing," Novak quipped. "I'm going to make sure I get in there." — John Borton And even though he joked that he and Douglass are merely " 56 THE WOLVERINE APRIL 2012