The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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WOLVERINE WATCH JOHN BORTON J Basketball Bags A Banner cuse, N.Y., three college stops prior to Michigan. Assistant coach Bacari Alexander was 9 years old, having yet to de- liver a dunk or a tweet. Zack Novak and Stu Dou- glass hadn't even signed let- ters of intent to arrive on the planet. A gallon of gas averaged 89 cents, and an average new home in the United States cost $89,430. Ronald Reagan ruled the White House, and Bill Cosby ruled the air- waves. ohn Beilein was battling through a 14-15 season at LeMoyne College in Syra- "I could just tell how much he knew. We had success early our freshman year, going to Madison Square Garden and beating UCLA. That's probably the game where we were like, 'All right, we can actually be pretty good.'" With highly regarded play- The year 1986 seems like a long way away, but it came back in a torrent for Michigan basketball fans this spring. When the Wolver- ines experienced the unfathomable ending to a hope-filled regular sea- son, somewhere Gary Grant broke into a grin. Big Ten champs. Again. Finally. "It was magical, in the way it all sort of worked out," Beilein said. "We're very excited about being Big Ten champions, because we've talked about it so much." They talked about it in meetings, in huddles, in film sessions. They talked about it before the season. In the end, they stopped talking and started yelling. Ten champs' — it means a whole lot," sophomore Tim Hardway Jr. said. "In the future, we're still go- ing to be chanting Big Ten champs, but a national championship is also something we want. Big Ten champs is the first step in that." The Wolverines enjoyed a national championship since Grant and his teammates got the job done in '86. They've also experienced more than a quarter-century of excitement, diz- zying success, frustration, turmoil, abject misery and some embarrass- ment. "Just to have that, to scream 'Big They fought their way out of a 10-year NCAA Tournament absence in Beilein's second season in Ann Arbor. Now they're heading for 8 THE WOLVERINE APRIL 2012 Head coach John Beilein directed the Wolverines to the Big Ten regular-season title, marking U-M's first such championship since the 1985-86 season. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL The Big Dance for the third time in four years, housed in a $23-million Player Development Center as a key part of a $97-million makeover at what is now known as Crisler Center. Oh, and they're Big Ten champi- ons. It's not possible for longtime followers of Michigan basketball to say that enough. "A lot of good coaches and a lot of good players have been able to play at Michigan and not do what we were able to do, so it does mean a lot to us," Beilein assured. "This is our 13th Big Ten championship overall, in history. We've been play- ing a long time … it's really unique for us to have this honor right now. We hope we get a lot more of them, because it's one of the ultimate mea- sures of success for the university." Novak and Douglass insist they see it happening. The two captains will go down in Michigan history as cornerstones in the rebuilding proj- ect that led to the raising of a Big Ten banner. They're convinced Michigan has with just the players on hand. "We're still a young team," Dou- glass pointed out. "Zack and I were out of the game at the same time at Penn State. We were sitting on the stools during a media timeout, and I look at the lineup, and it's a fresh- man, three sophomores and a junior. It's funny to think how young the team is and how much they've ma- tured since they've been here. I'm very comfortable saying that I think they'll keep this progress going, moving this program forward." Big Ten champions. It's amaz- ing, and at the same time, it's not enough. Even as the Wolverines pre- pared to launch themselves as a No. 4 seed into this year's NCAA Tour- nament, they were allowing them- selves to dream of bigger prizes. "I love this team," Hardaway ers such as Mitch McGary, Glenn Robinson III, Nick Stauskas, Mark Donnal, Zak Irvin and Derrick Walton headed for Ann Arbor in the next two years, the Wolverines should be even better. Dou- glass found a moment down the stretch to ponder the Wol- verines' future fortunes, even the coaching, the facilities and the recruiting level now to keep it going. "I've always kind of been a bas- ketball junkie," Novak said. "I could tell right away how much [Beilein] knew about that game. All of a sud- den, I'm playing and I'm getting more wide open than I had been in years. said. "I have a really great feeling about the work ethic we have, what everybody puts in. I really believe we can make a push to the Final Four and compete for a national championship." If not now, then soon. Michigan basketball has finally dragged itself out of the wilderness, and plans to take a good, long drink at an oasis of success. ❏ Editor John Borton has been with The Wolverine since 1991. Contact him at jborton@comcast.net and follow him on Twitter @JB_Wolverine.