The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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APRIL 2017 THE WOLVERINE 15 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS FIVE YEARS AGO, 2012: Michigan came off a Sugar Bowl win in high spirits entering football spring practice in 2012. But it was a new year, the Wolverines were gearing up to face Alabama in Cowboys Stadium in the fall, and head coach Brady Hoke wasn't even close to satisfied. His team had produced a healthy 11-2 record in his first season as head coach, 2011, including a stirring win over Ohio State and the Sugar Bowl victory over Virginia Tech, but Hoke didn't like some of what he was seeing in spring practice. "We were too soft in the middle, way too soft in the middle of the defense," Hoke noted, following the team's April 14 spring game. "Some of those read plays, they were too lateral defensively in my opinion, instead of knock 'em back football. We didn't do that." Fumbled snaps also plagued U-M in the spring game, foreshadowing tough times to come. " The frustrating thing was, we put three snaps on the ground," Hoke said. "I don't care who it is at quarterback, nor do I care who it is at center. That's fundamental football." 10 YEARS AGO, 2007: John Beilein announced on April 3, 2007, that he would become the new head basketball coach for the University of Michigan. Beilein, coming from West Virginia, brought a wealth of ex- perience from all levels of basketball, and extensive praise from all who closely watched his work. Former Wolverine Tim McCormick, a part of the search team for the new coach, noted: "We had an initial list of all the best coaches in college basketball. Even Mike Krzyze- wski was on that list. Then we started narrowing it down to who we thought was a reasonable candidate, who we would go after. "We wanted really good coaches as opposed to really good recruiters, so that narrowed the field more. And then we got down to a list of really good basketball people we thought we had a shot at." They wound up with Beilein, who talked about what he sought in his first press conference. "I value players who want to work hard and love their teammates and want a family situation — they're unselfish players who want to play together," Beilein said. "I'm see- ing those guys already, hanging around together. "The other thing I value is having a team that fits in with the student body. I never want my team to be on an is- land and think they are very different than typical students that come to the University of Michigan. We used to say we want the students to come see their friends play, not to come see the team play." 25 YEARS AGO, 1992: Michigan ral- lied back to a 76-72 win over Cincinnati in the Final Four in Minneapolis, thrust- ing the Fab Five and the rest of the Wol- verines into a national championship showdown with Duke. It wasn't easy, the Bearcats leading at halftime, 41-38, and building their ad- vantage to 50-43 with 15:09 remain- ing. But the Wolverines rallied, behind a 14-point, 11-rebound effort from freshman Chris Webber. "When we were down three in the first half, I looked around and I said, 'I'm not losing in front of all these people,'" said Webber of the 50,379 in the Metrodome. "That's when we started getting mad at each other and getting each other ready to play. That's when we started playing really well. "We were just waiting our turn. They were beating up on us. They had us physically and mentally beat. It was just like a fight. We were waiting and waiting for our chance to get the knockout blow." Veteran James Voskuil came off the bench to produce nine points and four rebounds, helping the heralded freshmen land that blow and make the title game. — John Borton THIS MONTH IN MICHIGAN ATHLETICS HISTORY John Beilein became Michigan's coach in April of 2007. During his 10 years, he has a school-record win total, seven NCAA bids and a national runner-up finish in 2013. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN Former Wolverines Chris Webber and Rudy Tomjanovich are two of 14 luminaries who have been named finalists for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Webber and Tomjanovich grace a list that also includes former Golden State point guard Tim Hardaway, fa- ther of the former Michigan player of the same name. Others finalists are Tracy McGrady, Hugh Evans, Re- becca Lobo, Rollie Massimino, Sidney Moncrief, Kim Mulkey, Bill Self, Rob- ert Hughes, Muffet McGraw, Bo Ryan and Wayland Baptist. Webber averaged 20.7 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks per game during his 17- year NBA career. He posted more seasons averaging 20 points, 10 re- bounds and four assists per game, or more, than anyone in NBA history ex- cept for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin Garnett, Elgin Baylor, Charles Barkley, Wilt Chamberlain and Larry Bird, ac- cording to Basketball-Reference.com. Webber became the NBA's Rookie of the Year after leaving Michigan, and earned NBA All-Star status five times. Tomjanovich coached the Houston Rockets to a pair of NBA champion- ships, following a playing career that also saw him become a five -time NBA All-Star. He averaged 17.4 points and 8.1 rebounds during his 11-year pro basketball career, performing all but one season with the Rockets. Tomjanovich later became a scout for the Los Angeles Lakers. The class will be announced on April 3 at the Final Four in Phoenix. CHRIS WEBBER AND RUDY TOMJANOVICH ARE HALL OF FAME FINALISTS