The Wolverine

A Inside Michigan ATHLETICS promising twist on a time-honored U-M maxim: "Those who stay will be blown away." The vision proffered in the accom- panying site map, complete with on- going and potential facilities projects, backs that vow in rapid-fire fashion. Anyone thinking Michigan's heavy lifting ends with renovation comple- tions at Crisler Center and Yost Ice Arena — following the Michigan Stadium project, Wilpon Complex renewal, etc. — will do a double take. "I want every student-athlete who competes here to believe their sport is the most important sport," Michi- gan athletics director David Brandon insisted. "I want every head coach to believe their sport is the most impor- tant sport. That's how we're going to accomplish the lofty goals we have for all of our 29 programs. "I can't get them to believe that if I don't prove to them we're willing to invest in them at the same level as we invest in everybody else. I don't understand how they can recruit as effectively, or perform as effectively, if we don't give them the resources and infrastructure they need." That commitment resulted in the South Campus Plan, one athletic de- partment officials have been work- ing on the past 18 months. It ad- dresses facilities, parking challenges, strength and conditioning, medical support and everything deemed es- sential to producing "Leaders and Best" type programs across the board, Brandon explained. "My experience has been that when we bring these 15-, 16-, 17-year-old young people to campus on recruit- ing visits, their level of interest in the facilities that they will be spending a disproportionate amount of their time in down here on the athletic campus is an extremely important part of their decision-making process," Brandon 12 THE WOLVERINE OCTOBER 2012 new video created by Michigan's athletic department ends with a Development Video Reveals Big Changes Ahead Michigan athletics director David Brandon said, "I want every student-athlete who competes here to believe their sport is the most important sport." PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL explained. "They want to know that their practice facilities, their training facilities, their competition facilities are competitive with other schools they're considering." ready underway or approved by the University's Board of Regents must go through the three-step approval process for all facilities projects. The athletic department brings a specific project to the Regents to get the go- ahead for appointing an architect and spending money on a design, re- turns at a later meeting for approval of schematic design, and finally seeks a third and final approval for the fi- nancing and actually beginning the work. Everything on the map not al- That will happen on individual projects in the plan, Brandon noted, but in this case, the Regents already know the big picture, in part because of the sequencing necessary to make anticipated facilities maneuvers. "The board, the president, the exec- utive officers have all seen the plan, and in concept, they all agree that it's appropriate," Brandon said. "They're all excited about it, and they're em- powering us to go to the next level." The website carefully cautions that images of potential projects are only representations, and final plans for the venues highlighted will vary. But it certainly allows those in- volved with and following various sports to dream, and those interested in supporting the projects to under- stand the grand design. Highlights from the map include: • New outdoor and indoor track

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