March 13, 2024
By Remi Williamson and Lindsay Budin
Good morning,
We hope you are enjoying the warm weather as much as we are — it’s certainly taken long enough. Given Michigan’s outrageously unpleasant winters, it feels a little too early to confidently say spring has sprung, but we are cautiously optimistic.
We’re not the only ones locked in — spring sports are up and running, and winter sports are in the thick of postseason play. It’s March, which means madness is coming soon. The Michigan men’s basketball team will try to do something it’s not used to tonight in the Big Ten Tournament: win a conference matchup. Meanwhile, the Michigan hockey team will travel to Minnesota in a winner-takes-all Big Ten semifinal game.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg for Michigan sports, and we have you covered on all of it!
Riley Nieboer/Daily.
SportsMonday: Michigan is right where it needs to be
On the surface, this season’s iteration of the Michigan hockey team looks nearly identical to its previous teams over the past three seasons. Just like those seasons, the Wolverines will play in a Big Ten semifinal and they’ll almost certainly make the NCAA Tournament for the fourth-straight season.
But if you’ve watched No. 14 Michigan at all this season, you may worry how it will fare in upcoming postseason play. In previous years, the Wolverines were impressive on paper and on the ice. This year’s team has created cause for concern with inconsistent results. And it didn’t help that their first Big Ten sweep only coming in February.
But the Wolverines are exactly where they need to be.
“Even if two weeks ago Michigan looked like it might not make the NCAA Tournament, it’s now just a few wins away from the exact spot it was in the past two seasons,” Daily Sports Writer Connor Earegood writes. “Wash away its lowest seeding in the Big Ten Tournament since 2019 — and the fact that it’ll have to win on the road in the conference semifinals — this team is surging at the right moment. While this Michigan team has imperfections, so does every team, the past two included.”
Although their shaky record of third-period collapses has suppressed some confidence in the Wolverines, they’re finally clicking — and they’re doing so at the right time.
As long as Michigan can stay consistent, score at its current rate and keep the surge alive, it can find success deeper into the postseason.
Because the Wolverines are right where they need to be.
Grace Lahti/Daily.
Jaelin Llewellyn’s pride and perspective on the game of basketball
Jaelin Llewellyn’s path to Michigan has been anything but straightforward.
From growing up in Ontario to attending high school in Virginia to playing his first four years at Princeton, Jaelin Llewellyn has navigated unexpected turns in the road. He’s put his pride on full display both on and off the court as he fought devastating injuries, which helped him gain a new perspective on basketball.
When COVID-19 began in 2020, he hit his first speed bump. With his junior season at Princeton canceled, he had to take a detour. But even when restrictions lifted and he could return to the gym, Llewellyn tore his Achilles tendon on the first day back. Though that took him off the court, it also pushed him into a coaching position at his old high school.
“Llewellyn was seeing the other side, discovering how to lead with the expectation to do so,” Daily Sports Writer Jonathan Wuchter writes. “Having commanded respect through his ability to empathize, he developed his voice. Sharing his experiences as a player, he gained insight from a coaching perspective.”
After recovering, Llewellyn — and the voice he found — headed to Michigan, where he returned to the court. But he ran into another unexpected barrier: Llewellyn tore his ACL just eight games into the season.
Llewellyn has learned from his injuries and used his experiences to shape his perspective on basketball. That perspective, and his unrelenting pride, helped him to work back from injury not once, but twice. In the process, he developed his leadership ability both on and off the court.
There’s a reason that self-proclaimed Harry Potter aficionado Llewellyn falls into the Slytherin house. He’s prideful, ambitious and cunning, exemplified by his journey to where he is today.
Grace Beal/Daily.
In the 21st century, sending handwritten letters is a nearly extinct practice.
But it isn’t for graduate goalkeeper Alex Brown.
In addition to manning the No. 8 Michigan water polo team’s net, she also takes the time to send letters to teammates and friends. Brown’s impact goes beyond what she offers the Wolverines with as the last line of defense; it extends to her vocal presence and innate leadership.
And that’s not just at Michigan — it dates back to high school, when she played both water polo and basketball.
“Whether it was her high school water polo or basketball team, Brown catered her leadership to the squad’s needs,” Daily Sports Writer Tasmia Jamil writes. “She went to a similar length for her Diablo Alliance Water Polo Club teammates. She did the little things like creating bag tags before tournaments to lighten the presence. The gestures boosted team morale, motivating them through a long season.”
In her final season playing collegiate water polo, her time as a Wolverine and her time in the pool will soon run out. But the leadership she fostered and the relationships she developed will remain with her.
Women’s Gymnastics: Amongst injuries and illness, Michigan triumphs over No. 20 Georgia
Women’s Tennis: Julia Fliegner’s energy helps Michigan earn top-10 victory
Arushi Sanghi/Daily.
Strong start fizzles out, Wolverines secure second place at Big Ten Tournament
In the 2023 Big Ten Tournament, the Michigan wrestling team walked away on a high note as then-fifth year senior Mason Parris secured the heavyweight title. But that was the only thing the Wolverines had to celebrate, placing fifth as a team.
This year, the opposite was true.
Michigan entered this year’s tournament looking to avenge last season’s underwhelming finish, and while its second-place result certainly is an improvement, the Wolverines certainly didn’t end on a high note.
“After propelling nine of its 10 wrestlers into placewinner titles, that momentum the Wolverines had built came to a halt,” Daily Sports Writer Annabelle Ye writes.
When No. 1 seed redshirt junior Dylan Ragusin uncharacteristically struggled, losing in a 23-8 technical defeat, those woes extended to the rest of Michigan’s roster.
“And from there, the wheels started to come off for the Wolverines,” Ye writes. “One after another, Michigan struggled to reach the scoreboard before its competitors and would come close but not enough to make up point deficits in many ‘razor-thin matches.’ ”
The Wolverines’ struggles toward the end of the tournament left them with a bad taste in their mouth. But because of its strong start, Michigan still captured a runner-up finish.
Anna Fuder/Daily.
Maynard Street Moments
South Carolina vs Tennessee women’s basketball – Kamilla Cardoso buzzer beater
On Saturday, it seemed like the No. 1 South Carolina women’s basketball team’s perfect season was about to end. Down 73-71 to No. 5 Tennessee with only 1.1 seconds left on the clock, the Gamecocks’ first loss seemed inevitable. But then center Kamilla Cardoso hit an unfathomable 3-pointer as the clock expired.
While it’s objectively an impressive play, the fact that South Carolina knocked down a buzzer beater isn’t what’s so baffling — it’s the fact that Cardoso was the one to do so. There was a reason why, on the final play of the game, she was alone behind the arc without a defender in sight. The three that banked off the glass was the first of the senior’s career. And it was just the second 3-pointer she attempted in her four seasons of college ball.
LSU vs South Carolina women’s basketball – Fight breaks out leading to six ejections
Yes, we have two moments that involve the same team — in fact, they involve the same player. In the SEC Championship, Cardoso’s performance once again made headlines, but for a very different reason. She was one of six players ejected after tensions reached a tipping point.
Words being exchanged between the two teams quickly escalated into a physical brawl. Cardoso was the only player ejected for the fight itself, and, subsequently, will be unable to play in South Carolina’s first NCAA Tournament game. The other five players were ejected for leaving their team’s bench.
For two straight games, Cardoso’s performance has been a major storyline for the Gamecocks. But it won’t be for South Carolina’s next game — because she won’t be on the court.
Worried about your St. Patrick’s Day outfit? Don’t worry, green looks good on you … and so does staying up to date on the news! Subscribe to The Daily’s newsletters to keep up with the latest happenings.
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