March 20, 2024
By Remi Williamson and Lindsay Budin
Good morning,
It has been a whirlwind of a week in Michigan athletics with postseason play approaching. We’re not sure where to even begin.
We’ll start with the good news first: The No. 10 Michigan hockey team is heading to the Big Ten Championship after a thrilling 2-1 victory over No. 6 Minnesota. The women’s basketball team also punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament, hearing its name called as a No. 9 seed on Selection Sunday. The Wolverines will head to Los Angeles and face No. 8 seed Kansas in the first round of the tournament on Saturday.
But, as Michigan men’s basketball associate head coach Phil Martelli once said, “It’s not always ice cream and balloons.” And for the Wolverines, there certainly hasn’t been anything to celebrate. On Friday, Warde Manuel announced that former coach Juwan Howard would not return for the 2024-25 season, and with that a mass exodus into the transfer portal began. As of Tuesday night, the Wolverines have just four scholarship players remaining on their roster — and that number could conceivably shrink further.
Between the good, the bad and the ugly, March is pretty crazy! If you’re looking to catch up on any of the front-page news of the week, or the success of women’s tennis and men’s gymnastics, we’ve got you covered.
(P.S. Keep your eyes peeled for The Daily’s softball beat’s First Pitch edition later in the week.)
Grace Lahti/Daily.
SportsMonday: It was time for Juwan Howard to go, but that shouldn’t define his Michigan legacy
After an 8-24 season — the worst in program history — for the Michigan men’s basketball team and a CVS-receipt-esque list of things that went wrong, it was time for Wolverines coach Juwan Howard to go.
But Daily Sports Writer Paul Nasr thinks Howard’s last two years as head coach, although a clear regression, should not fully tarnish his towering Michigan legacy. Two seasons in which Michigan severely underperformed and missed the NCAA Tournament doesn’t define what he did for the program.
“But Juwan Howard’s Michigan legacy extends far beyond the rocky past two seasons of his head coaching tenure,” Nasr writes. “It even extends far beyond his five full years as head coach which includes — dare I say it — an Elite Eight appearance, a Sweet 16 appearance, a Big Ten Championship and AP Coach of the Year Honors. It extends to his days in the Fab Five, when he helped cement Michigan men’s basketball into national prominence.”
Howard’s contributions to the program are something that those calling for his head all season have often forgotten when assessing his legacy with the Wolverines. The impact the Fab Five left at Michigan is immense, and Howard was a key piece of that.
Howard’s legacy — both as a player and a coach — is cemented in Michigan history. So don’t let the latter tarnish it.
Caleb Rosenblum/Daily.
Inside the final two minutes that earned Michigan its ticket to the Big Ten Championship
The No. 11 Michigan hockey team is Big Ten Championship bound.
In a win-or-go-home matchup against No. 6 Minnesota on the Golden Gophers’ home ice, the Wolverines played a complete 60 minutes to punch their ticket to the championship game.
“But it was within the last two minutes that Michigan sealed its fate,” Daily Sports Writer Anna Miller writes. “Despite facing an extra Minnesota skater and more pressure than they had the entire game, the Wolverines showed they can successfully close out a game and shush the home crowd, just as they did against the Gophers in the Big Ten Tournament for the last two years.”
This season, third-period collapses have been Michigan’s kryptonite. But against Minnesota, the Wolverines strayed from that bad habit. Playing with just as much intensity in the final two minutes as it did in the first 58, Michigan pushed past its previous struggles.
“And with six seconds left, Minnesota did what Michigan didn’t do all game — it accepted defeat,” Miller writes. “… The Gophers just watched as the Wolverines beat them, once again, in a Big Ten Tournament. Despite a late push, Minnesota couldn’t just take the spot in the Championship by playing hard in crunch time, and Michigan made sure of that by playing even harder.”
And in the end, Minnesota’s attempted late push still left it facing defeat.
Bela Fischer/Daily.
Over the past 28 years, the Michigan women’s hockey team has sustained steady growth, remaining competitive while expanding its reach on campus. It’s an impressive achievement — especially given the fact that the Wolverines are constrained by their club status.
For years, Michigan coach Jenna Trubiano has fielded frequent inquiries of “Are you going varsity?” and “Why aren’t you varsity?” But those questions are much more complicated than they may seem — and Trubiano doesn’t have any answers to them. Because while Trubiano and the women’s hockey program have played their part in warranting varsity status, it’s up to the University of Michigan to get the ball rolling.
“Given the fact that the athletic department hasn’t lifted a finger, it doesn’t matter how much Trubiano has done for the program or how much women’s hockey has grown,” Daily Sports Editor Lindsay Budin writes. “As the sport is evolving, Michigan’s athletic department remains dormant. It’s not only a disservice to the Wolverines’ women’s hockey program, but also to the prosperity of women’s hockey as a whole.”
The fact that Michigan remains at the club level is an issue, but the bigger problem is that Warde Manuel and the athletic department haven’t taken any action.
As the women’s hockey program continues to grow, the reasons for Michigan to attain varsity status build. But it doesn’t matter how much the Wolverines deserve the bump up unless the athletic department steps up and elevates the program once and for all.
Women’s golf: Driven by hard work: Hailey Borja’s path to success through grit and dedication
Men’s gymnastics: Steven Lukasik ends his gymnastics career flying high
Women’s Tennis: Michigan pushes through a flat start to defeat Penn State
Men’s lacrosse: Wasteful Michigan outclassed by Notre Dame, 19-9
Grace Beal/Daily. Buy this photo.
Gala Mesochoritou’s resolve proves strong for Michigan’s sweep of Penn State
The No. 2 Michigan women’s tennis team’s senior Gala Mesochoritou and junior Julia Fliegner started their doubles match with an early 5-2 lead, putting their Penn State opponents on their back foot early in the match. But despite the hot start, the Wolverines duo soon found themselves on their back feet, as Yvonne Zuffova and Sofiya Chekhlystova swang back to knot the game at 5-5.
However, the Nittany Lions’ comeback didn’t startle Mesochoritou.
“That focused mindset drove the duo to clinch the match with a strong 7-1 finish, with Mesochoritou and Fliegner hitting a few-perfectly placed serves and clean returns to give Michigan the double’s point for their match,” Daily Sports Writer Morgan Caudill writes. “Ranked No. 81 in singles, Mesochoritou looked to carry some of her poise from the doubles win to her singles match against Zuffova, hoping to take home both points on the day.”
Mesochoritou found herself in a similar situation to her doubles match as Zuffova held one game and broke the other, leaving Mesochoritou down 2-0. But the same focused mindset that helped her win the doubles point for the Wolverines shone through once again.
Just like that, Mesochoritou strung together another dominant performance while maintaining pressure on Zuffova until she broke. Her strong performances led Michigan to sweep Penn State 4-0, two points of which were won during Mesochoritou’s matches.
Lucas Chen/Daily.
Maynard Street Moments
Michigan women’s basketball — Heading to Los Angeles
We wouldn’t know what it’s like to hear your name called on Selection Sunday, but the Michigan women’s basketball team certainly does. On Sunday, the Wolverines had their names called as the No. 9 seed in the Portland 3 region. They’ll be heading to Los Angeles to face off against No. 8 seed Kansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. There’s no better feeling, apparently.
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