8A — Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Flaherty deserves the NCAA Tournament
I
t was March 3 in the
press conference room at
Bankers Life Fieldhouse in
Indianapolis,
and Katelynn
Flaherty took
the stand.
The Michigan
women’s
basketball
team had
just lost its
opening game
of the Big Ten
Tournament,
ending its
hopes of making the NCAA
Tournament.
Clearly frustrated, Flaherty
sat at the podium. The team shot
45 percent that day, and perhaps
more solo attempts from
Flaherty may have helped.
“Katelynn, was there a point
where you just said, ‘I have got
to start shooting it more?’ ”
asked one reporter.
Flaherty answered humbly, as
usual, remarking more about the
flow of the game and playing for
her teammates than about the
fact that she’s the team’s best
scorer. Her response veiled a
sense of disappointment.
Before the loss, Michigan
was 9-9 in the conference and
18-12 overall. Not the strongest
case for a NCAA Tournament
bid, but strong enough that a
solid showing at the conference
tournament could have put them
on the bubble.
The Wolverines led Iowa
by 16 points at one point, but
the Hawkeyes fought back to
win. Flaherty put up 31 and
broke Michigan’s single-season
scoring record, but any positive
notes were overshadowed by
the loss.
Now, a month later, Flaherty
has received Honorable Mention
All-American recognition, but
she’s neither a Big Ten champion
nor had the opportunity to play
in the NCAA Tournament.
The latter is the most
disappointing, because it’s hard to
picture an athlete as talented as
Flaherty not playing in the NCAA
Tournament. Seven months ago,
she claimed her desire to help
bring the team to the next level,
a goal that involved making the
64-team field.
That was at the team media
day in October, where much of
the focus was on Flaherty.
Flaherty was just days away
from the tip off of her second
year as a Wolverine, and
expectations were high. She
followed her record-breaking
freshman season with a Team
USA tryout over the summer,
but had missed the cut on the
12-person roster.
Among other things, her
teammates discussed their own
expectations for Katelynn, what
it’s like to play alongside her, the
ins and outs of her game as well
as what she’s like off the court.
The general vibe her
teammates gave off was that
they all knew Flaherty was the
team’s strongest player, but they
also knew she would deflect the
admiration. And just as much
as she was humble, she was
five times more driven. One
teammate said that Flaherty’s
biggest strength wasn’t her
3-point shooting or her ball-
handling skills, but “her ability
to do whatever it takes.”
Talking to her teammates,
examining her biography and
statistics and listening to Barnes
Arico’s appraisals, it becomes
clear that she is already one of
the best players — if not the best
— the program has ever seen.
At media day, Flaherty
explained what she had taken
away from the Team USA tryout,
what parts of her game she’d
worked on most in the offseason
and, briefly, what her personal
and team goals looked like.
She wanted to be a first-team
All-Big Ten selection and an
All-American. For the team, she
wanted Michigan to win the
Big Ten and make the NCAA
Tournament.
Over the course of the season,
she made her case for each
individual accolade, but the
team couldn’t sway the NCAA
Tournament committee after
falling short its effort to pick
up big wins. Flaherty rarely
faltered, scoring more than
15 points in all but three of
Michigan’s 28 regular season
games. She put up 22.3 points
per game and remained one of
the nation’s top-10 scorers all
season, checking off another one
of her goals with a first-team
All-Big Ten selection.
She continued to amaze
fans every time she hit a deep
3 or wove through opponents’
defenses. She made basketball
look easy and headlines repetitive.
Each week, Flaherty
scored in bunches against
NCAA Tournament teams
like Maryland, Ohio State
and Michigan State. Against
reputable, quality opponents,
Flaherty powered one of
the nation’s highest-scoring
offenses. When mid-March
rolled around, though, Michigan
was left for the Women’s
National Invitation Tournament,
the second-rate bracket behind
the Big Dance.
She lit up the WNIT during
a semifinal run for the second
straight year, but it was all
just consolation. Michigan
was hoping to make the NCAA
Tournament in both seasons,
and it feels like Flaherty has
been missing out.
A player of Flaherty’s caliber
deserves to compete on the
national stage, Her postseason
résumé shouldn’t list the WNIT.
It should list the real thing. She
doesn’t have the same talent
around her like some of the
aforementioned teams, and at
times it feels like she carries the
Wolverines, but those days may
be over.
It’s important to note that
Michigan is the right fit.
Flaherty and Barnes Arico have
known each other for years — a
relationship that began when
Flaherty was in middle school.
She excels in the ‘2’ spot in
Michigan’s guard-heavy system,
and overall the Wolverines are
improving. Each recruiting class
continues to be better than the
previous one, and potentially
leading Michigan to the national
spotlight would be indicative of
her success.
An appearance would not
only signify the Wolverines’
rising program, but also
highlight what will inevitably
be one of the greatest careers
in the history of Michigan
women’s basketball.
Halfway done with her
college career, Flaherty
hasn’t played in the NCAA
Tournament. If she doesn’t
before graduating, it would be
severely disappointing.
Janes can be reached at
tedjanes@umich.edu and
on Twitter @tedjanes7.
RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily
Sophomore guard Katelynn Flaherty, who earned All-American honorable mention last week, has two more chances to make the NCAA Tournament in her career.
TED
JANES
Five Things We Learned: Spring Camp
Speight, O’Korn
even in quarterback
competition; wide
receiver corps ailing
By JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
Jim Harbaugh’s second spring
camp at Michigan was, as is
seemingly everything else he
does, eventful.
It started over the University’s
Spring Break in Florida, where
Harbaugh drew criticism from
other coaches and administrators
around the country. It continued
on Twitter, where Harbaugh
countered that criticism in the
form of jabs at Ohio State Athletic
Director Gene Smith and others.
And it wrapped up Friday under
the lights with the Spring Game,
where the Wolverines gave fans
their final taste of action until
the fall.
Overall, Michigan seems to be
improved from last year’s 10-3
team at most positions. It still has
a few holes to fill, but some could
be helped by the rest of the top-
ranked recruiting class coming
in this summer. And it still has
a few positions to settle — most
notably at quarterback — but, for
right now, the talent appears to
be there one way or another.
The experience is there as
well. The Wolverines could start
as many as 10 fifth-year seniors,
depending on how the last few
spots shake out, with many more
fourth-year players in the mix,
too. So, Michigan has finished
up the spring where it hoped to
be at the end of last season —
with a legitimate chance to be
in position for a Big Ten title if
it keeps on its current trajectory
throughout the rest of the year.
Here are five things we learned
from the team’s spring camp:
1. The quarterback
competition is just that.
Anyone
who
expected
transfer John O’Korn to win
the starting job going away is
mistaken. O’Korn is by far the
most experienced after starting
for a year and a half at Houston
in 2013 and 2014. He earned rave
reviews from coaches for his
performance on the scout team
last season and, in the minds of
many, headed into 2016 as the
presumptive frontrunner for the
starting spot.
But redshirt sophomore Wilton
Speight had something to say
about that. Speight, whose shining
moment at present is last season’s
game-winning touchdown pass in
spot duty at Minnesota, was the
first player under center during
open practice March 26 at Ford
Field. Then, he came out on top
in the Spring Game on Friday —
albeit by one point.
Speight (5-for-6, 46 yards, two
total touchdowns in the Spring
Game) and O’Korn (6-for-14,
93 yards, one total touchdown)
have both had mixed results
this spring. O’Korn is the more
prolific runner, but Speight is
likely the more consistent passer.
Redshirt
junior
Shane
Morris is third on the depth
chart for now, and freshman
Brandon Peters is talented but
inexperienced
and
unproven.
But all of the quarterbacks have
five months to make a move.
Harbaugh and his staff have
not named a clear leader at the
position, or even said when they
would like to do so. The starter
could very well not be apparent
until he takes the field Sept. 3.
Until then, buckle up for another
fierce competition.
2. Expectations are as high
as ever, and Michigan isn’t
shying away from them.
The defensive line thinks it
can be the best in the country.
The secondary thinks it can
be the best in the country. The
team thinks it can be the best in
the country.
Three
months
after
the
Wolverines
shocked
most
people with a 10-3 season, no
one is short on optimism in
Ann Arbor. Multiple players
have already referenced the
Sept. 3 season opener against
Hawaii at Michigan Stadium.
While Michigan ended up being
successful last season, this spring
has generated more excitement
than most others in recent years.
Most of that comes from the
defense, which dominated for
most of last season. It returns
six starters this year and has a
capable replacement ready to step
in at every open position. Redshirt
sophomore Jabrill Peppers has
proven his versatility, even stepping
in at strong-side linebacker for
most of the spring. If he stays at
linebacker, the secondary will
consist entirely of fourth- or fifth-
year players, and the defensive line
is deeper than ever.
3. The offense could use some
help on the outside.
All of Michigan’s quarterbacks
had their moments in the Spring
Game, but they need some more
receivers to throw to. Most of the
Wolverines’ injuries have been
out wide. Fifth-year senior Jehu
Chesson remains out, redshirt
sophomore
Freddy
Canteen
is no longer on the roster and
redshirt
sophomore
Maurice
Ways — who impressed for most
of the spring — underwent foot
surgery last week.
That
doesn’t
leave
much
help on the flanks: Redshirt
junior Jack Wangler, redshirt
sophomore Drake Harris and
sophomore Grant Perry were
the only wide receivers to catch
a pass in the Spring Game. Fifth-
year senior Amara Darboh was
held out for most of the game to
give the others a chance, but the
Wolverines will need more than
just him to be healthy and ready
to contribute in the fall.
4. The offensive line has
continued to improve.
For the third straight year,
Michigan returns more than it
loses on the offensive line. In
2013 and 2014, the Wolverines
took their lumps up front in
preparation for a season like this
— when they will start three fifth-
year seniors in left guard Erik
Magnuson, right guard Kyle Kalis
and right tackle Ben Braden.
Graham Glasgow, a possible
NFL Draft pick, left a hole at
center when he exhausted his
eligibility last season. He was
the Wolverines’ best offensive
lineman last season, but former
left tackle Mason Cole appears to
have shifted over to fill his spot
permanently. Sophomore Grant
Newsome will step into Cole’s
old spot, and Michigan expects
to keep its rhythm.
If the experience in the trenches
finally pays off, the Wolverines’
offense could look smoother than
it has in recent years.
5. Bold Prediction: Ty Isaac
will take the first snap of the
2016 season at running back.
Early
in
spring
camp,
Isaac felt positive about his
improvement since a difficult
2015 season. He dropped weight,
added speed and prepared to
shoulder some of the workload
in Michigan’s backfield. Then,
others such as Harbaugh and
Kalis echoed Isaac’s thoughts,
praising him for being hungrier
this spring. Finally, Isaac put
his improvement on display,
carrying 10 times for 78 yards in
the Spring Game.
Meanwhile, senior running
back De’Veon Smith, the leader
of the group coming into camp
after a productive 2015, has been
hurt on and off and did not touch
the ball in the Spring Game. He
said after the game that he’s
merely resting to return to full
strength for the season and, if
he’s healthy, should still enter
fall camp as the lead back.
But if there was any doubt last
season, Isaac proved this spring
that he’s not going away quietly.
His emergence gives Michigan
another option in the backfield if
Smith is injured or if it just wants
a change of pace.
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
The Michigan football team appears more polished on both sides of the ball after finishing camp with the Spring Game on Friday night at Michigan Stadium.