48 | MARCH 21 • 2024 
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ike Rosenbaum has 
been a University of 
Michigan sports fan 
for a long time. 
He considers himself quite 
knowledgeable about the 
Wolverines, especially because 
he’s a U-M grad (1980) and 
he covered the school’s sports 
teams for three years while he 
was working for the student-
run radio station.
But when the veteran 
sportswriter embarked on a 
journey to write a historical 
book about the U-M 
basketball team, he learned 
while doing interviews over 
several years that there was 
much he didn’t know about 
the team.

“There were a lot of stories 
I’d never heard,” the 65-year-
old Southfield resident said.
Rosenbaum’s book has been 
published. It came out in 
January. Its title is University 
of Michigan Basketball, 1960-
1989. From Cazzie Russell to 
the NCAA Title.
The book is available 
only in print for now 
at arcadiapublishing.com. 
Search for Rosenbaum’s 
name to find the book on the 
website.
Learning what went on 
behind the scenes with the 
U-M basketball team during 
the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s 
is the main attraction of the 
book, Rosenbaum said.

“The book is not just 
stats,” he said. “It’s players 
and coaches telling stories 
that have been never told.”
Among Rosenbaum’s 
interview subjects 
were former U-M stars 
Cazzie Russell, Rudy 
Tomjanovich and Glen 
Rice, and ex-coaches 
Johnny Orr and Bill 
Frieder.
So why did 
Rosenbaum pick the 
U-M basketball team as the 
book’s topic? And why the 
1960-89 time frame?
“A lot of books have been 
written about the history 
of U-M football team,” 
Rosenbaum said. “I decided 

 
to go with the U-M basketball 
team because it’s the road less 
traveled.
“I picked the teams coached 
by Dave Strack with Russell 
and Bill Buntin on them in 

Author Mike Rosenbaum brings University 
of Michigan basketball fans up to date about 
Wolverines teams from 1960-1989.
Go Blue!

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

SPORTS

quick hits
BY STEVE STEIN 

Drop-in Sign-Up Days Scheduled 
for Maccabi Games Host Families, 
Volunteers and Athletes 

The JCC Maccabi Games are coming to Detroit this summer. Host 
families, volunteers and athletes are still needed and can sign 
up during drop-in days at The J, 6000 W. Maple Road in West 
Bloomfield, from 5-7 p.m. March 28 and April 11, and 2-4 p.m. April 
14.
The Maccabi Games will be held from July 28-Aug 2. More than 
1,200 Jewish teen athletes from across the 
world are expected to participate.
Detroit athletes must be ages 12-16 as 
of July 31. Their family must host two or 
more visiting athletes.
For more information, go to the 
Maccabi Games page on Facebook: 2024 
Detroit JCC Maccabi Games.

Elle Hartje’s college hockey career is 
over, but she still has some skating to 
do.
Hartje, who served as the captain 
of the Yale University women’s hockey 
team this season and is the team’s all-
time assists and points leader with 116 
and 168, respectively, has been invited 
by USA Hockey to the U.S. women’s 
national hockey team’s final evalu-
ation camp for the 2024 IIHF World 
Championships.
The camp will take place March 
27-30 at the Lake Placid Olympic 
Center in Lake Placid, N.Y. The U.S. 
team will be named at the end of the 
camp and compete April 3-14 at the 
IIHF World Championships in Utica, N.Y. 
The U.S. team won the gold 
medal at last year’s IIHF World 

Championships. IIHF 
is the acronym for 
the International Ice 
Hockey Federation.
Hartje was one of 
21 forwards and 39 
players invited to the 
evaluation camp.
“Elle had a terrific 
career here. Her play hasn’t gone 
unnoticed by USA Hockey,” said Yale 
coach Mark Bolding.
A 2019 Jewish News High School 
Athlete of the Year, Hartje broke a 
36-year-old Yale record when she 
scored her 165th career point in late 
February.
She’s from Bloomfield Hills and 
graduated from Detroit Country Day 
School.

Elle Hartje’s Goal: To Earn a Spot on the 
U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team

Mike 
Rosenbaum

Elle Hartje

YALE UNIVERSITY

