Page 32-Thursday, September 7, 1978-The Michigan Daily PROGRAM IMPROVING, EXPANDING Recruits key to cage success Abby the tal strong the nu 44 Q4 ale m By CUB SCHWARTZ Don Canham runs the Michigan Athletic Department like a business. Over the years he has developed and marketed a number of very successful products, such as football, basketball, hockey, etc. But being the successful businessman he is, Canham realizes the vitality of his department depends on the constant development of new products. And it appears that women's basketball currently sits atop Canham's develop- ment agenda. Over the years, women's basketball at Michigan has been-ho-hum. The teams have hovered about the .500 mark, playing somewhat sub-standard basketball before scanty Crisler Arena crowds. denying her a chance to recruit. Working under such constraint proved difficult. As Soluk explains, "Last year we were dealing mostly with walk-on can- didates and playing teams which had actively recruited in the state. It's hard to compete under those circumstan- ces." But all that has changed. Soluk sat down at the end of last season and picked out the seven best players in the state. She then gave recruiting top priority, going after these seven as in- tensely as her budget would allow. When the tenders were in, Soluk had taken six of the seven. "We went after them with everything we had," she explained, "but we could only offer tuition and fees. The other schools were offering full rides. I really don't believe we got these kids." The recruits will mold around retur- ning sophomore Abby Currier, by far the best the Wolverines have. Described by Soluk as a "pure-shooter," the 5-10 forward dropped in nearly 20 points per game, netting over 30 points on five occasions. And when she isn't shooting, she's probably rebounding. Despite her height disadvantage, Currier managed to pull down an average of 9.4 rebounds per game, second best on the team. Also returning from last years' squad are seniors Jean Otto and Natasha Cender along with sophomores Deb Allor and Brenda Venhuizen. Venhuizen had her moments lastyear, pulling down 16 rebounds in one contest and netting 22 points in another. But she only hit on 37 per cent of her shots from the field and 59 per cent from the line. None of the other returners averaged over five points per game. Still Soluk is optimistic about the future. Her coaching philosophy of pressing and employing the fast break did not fit well with the talent on last year's team. The fruits of her recruiting efforts should eliminate that problem. "I have tried to recruit the slender, quick basketball player," she said. "We Daily Photo by ALAN BILINSKY irrier shows one of her many skills on the basketball court. Not only can rted sophomore pass, she leads the Wolverines offensive threat and is a ebounder. Described as one of the best in the nation, Currier will form eus of the Wolverine squad. Otto Welcome 1978 New Students! DISCOUNT SPORTS APPAREL AND SHOES Factory Outlet Prices 50%-70% Off Retail 406 E Libertv at Division 663-6771 The increased popularity in womens sports over the past few years has largely been due to the expansion of womens basketball programs across the nation. The program at Michigan, however, had remained relatively static. The Wolverines were repeatedly turned back by area schools such as Michigan State, Wayne State and Cen- tral Michigan. But a year ago this October, Canham made a move to change all of that. He lured Gloria Soluk, then head coach at Wayne State, to jump over to the Wolverine program. Soluk was highly regarded in coaching circles, and while her debut with the maize and blue produced an unimpressive 8-16 record, things are bound to change. Soluk was hired less than two months before the season started, thereby Pressing the Issue r B05MILLER Thoughts at large.. L - * small, off-t he-wari ITH ALL humility, I must say that I am a lucky guy. I have been VTstopped by a policeman for speeding, but not given a ticket; I havd won more money than I've spent in the Michigan lottery; I have sat in thV middle of the student section at Ohio State, openly rooting for Michigan in the 1976 game - and lived. But more impressively, I have beaten the best of Las Vegas odds by going 1-1 in making predictions where my words were recorded. How well I remember the occasion, too. It was October 16, 1976 and I was on the student radio station in Madison, Wisconsin as an in-between-period guest during" Michigan-Wisconsin hockey game. I stunned the audience by announcing that those two teams would square off in Detroit for the national championship. You see, the season was only one game old at the time. Sure enough, I made good on my prediction, and with the aforemen: tioned credentials, I am going to test the limits of my luck by offering right here and now, my PRESSING THE ISSUE PREDICTIONS' STAGE I. FOOTBALL " Attendance will be down overall at Michigan home football games, compared to last year. Not to worry, however, as there won't be an unsold seat in the stadium for the third straight year. " Michigan and Ohio State will battle for the right to go to the Rose Bowl for the seventh straight year, and the 10th time in the last 11 years. " Neither Michigan or Ohio State will be undefeated going into the regular season finale at Columbus. Ohio State will lose to Indiana at Bloomington the week before the UM-OSU battle and the Wolverines will be shocked, as usual, somewhere along the way. (It should be noted that Indiana will be the surprise team in the con- ference in 1978, and plays OSU at home. The Buckeyes are notorious for looking ahead to the Michigan game when it's their final home game of the year). " Michigan State will indeed to be a power to teckon with, at least in the conference. But MSU has to play Southern Cal and Michigan on the road with the Notre Dame game at home sandwiched in between. So look for the Spar- tans to finish 8-3 or 9-2. " Northwestern, under new head coach Rick Venturi, will win twice as many games this year as the Wildcats did in 1977. " Michigan will beat Notre Dame and Michigan State, but lose to Ohio State (I hope I'm wrong on this one). Nonetheless, the Big Ten represen- tative in the Rose Bowl will emerge as the victor, and so will Michigan in the Sugar or Cotton Bowl. " The naming of the 1978 mythical national football champion will hinge on the outcome of the Rose Bowl. BASKETBALL " The Big Ten will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is the premier basketball conference in the nation. The key word is conference. Too often people associate U.C.L.A. with the Pac-Eight and Kentucky with the Southeastern Conference. Those are just dominant teams in their respective leagues, but it doesn't necessarily mean the entire conference is strong. " The early line tells me that Indiana and Michigan State will not be as dominant as they were last year. But the underbelly teams like Illinois, Ohio State and Wisconsin will not be as soft. " None of the four 1978 NCAA basketball finalists will make a return trip to the Final Four. HOCKEY " The Michigan hockey team will almost be a carbon copy of the 1976-77 team that came out of nowhere to make a strong showing in the WCHA and nearly won the national championship. The current edition won't be quite as successful, but will rebound from: ninth place last year to a first division finish this time around. " The 1978-79 NCAA Ice Hockey Championships will be held in Detroit (this is a fact) and will be the most financially successful of any of the previous 31 tournaments. Actually, the tourney never does exceedingly well, but Detroit's central location to the majority of prominent hockey schools should draw a lot o fans from the participating teams. " The East Coast Athletic Conference (ECAC) will not be allowed tr finagle with the playoffs as it did last year - creating an unprecedented e- tra contest between Boston University and Providence. The ECAC did this to give BU, the victim of an early round upset. another chance to qualify for the NCAA tournament. BU made the most of its. opportunity by winning the national championship. MEN'S TENNIS Brian Eisner's crew will take the conference crown for the 83rd year in a row. The Wolverines, however, will not win the NCAA title for the 21st straight year. MEN'S SWIMMING Indiana will win its 1,428th consecutive dual meet, en route to the Hoosiers' 83rd Big Ten title in 83 years. Michigan's men's tennis team will scrimmage against the HoosierTankers for bragging rights to league supremacy. PRO SPORTS * The Philadelphia Phillies will win the 1978 World Series and their fans will boo because there is nothing to boo about. " The New York Yankees will lose the 1978 World Series and their detractors will boo because there is nothing to boo about. " The Cleveland Cavaliers will win the NBA Championship (Well, c'mon, who picked Portland in 1977 or Washington last season?) " The Montreal Canadiens will not win the Stanley Cup, but the city will give the team a parade at the end of the season just out of force of habit. " The Dallas Cowboys and the Los Angeles Rams will oppose each other on national television before a packed house at the Los Angeles Coliseum,. but no one will remember watching the game. !Vi r r G. 11Y ,. . . . NOF o Michigan Students: Here's Your Special 1978 Football Ticket Information Instructions for Filing Football Applications For Student Football Tickets Fall Term 1978 When you register for Fall Term 1978 you will be given a FOOTBALL APPLICATION FORM at the exit station at CRISP. Or you may pick one up at the Athletic Ticket Office, located at the corner of E. Hoover and State St. Students who were not enrolled Winter Term 1978 but who plan to enroll for Fall Term 1978 must turn in a football application form at the Athletic Ticket Office by 4:00 p.m. on Friday, September 8, 1978. IF YOU DO NOT FILE YOUR2 APPLICATION BY THAT TIME YOU MAY FORFEIT YOUR OP- PORTUNITY TO PURCHASE TICKETS AT THE STUDENT RATE. Students who were enrolled Winter Term 1978 and planned to enroll for Fall Term 1978 were re- quired to turn in a football application form by April 28, 1978, or forfeit their priority right and pos- sibly the opportunity to purchase tickets at the student rate. You may request to sit in a dorm block by writing your name and residence hall on the back of your application. YOUR FOOTBALL SEATING PRIORITY WILL BE DETERMINED BY YOUR CLASS LEVEL. All seat assignments within the priority will be based on a random selection. Group seating will be based on the lowest priority student in the group. Soluk should be a running ball club this season." The prize catch was Diane Dietz, a ballhandling guard who also boasts an effective outside shot. Dietz happens to be a lefthander, which Soluk considers an asset in throwing off opposing defen- ses. Another of the recruits is Katy Mc- Namara from Our Lady of Mercy in Farmington. McNamara utilized her shooting from both inside and out to cop All-State Honors last year. Coupled with the like talents of Currier, the duo figures heavily in Soluk's plans for a motion offense next season. Soluk also brought to Michigan three inside, rebounding types in Penny Near (6-0), Jill Smith (5-11) and Kris Hansen (6-0). Since the state lacked an awesome prep center last season, Soluk will rely on the trio to manage the boar- ds. Tammy Sanders, a shooting guard rounds out the list of incoming fresh- persons. THE COST OF THE SEASON TICKET IS $24.00, WHICH WILL BE ADDED' COUNT, AND IS DUE SEPTEMBER 29TH. For an additional $36.00 you ticket upon proof of marriage. The payment for this spouse ticket mustI pick up your ticket. I U TO YOUR STUDENT AC- may purchase a spouse be made at the time you K. You do not have to be enrolled for the Fall Term to file an application. YOU MUST, HOWEVER, BE ENROLLED FOR THE FALL TERM AT THE TIME YOU PICK UP YOUR TICKETS. YOU MAY PICK UP YOUR SEASON TICKETS AT THE TRACK / TENNIS BUILDING BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 5TH AND 8TH; HOURS ARE 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Tickets not picked up at this time will be distributed from the Athletic Ticket Office from September 11th to September 15th between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM. YOU MUST PICK UP YOUR OWN TICKET AND PROVIDE A VALID ID CARD FOR THE FALL TERM AND ALSO PROVIDE YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE OR SOME OTHER PICTURE IDENTIFICATION AS REQUIRED BY THE ATHLETIC TICKET OFFICE. YOU MUST BE REGISTERED FOR THE FALL TERM AT THE TIME YOU PICK UP YOUR TICKET. If you disenroll and pick up the tickets, you will be charged the $50.00 disenrollment fee in addition to the cost of the tickets. If you do not intend to use your football application, destroy it so that it cannot be used by someone else. PARTTIME LIFEGUARDS SENIOR LIFESAVING CEITIFKATDN IS REUIE AT MINIMUM CONTACT EIEN &GLD " The WHA will again attempt to fool everybody and claim that it is a rival of the NHL. Although it never works, it still makes for a trivia master's dream . . . example question - What was the original name of the Ottawa-Toronto-New York-Calgary-Ottawa-New West- minster entry in the WHA? " Sportscaster Al Ackerman of WXYZ-TV in Detroit will be awar- ded the prestigious Heisman Trophy. Ackerman will accept the award and in his speech he will still insist that the Lions will name Chuck Knox as head coach. " The Detroit Red Wings will win more games than they lose this year for only the second time in nine seasons. The Wings will also be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, due to a shortage of octopi in the city. 4