.
.. .AND IN THIS
CORNER,.*.*
Mark Mihanovic
Recruiting wars...
... Bo comes out winner
TUST AS THE ROSE BOWL beam on Bo Schembechler's face begins
fading away, the man is a big winner again. For the most part, the foot-
ball recruiting wars are over. And Bo cleaned up. .
Most of the state's top high school gridders signed national letters of intent
Wednesday with the hope of wearing the Maize and Blue on some future
Saturday, signalling that any of the luster that Michigan State had
remaining from its successful 1978 season has completely dulled.
But the fact that Schembechler out-recruited MSU's Muddy Waters in
each of their home state won't raise any eyebrows. While Waters was in over
his head trying to match wits with Big Ten opposition mentors on the field,
the situation becomes laughable when he steps into the recruiting ring with
Bo and the boys.
What iseso impressive about the lastest crop of Wolverine football recruits
is the fact that several of them hail out of the backyards of other traditional
powerhouses. Like prep All-American running back Brian Mercer, who piled
up 1,727 yards last season for Cincinnati's Forest Park High School, but
somehow managed to escape the clutches of Ohio State coach Earle Bruce.
And tight end Eric Kattus, another All-American from southern Ohio who
caught 53 passes in his senior campaign. And All-American lineman Clay
Miller, a 3.87 student out of Norman, Oklahoma (that's right, the same Nor-
man, Oklahoma which Sooner coach Barry Switzer calls home).
Even an outstanding recruiter like Schembechler must chalk this up as
one of his better crops. Coming on the heels of his young squad's Cinderella
comeback season, the outlook is extremely, ahem, rosy for the Michigan
football program, next season and beyond.
But nobody has ever doubted Bo's ability to bait top talent to Ann Arbor.
He is a dogged recruiter, he hires assistants who are dogged recruiters, and
it pays off with talented outfits, every year.
There was a recent period when there were doubters, however. Michigan
lost three straight to finish 1979 and dropped two out of three to start '80, and
there were murmurs that maybe Bo's program was on the downslide.
No way. Bo Schembechler has never won a national championship, but he
is as stable as they come. That stability is bound to help him when he makes
those promises coaches make to their recruits.
For Rick Rogers, who garnered 1,352 yards on 184 carries and 23 touch-
downs for Wayne Memorial High School, the final choice was between
Michigan and MSU. Michigan got him.
"He chose to go there because of the tremendous program," said Floyd
Carter, Rogers' high school mentor. "It's a sound program. He probably felt
that in four years, Bo will still be there. They (MSU) wanted him very badly.
They said he would play as a freshman."
But playing as a freshman at Michigan State obviously isn't as attractive
to Rogers as watching the action for awhile at Michigan. Because at
Michigan, he'll be watching in Pasadena.
The Michigan Daily-Friday, February 20, 1981-Page11
leers fac e batt-less
By MARTHA CRALL
It shapes up on paper to be one of those classic bat-
tles - red hot offense meets stingy defense.
The offensive Michigan Wolverines (13-11-0 in the
WCHA) and the defensive Denver Pioneers (15-7-2 in
the WCHA) will each try to prove it has got the upper
hand as they face off tonight and tomorrow night at
7:30 at Yost Ice Arena in WCHA play.
THE WOLVERINE ICERS are coming off two
weekend sweeps of Notre Dame and the University of
Minnesota-Duluth (at Duluth) and five straight wins..
The once-dormant Michigan offense has scored 42
goals during the winning streak, which has moved it
up to within two points of fourth place in the con-
ference.
The Wolverines will be paced by WCHA player-of-
BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS BEGIN:
the-week, Tim Manning (one goal, four assists, five
points; 5-28-33 overall), Gordie Hampson (3-1-4; 13-
18-31 overall), Dennis May (2-2-4; 11-18-29 overall)
and leading scorer, defenseman Steve Richmond (18-
30-48 overall). Head coach John Giordano will start
goalie Paul Fricker, who picked up the 9-2 win in
Friday night's game.
Michigan will have to deal with a team that, while
noted for its defense, is a well-balanced squad,
especially on the power play. Denver, which is tied
for first place in the league with Minnesota, ranks
second in the WCHA in power play scoring (28-113,
.248) while remaining the toughest to score a power-
play goal against (21-133, .158).
"THEY'VE GOT THE best penalty killing unit in
the league," said Giordano. "They are very tough on
defense all the time."
Denver is led by junior goalie Scott Robinson, who
is second in the league in goals/against average with
3.40. The Pioneers' leading scorer is sophomore
winger Ken Berry (20-33-53), a former Canadian
Olympic star.
Denver suffered one major injury last week, losing
its senior captain Gary Nedelak probably for the
season with a dislocated shoulder. The Pioneers lost
mostly leadership, however, as Nedelak had only
four goals and 10 assists for 14 points in 32 games. The
Wolverines check in with no major injuries, accor-
ding to Giordano.
The Wolverines have only one more series left this
season, which will also be played at Yost next
weekend against arch-rival Michigan Tech.
Tumblers
By BARB BARKER
The Michigan women's gymnastic's
team, which currently holds fourth
place in its conference, will compete
tonight in the Big Ten chanpionships
held at Ohio State.
According to Michigan head coach
Sheri Hyatt, Ohio State and Michigan
State, which are ranked first and
second respectively, will prove to be
tough competition.
"This is the first time in six years
that Michigan State hasn't been ranked
first going into championships," she
said. "Both teams have been so strong
this year that it will be tough for anyone
to beat them."
; ee third
"We really have our sights set upon
beating Illinois for third place. I think
we have a good chance considering we
beat them in a meet already this
season."
Hyatt said that although everyone on
the team is in top shape physically, they
are rather drained mentally from mid-
terms.
Strong performances are expected by
both all around competitors fresh-
woman Kathy Beckwith and Junior
Teresa Bertoncin. "We usually do well
under pressure," said Hyatt. "And
that's what makes points in the Big
Tens."
HAVE YOU CONSIDERED
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If you have, you probably know that most medical disciplines
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podiatric medicine and surgery, orthopedics, and sports medi-
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AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES
OF PODIATRIC MEDICINE
BOX DM
20 CHEVY CHASE CIRCLE
WASHINGTON, DC 20015
The application deadline for the 1981 entering class is April 1, 1981
TIMEL
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Now comes Miller time.
4 U