SPORTS

the Michigan Dailyt


Thursday, January 27, 1983,

Page,8


Cagers start key homestand

Michigan Basketball Statistics

G-S FG-FGA

By JESSE BARKIN
Seems like the Wolverines have been
i this position before. Homestand take
two.
Entering tonight's encounter with
Pujrdue, the Wolverines bring a
precarious 2-4 Big Ten record into the
game, and are tied for last place in the
conference. But this is a situation
similar to the one Michigan faced two
weeks before after losing its first two
road games of the year, and having to
come into Crisler with an 0-2 record.
"IT'S KIND of like where we were at the
beginning of last week," said Michigan
coach Bill Frieder. "Our backs were
against the wall and in order for us to be
in any position.. we had to beat Min-
nesota and Wisconsin, and we got a
sweep. Now we're in the same position.
jf we're to make any kind of bid for a
post season tournament and stay in the
Big Ten race we've got to bounce back,
with a couple of wins."
They won't come easy, though, as

tonight's game features a strong
Boilermaker club and possibly the best
player in the conference: Russell
Cross. The 6-10 junior center averages
17.3 points and 7.7 rebounds to lead
Purdue in both categories.
When asked what you have to do to
beat Purdue, Frieder said, "You start
with Russell Cross and do an adequate
job on him so he doesn't run away with
the game. We prepared the same way
we did against Minnesota (and Randy
Breuer). All (of the forwards) have to
help inside without letting their
perimeter shooters hurt us."
Guards Ricky Hall and Curt Clawson
are both good shooters from long range,
and forwardDan Palombizio gives the
Boilermakers added offensive
firepower.
PURDUE BRINGS an impressive 12-3
record into the game, including wins
over Louisville, De Paul and Ohio State
are coming off a 63-62 win over Illinois.
Michigan, meanwhile, is trying to get
back in the picture after a 93-76 rout at

the hands of Indiana.
But at home, the Wolverines have
been invincible (9-0) this season, while
compiling their 11-5 mark. But the
Boilermakers have a streak of their
own, beating the Wolverines the last
four outings in a two year span.
For the Wolverines, Frieder will start
the team that he has been going with,
but said that he must get more con-

sistency from the forwards. Richard
Rellford has only been averaging 5.7
points in the Big Ten and 3.5 rebounds.
Rob Henderson, who owns the other
starting slot at forward is averaging 6.7
rebounds, but has been slumping lately.
Freshman center Roy Tarpley will
not play tonight due to a badly sprained
ankle.

Turner...............................15-15
Rocky more ...........................16-16
McCormick .......'........................16-14
Rellford ..................................16-13
Henderson .................................16-9
Person .............................16-7
Tarpley ...............................16-2
Jokisch..............................16-1
Wade ..............................13-3
Pelekoudas..........................15-1
Anonides...................................7-0
Brown ......................................7-0
Rudy............................. .....7-0
Gibas .......................................6.0
M cFarland ................................ 6-0
MICHIGAN ................................ 16
OPPONENTS ...........................,16

100-210
54-104
46-98
41-92
39-93
32-70
31-67
18-40
15-32
3-6
0-5
1-2
0-1
0-1
479-1030
408-910

Pct
.474
.476
.519
.469
.446
.419
.457
.463
.450
.500
.500
.000
.500
.467
.448

52-87
23-35
55-70
27-35
18-25
20-29
18-30
10-14
5-12
8-13
2-2
2-4
240-356
271-398

.58
.657
.786
.771
.720
.690
.604
.714
.417
.615
1,000
.500
.627
.681

55-3.7
48-3.0
104-6.5
56-3.5
99-6.2
764.8
58-3.6
42-2.6
39-3.0
31-2.1
2-0.2
7-0.9
670-41.7
523-32.7

FT-FTA Pct REB-AVG

PT Avg A

258
224
163
119
100
98
82
72
41
40
6
2
2
2
0
1209
1103

17.2 89
14.0 42
10.2 13
7.6 8
5.6 9
5.5 17
3.3 4
4.5 6
3.2 3
2.7 39
0.9 0
0.3 0
0.3 0
0.3 -
0.0 -
75.7 130
68.9 189

THE LINEUPS

MICHIGAN
(15) Robert Henderson . (6-9)
(40) Richard Rellford .. (6-6)
(44) T. McCormick .... (6-11)
(24) Leslie Rockymore . (6-3)
(25) Eric Turner........(6-3)

F
F
C
G
G

(15),
(22)
(40)
(21)
(33)+

PURDUE
Jim Bullock ........(6-6)
D. Palombizio ..... (6-8)
Russell Cross .... (6-10)
Ricky Hall .......(6-1)
Curt Clawson.......(6-5)

Jury still out on
Heuerman as pro

Game time is 8:05 p.m. at Crisler Arena. The game will be broad-
cast on WAAM (1600 AM), WCBN (88.3 FM), WUOM (91.7 FM),
WWJ (950 AM), and WLEN (103.9 FM).

Wileher -A man for all seasons

By JOE BOWER
During his Michigan basketball
career, Paul Heuerman was known as a
"hard nosed," hard working player. He
earned the respect of his teammates
and opponents with his incessant hustle
and determination.
Since graduating two years ago, the
6-8, 200-pound former center has con-
tinued to live up to this reputation and
thereby make his presence felt in both
the world of academia and professional
basketball.
HE IS CURRENTLY enrolled in his
second year at the University of Florida
Law School where he has been a
regular on the Dean's List.
His basketball endeavors, while
meeting with some success, have not

By LISA NOFERI
The friendly and unassuming manner
of Thomas Wilcher hardly reflects the
depth of confidence he exhibits in his
football and track endeavors. These in-
clude an 18-yard-per carry average on
the high school gridiron, and a national
hurdle records for all age divisions sin-
ce turning 11 years old. Unless, that is,
one witnesses the football/track high
school All-American in action or hears
remarks of others.
"He's got a lot of confidence," noted
track coach Jack Harvey. "He's a
tough competitor who's a good enough
athlete to handle the rigors of both foot-
ball and track."
THE FEATS TOM Wilcher is used to
performing in record time he's now
doing full-time as a freshman student
and two-sport athlete for the
Wolverines. And the timing could not
be better for Michigan athletics, who
anticipate future record-breaking per-
formances from the widely-recruited
Detroit Central graduate. He turned
down offes from such schools as SMU,
UCLA, Georgia, and USC for the "com-
bined forces of Michigan athletics and
academics," stated Wilcher, a Special
Education and Communications major.

Endowed with enough strength and
flexibility to adapt to the demands of
contrasting work-outs for both football
and track, Wilcher plans to compete for
the entire track season in addition to at-
tending spring football practice. He
has no preference for one sport over the
other, but considers himself a
"season's man."
"Right now, I'm enjoying track and
concentrating on getting in shape after
football. It's exhausting to switch from
football to track because training with
weights for both is different and wears
the body down. That's why I don't do as
much heavy weightlifting as the other
footall players."
WILCHER'S interest in track started
as a youngster with the suggestion from
his high school gym teacher, also the
track coach, who watched him excel in
physical fitness competitions. The
Detroit native began a track career
that would lead him to become a
premier hurdler in the country.
"it's much different,"said Wilcher,
comparing high school to college
training. "In high school, you're
allowed a rest between runs but here
you have to run, stop a minute, and get
ready to run again. Also college hur-
dles are higher than high-school hur-
dles."
Harvey feels the main concern for
Wilcher now is "basically getting in
shape from football, polishing some
rought spots, and working on his star-
ts."
"MOST COLLEGE hurdlers are over
6," said the 5-11 hard worker. He
believes the main ingredients of a good
hurdler are "great speed and
technique." He doesn't have to concen-
trate on technique as much now
because it comes automatically to him.
However, he puts to good use his
awesome speed for track and football.
"I rely more on my speed for football
than my hurdling ability."
The speedy running back admits to
being a bit apprehensive to .Schem-
bechler's suggestion to implement a lit-

tle mid-air expertise in his runs, a la
Herschel Walker.
"I like the sweep plays and would
rather run up the middle than go for the
option attack," asserts Wilcher, who
experienced the competitiveness of his
position behind exemplars Lawrence
Ricks and Rick Rogers.
WILCHER, WHO didn't touch any
game pigskin this season, expects to be
compiling yardage next year for the
Wolverines.
For now, however, Wilcher's season
is track with defending the conference

championship. Harvey only looks op-
timistically at a third place flourish.
Wilcher, meanwhile, looks at the
season as "a rebuilding year."
"We don't have enough sprint power.
the distance area is very fine. . . we
have a good force in hurdles as with long
jump."
From football to track to his next
speech for a Communicatons' Public
Speaking class, Wilcher's busy eyar in-
cludes seasons of not only intensity and
talent, but of willful confidence - "It's
not easy, but it can be done. I can do it."

guaranteed spots, and were unable to
add his name to the list.
A pro basketball career often can be
very short and offers , a dinsecure
future; a law degree ensures a more
promising one. Yet, the former
academic All-American still toys with
the idea of playing for a NBA team.
"I would like the basketballlife," he
admitted. "It's ideal for some guys, but
let's face it, I'm not going to turn a
team around. I'd probably be the tenth
or twelfth man or so and my future
would not be real stable with new draft
choices coming in every year."
HEUERMAN HAS not always played
such a minor role. The 1980-81 co-
captain was a two-year starter and
averaged nearly 10 points per game
against opponents who regularly com-
manded a 4"-6" height advantage. He
was instrumental in helping the
Wolverines reach the NIT tournament
in 1980 and again the following year. His
senior year he was named second team
All-Big Ten.
"I miss those years," he reflected.
"I've got a lot of memories of all the
good times and people that make
Michigan great."

been as fruitful as those in scholastics.
In 1981, he was the fifth round draft
pick of the Phoenix Suns and was the
last player cut from its roster. In order
to try out with the NBA club he had to
pass up an offer with European pro
team and a guaranteed contract worth
between $30,000-$60,000.
"F "At that time I had the choice of
playing in the CBA, going to law school,
or waiting to play in Europe the
following year," the Akron native said.
HE DECIDED to go ahead and start
working towards a law degree, but he
has not ruled out the possibility of
playing professional basketball.
"Getting law school done and over
with is my foremost concern and I want
to get it done before I play basketball
again," he explained. "But, I can
always change my mind if something
does come up."
Last summer Heuerman was invited
to play with the Indiana Pacers in a
summer league in Los Angeles. He
faced many top players including Bill
Walton, Kelvin Ransey, and former
teammates Johnny Johnson and Thad
Garner.
"WE HAD A good team with the best
record in the league, but we lost the
championship game," he noted. "It
was a lot of fun and I did pretty well."
He declined the club's persistent
requests to join them at training camp
in Indianapolis despite his impressive
play.
Daily Photo by JEFF SCHRIER "I wanted a guarantee that I'd make
Freshman Thomas Wilcher demonstrates his skills at football and track as the club before I'd go back with them,"
he clears a hurdle instead of a linebacker. he said. "I didn't expect them to give it
to me, but I just didn't want to miss
another term and chance being the last
S25 NIG H T man cut again."
Anyone 25 rolder wiTHE PACERS came closer to gran-
be admitted for 25C ting his request. After reviewing their
TONIGHT roster, however, which included Clark
" Kellogg, Clem Johnson, and Herb
SEC CH ANCE Williams - all power forwards, they
decided they had too many players with

Heuerman
... still hoping

While his long-range future may
already be set with a career in law, he
re-emphasized that near future dab-
blings in pro basketball are still very
possible. After law school is completed
he may look at the European league or
the NBA if they are still interested in
him.
"Jack McKinney (Pacer coach) told
me he usually does not encourage
people in grad school to keep playing,''
he mentioned. "But in my case he felt I
was definitely good enough to play in the
NBA if I was willing to put the time in."
After graduation in two more years
he will have more free time, and with
his "hard nosed" determination he may
very well find himself soon living "the
basketball life."


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