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Page 14-Wednesday, January 12, 1983
Five for the future
Wolverine blue chip recruits .. .

JrEEbiu n 14
ByLARRYFREED

0

Ed

By LARRY FREED
They are as talented as they are
diverse. They have been called
everything from the "fab five" to the
"phenomenal five." Just call them the
foundation of the Michigan basketball
program.
Last season, the Wolverines' worst in
over 20 years, saw the critics go for
coach Bill Frieder's jugular. They had
the coach of the 7-20 team against the
ropes and they knew it.
'THE CRUMBLING of a program,"
reported one.
"This wouldahave never happened if
Johnny Orr was still here," screamed
another.
Frieder just asked for people to be
patient. He finally answered those
critics on April 15, the national signing
date for prep players. The third year
coach delivered a knock-out punch as
he signed five blue chip recruits.
THESE WERE NOT just any five
mind, you, they were the ... okay the
"fab five". In fact, the recruiting class
was just that-THE recruiting class,
rated by Street and Smith's magazine
as the tops in the nation.
Three of the five Michigan
"messiahs" were each Player of the
Year in their respective states;
Michigan's Robert Henderson,
Massachusetts' Mark "Butch" Wade,
and Florida's Richard Rellford. The
other two, Michiganders Paul Jokisch
and Roy Tarpley, also received
national recognition.
Suddenly Frieder had transformed
his "crumbling program" to,
perhaps,the team of the future in the
Big Ten. Is the Flint native sitting back
in his office having the last laugh?
OF COURSE not. Frieder, who could
not find a silver lining in a rainbow, is
worried that his infant team will read
too many of its press clippings and will
not come mentally prepared to play.
"My biggest concern is that we're
very young, and our young kids don't
know how hard you have to play in the
Big Ten, especially on the road,"
Frieder said. "Whether our guys are
ready, I don't know."
Whether or not the freshmen come
prepared for conference play remains
to be seen, but they passed their initial
pre-season test with high marks.
OF ALL the first-year Wolverines, no
one has made his presence felt like the
flashy Floridian, Rellford. Far from a
polished performer on the hardwood,
the 6-6 forward has found a spot in the
starting five thanks to his aggressive
offensive play and steadily improving
defense. Through 10 games he has
averaged 8.7 points and 3.9 rebounds
per game. -
Although Rellford appears helter
skelter on the court trying a variety of
aerobatic acts, he is a polished perfor-
mer off the court. The personable 18-
year old from Anthony Carter's high
school will talk your ear off about
school, basketball, fishing, or any topic
you want.
"I haven't had any trouble ad-
justing," Rellford said. "Everyone
here has been real nice to me. School
and basketball have gone real well."
ALTHOUGH RELLFORD has been
all smiles since coming to Ann Arbor
this past summer, where he shined in
the Sandy Sanders summer league,

Frieder has frowned at times.
"He has great talent, unlimited
potential," Frieder explained early in
the season. "But he's still finding out
that he has to play better defense, and
he is behind on his conditioning."
That was all earlier, and although
you would not call Rellford a svelte 220
he is a far cry from the "late night piz-
za" shape of the fall.
ANOTHER RECRUIT who has come
on of late is East Lansing's Robert
Henderson. The quiet 6-9 forward has
firmly entrenched himself in the star-
ting line-up since the Wolverines' lone
non-conference loss to Oklahoma State.
Henderson showed his mettle earlier

this season when he sank two pressure
free throws to defeat Detroit. Thus far
this year, Henderson has exhibited
the most poise of all the freshmen,
shooting 82 percent from the line and
averaging 6.5 points and 5.9 rebounds
per outing.
Henderson, like the other freshmen,
attributes part of his success to last
season's frosh prheom Eric Turner.
"HE'S TALKED to us all," Hender-
son said. "At one time or another we've
all been down and he's shown us to hold
on and our time will come and just to
~workhard and we'll get our playing
time."
Turner feels he can relate to the ex-

periences the newcomers are going
through this difficult season.
"One day you learn something and
then another day you learn another
thing and trying to put it all together is
the most difficult thing," explained the
second-year "veteran." "You have a
lot of things on your mind, you're adap-
ting to being away from home, dealing
with the different level of education and
it's a lot of pressure on you I think,
other than just being out here on the
court.
"IT'S VERY hard to put all that aside
and come out here and perform well
every day. I think that's what the main
thing is about the freshmen is that they
go through so many things during the

A S THE Big Ten tips off its 78th season
there are many questions to be answered
with teams hooping it up from Iowa City to
Columbus, so let's get right to the action.
Q: Who's going to be the big winner come March?
A: Starting off with an easy one. Indiana. With
it's experience and coaching, Bobby Knight's club
will be tough to bet against. In reality, all ten
teams will win big as they will each be $500,000
richer due to the new television contracts.
Q: How about the surprise team this season?
A: How about Purdue. With a healthy 7-0 Russell
Cross the Boilermakers could go places.
Q: Speaking of going places, who is going to the
NCAA? NIT?
A. NCAA-Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Purdue;
NIT-Michigan, Ohio State, Illinois, and North-
western.
Q: We've heard about the top players, how about
an all-underrated team?
A: Forward-Art Aaron (Northwestern) and
Anthony Welch (Illinois); Center-Greg Stokes
(Iowa); Guard-Leslie Rockymore (Michigan)
and Tommy Davis (Minnesota).
Q: Next logical question-most overrated?
A. Forward-Tony Campbell (Ohio State),
Patrick Ford (Michigan State); Center-Randy
Breuer (Minnesota); Guard-Derek Harper
(Illinois) and Steve Carfino (Iowa).
Q: How does the conference rate amongst others'
in the country?m
A: It's still a few notches below where it used to
be when the Big Ten ruled the land. Right now it's
third, behind the SEC and the ACC, but with all the
young talent of late, that ranking won't last for

long. Things could be worse, this could be
Ten Football conference.
Q: Who will be the premiere three-point
in the Big Ten?
A: Look no further than Ann Arbor. Ei
ner's shooting prowess has been lau
coaches, players and-what the hell-by]
All are correct, because Michigan could
chief beneficiary of the rule change.
Q: Okay, enough of these traditional q
and predictions. Who is the best dressed c
the conference.
A: Now that's a tough one. I don't th
coach in the Big 10 could step off the courtj
to the cover of GQ, so a composite might k
der. The winner would have the clothes o
Knight, the charmisa of Lou Henson, the
Jud Heathcote, the teeth of Rich Falk,
nose of Bill Frieder.
Q: What about this growing quiche prob
keep hearing about? Has it begun to infilt
league?
A: Unfortunately my sources tell me it h
seen in lockerrooms across the midwest.'
quiche team might lineup something lid
Cam Cameron (Indiana)-just the name q
him.
Tim McCormick (Michigan)-sneaks i
between wind sprints.
Ben Tower (Michigan State)-he epitomi
French stuff.
Dan Pelekoudas (Michigan)-4.0 quiche.
Granville Waiters (Ohio State)-his has
with age.
Eldon Miller (Ohio State)-he oozes the
recruiting trips.

The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, J
B* Ten 83 tips
...who's hot, wi
the Big Q: Any real mien?
A: Try these for size:
shooter Bobby Knight (Indiana)-
rates higher.
ric Tur- Lute Olson (Iowa)-no sin
ded by is smoother except .. .
himself. Eric Turner (Michigan)-
be the in conference.
Richard Rellford (Michig
uestions not.
coach in Mark Gannon (Iowa)-qi
he gets the job done.
ink one Tony Campbell (Ohio
right in- strongest in league.
be in or- Ted Kitchel (Indiana)-h
f Bobby player; Hoosier basketball f
hair of factory.
and the Q: Now you're starting I
Who's going to be this season
blenv we A: Enough is enough in Co
rate the State to replace Eldon Miller
Q: Who will be the MVP th
ias been A: Ted Kitchel. He's goo
The all- talent is one year away in th
ke this: Q: Will Michigan get Anto
Iualifies A: What has UCLA got t
still come here, you can coup
in bites Q: Bet you don't know h
been scored in the history of
izes the A: 861,221. You're proba
pulled that one out..Simple,
the Rose Bowl. Anyway, at
curdled one-millionith point should 1
Wayne Duke take note.
stuff on Q: Who scored baseball's :
A: Look it up. I'm not go
answers.


'M' hoop trivia-
are you. on the Mark?

Freshman Paul Jokisch in a typical pose--on the floor after diving for a loose ball.

i a

PAINFUL SEPARATION?
dGet it over FAST-Daily Classifieds 764-0557

Tonight marks the 200th contest at
Crisler and you've seen every one.
From the days of Cazzie's Castle to the
Green-Hubbard era, through McGee
and finally to this season's new exciting
edition. Bust have you really remained
sharp through this bicentennial of
Michigan hoops? Test yourself below;
9-10-maybe you have seen 'em all; 6-9-
must have missed the Akrons,
Cleveland States, and Northern
Michigans; 0-6-too many trips to the
concessions.
1. Mike McGee is Michigan's all-time
leading scorer. Who - leads the
Wolverines in career scoring average?
2. How many ex-Wolverines are
currently .playing in the National.
Basketball Association?
3. Dan Pelekoudas is Michigan's.
latest Academic All-American. Who
was the Wolverines' first?.
4. Michigan's last appearance in the
NCAA championship game was in 1976,
when the Wolverines lost to Indiana, 86-
68. Name the Wolverines' lineup in that
game.
5. The Michigan State Spartans have
been rough on the Wolverines as of late,
winning the last three meetings bet-
ween the two teams. Who holds the
overall advantage in the rivalry bet-
ween the two?
6. What is "Butch" Wade's given
name?
7. Which current Michigan basketball
player had the highest scoring average
as a high school senior? Which
Wolverine had the highest rebounding
average as a prep senior?
8. Who are the only two Wolverine

basketball players born in the State of
Michigan?
9. Most high school centers play for-
ward in college. Similarly, many prep
forwards play guard in college. On the
other hand, a current Wolverine for-
ward played guard in high school. Who
is he?
10. Which current Michigan player
didn't start on his high school basket-
ball team until his senior year?
Answers
1. Cazzie Russell ('64-'66) has the top
career scoring average at 27.1 points
per game. McGee ('78-'81) averaged
only 21.4.
2. Four. Campy Russell (N.Y.
Knicks), Rickey Green (Utah Jazz),
Mike McGee (L.A. Lakers) and Phil
Hubbard (Cleveland Cavaliers).
3. Steve Grote in 1976.
4. Rickey Green, Steve Grote, Phil
Hubbard, ,Wayman Britt and John
Robinson.
5. Michigan holds a 68-45 advantage
over MSU.
6. Mark M. Wade, Jr.
7. Richard Rellford canned 31.5 points
per game at Sun Coast High School in
Riviera Beach, Fla., while Butch Wade
grabbed an average of 24 rebounds per
game at Boston's Tech High School.
8. Paul Jokisch (Pontiac) and Tim
McCormick (Detroit).
9. Rob McFarland, who played in the
backcourt for Gunnery Prep in New
York City.
10. Roy Tarpley, Michigan's 6-10 cen-
ter, stood only 6-6 as a high school
junior and sat on the bench for a senior-
dominated team in Alabama.

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