.,
Hockey
vs. Ferris State
Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Yost Ice Arena
The Michigan Daily.
SPORTS
Volleyball.
vs. Northwestera
Friday, 7:30 p.m
Varsity Arena
4W-
Wednesday, November 8, 1989
Page 9
First
by Steven Cohen
Daily Basketball Writer
recruits commit to
M'
Last March, Michigan basketball coach Steve
Fisher proved he can coach. Now the time has
come when his other abilities will be scrutinized.
Just as the college campaign ended, the new
season- recruiting season-began, a season
marked by innumerable phone calls, postcards,
and visits to prospects' homes and all-star camps.
The fall signing period of November 8-15
will be an early indication of Fisher's recruiting
results and offers another forum with which to
compare former coach Bill Frieder and Fisher.
Frieder earned the reputation as a capable, tire-
less, recruiter who attracted several top prospects
to Ann Arbor.
Michigan has six available scholarships, not
including the one offered last year to Grand
Rapids' Sam Mitchell, who is spending what
would have been his first year with the Wol-
verines at a prep school in New Hampshire.
Fisher has stated that Michigan could sign any
number of recruits.
ALREADY, Michigan has received verbal
commitments from two players-Jason Bossard
of Charlotte, Michigan and Rich McIver of Free-
port, Texas. According to most recruiting pub-
lications, the two prospects rank among the top
200 in the country.
Last season, Bossard, a 6'4" guard, averaged
around 13 points per game at Grand Lake High
School. Bossard, who will play his final season
at Charlotte High School, chose Michigan over
Loyola (California) Marymount.
"He can really shoot the three- that's pri-
marily why they recruited him," new Grand Lake
coach Bob Harl said. "He has average speed and
average quickness. He has a great work ethic and
really knows the game. I see him being a terrific
eirole player."
McIver averaged 13.6 points,12 rebounds, and
five blocks per game for Brazosport High
School. Considered a sleeper, the 6'9, 200-pound
forward impressed heavily this past summer.
McIver, only 6'1" in ninth grade, played junior
varsity in 10th grade.
"He's grown so fast I'm not going to get the
most out of him. Michigan will," Brazosport
coach Ken Kasper said. "When I first got him he
could barely shoot a layup but he has listened to
me and practiced hard and made a good ballplayer
out of himself."
HIS VISIT the weekend of the Michigan-
Notre Dame football game impressed McIver,
who also visited Kentucky and USC.
"I went around with Eric Riley and Rumeal. It
left a good impression on me. Those are the kind
of people I like to be around, I don't drink or
nothing. Of the three schools I visited, I could
communicate better with the players from
Michigan.
"(Fisher) really presented himself in a pro-
fessional way. He didn't try and force anything.
He was nice to (my) coach and didn't try and do
anything behind his back."
Fisher, undefeated as a coach, lost a few pros-
pects to other schools. Two blue chippers-
Chicago's Brandon Cole, and Bradenton, Flor-
ida's Clifford Rozier- chose Illinois and North
Carolina, respectively.
Michigan is among the schools being con-
sidered for at least four other top prospects. These
include 6'7" Lorenzo Orr of Detroit Pershing,
6'7" Willie Fisher of Orlando (FL) Oakridge
High, 6'10" Bill Curley of Duxbury (MA) High
and 6'10" Joe Reed from University High School
in Cleveland.
Eric Montross of Indiana's Bedford North
Lawrence High School is considering Michigan
along with North Carolina and Indiana. Mon-
tross, considered to be the best center in the
country, has stated he will wait until the April
signing date to decide.
THE RECRUITMENT of Orr has been
relentless and Michigan, Michigan State, and
USC represent Orr's top three choices. He is
expected to sign today, because, as his coach
Johnny Goston says, "the (recruitment) has been
very intense, extremely intense. We'll be glad
when its over."
Pershing guidance counselor Milton Gust
explained Orr's situation. "I think a lot of his
decision will have to do with his mother. He's
very close to her," Gust added.
Though Goston refused to reveal Orr's decis-
ion, it seemed as if USC is his choice. "His
mother thinks that maybe the change in pace will
help him develop into a man in terms of re-
sponsibility and being independent," Goston said.
"(She feels) that he can't lean on her forever
and that USC wants him for him. She feels that
there is genuine concern for him as a person
there. That they want him as a person one and as
an athlete second."
Willie Fisher has narrowed his choices to
-Michigan, Tennessee, Jacksonville, and Con-
necticut. According to his coach, Ron Smith,
Fisher will decide "within the week." His best
friend plays for Jacksonville and he has family
near Connecticut. Michigan and Tennessee
remain possibilities based on the reputation of
the schools and the coaches.
Reed, who is also being pursued by Ohio
State and some West coast schools, is expected
to make an early decision. "He's a tremendously
skilled player," said Eddie Dyer of the Cleveland
Plain Dealer. "His school is a private school so
he doesn't get to go up against the best players
week after week. But he's definitely the No. 1
big man in the area."
Curley is a consensus All-American who
averaged 27 points and 18 rebounds a game last
season. He will decide today at 12:00 among
Michigan, Boston College, Notre Dame, Con-
necticut, and Villanova. Curley visited Boston
College last weekend.
"I thought (Coach Fisher) was a great guy,"
said Curley's father, Mike. "He was very respect-
ful. I never realized what a great school Michigan
was. We'd probably like to see him close. But
the whole decision is up to him."
Michigan coach Steve Fisher hopes to land more outstanding recruits'
like Michigan guard Michael Talley, shown above in last year's
Michigan State Division A Playoffs.
Michigan Replay: Brunch with Bo
Blue-White game,
showcases rookies
.
AA
:by Adam Benson
Daily Football Writer
(First of two parts)
Every year, some twenty-five to
thirty incoming college stu-
dents/football hopefuls put their
futures into the welcoming hands of
Michigan coach Bo Schembechler.
About nine years ago, Bob Lipson
followed their lead and gambled his
, livelihood on the success of the
0 Wolverines' coach.
Lipson, a television producer, did
not come to Schembechler to learn
how to run a draw play, but instead
to make a television show. It was
Lipson, not the great Michigan
coach, drawing up the plans.
Lipson created Michigan Replay
while at WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) in
1975. In 1980, Lipson began to
make the show on his own, forming
CTC Productions and taking Mich-
igan Replay over to Channel 4. Lip-
son's daring play call came only
after he secured the star player in his
lineup.
"Bo for some very strange reason
said yes," Lipson said about the
coach's support for the change. "He
stuck with me rather than staying
with Channel 7. I had nothing to
offer him."
Since then, the show has bounced
see how it's done and the format has
been copied. Ours has always been
done pretty well, and the ratings
have been good."
Lipson adds: "It is by far the
most watched coach's show in the
country. We air in every market in
Ohio. Last year, we were on more
markets than (Ohio State coach)
John Cooper's show was. I'm very
proud of that."
When Channel 7 and Lipson
lured Bo away from Channel 4, they
promised Schembechler a show "big-
ger and better" than any coach's
show before.
After leaving Channel 7 in 1980,
Michigan Replay aired, on six sta-
tions in Michigan and one in Ohio.
Today, the independently-produced
show reaches 28 markets throughout
the country.
In the Detroit area, Michigan Re-
play has an average rating of five on
the Nielsen ratings scale. While it is
not the top-rated show in its time
slot, Michigan Replay draws a po-
tential viewer that is more attractive
to advertisers than a show like
American Gladiators (one of the
show's competitors).
"This is very good for a Sunday
morning," said Channel 2 research
See REPLAY, page 10
"L Z f.B ~P V V %'WU' ..FW P.
by Taylor Lincoln
Daily Basketball Writer
7'0" red-shirt center Eric Riley
sent out a message during yester-
day's Blue-White scrimmage at De-
troit Country Day High School.
Riley led a contingent of first-
year players with 12 points and
three blocked shots (unofficially) as
the rookies challenged the veterans
before falling 39-36 in a 20 minute
half.
Tony Tolbert and Michael Tal-
ley added seven and six points,
respectively, for the first-year team.
Terry Mills led all scorers with 16
points.
The veterans were without Ru-
meal Robinson who reinjured the
ligaments in his left thumb Mon-
day in practice.
According to trainer Dan Minert
the injury to Robinson is a recur-
rence of the one which nagged him
throughout the 88-89 season. His
status will be re-evaluated today.
Fisher says that he expects Rob-
inson to be available for the season
opener November 25 versus Ariz-
ona. Minert added that the only
therapy for Robinson's injury is
performing strengthening exercises
and staying off the basketball court.
Robinson's absence may have
accounted, in part, for the game's
close score.
Coach Steve Fisher said, "(The
first-year players) played thpm
close, so either they played defeijsp
or the other team didn't play very
well."
Riley wouldn't comment on .his
performance other than to say, "We
were able to beat them a couple.cf
times. We can play...They really,
missed Rumeal."
"Everybody played hard," spill
senior guard Mike' Griffin. "But
we're not clicking as a unit yet.
That will come."
The latter 20 minutes were div-
ided into two 10 minute quarters in
which the teams were changed, cie-
ating greater balance of experienced
and inexperienced players.
The game acted as an exhibition
for Detroit Country Day's 6'9"'
forward/center Chris Webber whom-
the Wolverines are recruiting.
Only a junior, the 16-year old
Webber is one of the most highly
recruited players in the country. He
is considering, "all the Big Ten
teams, all the Big East teams, and
some of the ACC teams."
Still he did not discount Mich-
igan as one of his choices. "Mich-
igan speaks for itself academically
and coach Fisher is a nice man. He
is a really nice person who doesn't
just talk to you about basketball.
He cares about other things.
Michigan coach Bo Schembechlerris joined on the set of Michigan
Replay by co-host Jim Brandstatter .
back to Channel 7 and to its current
position on Channel 2 beginning
this year. No matter how many
moves Lipson makes, he always has
at least one fan backing his play
calling.
"He's a pro," said Schembechler
about his floor general. "This show
is kind of the No. 1 coach's show
around. Coaches check this show to
Smith brings new success to 'M' stickers
by Matt Rennie
Daily Sports Writer
Field hockey coach Patti Smith
began the 1989 season with
"interim" in her title. But like her
more famous counterpart at Mich-
igan, she quickly proved that she,
deserved a permanent job.
The 1989 squad advanced to 9-9-2
overall, 3-7 in the Big Ten, a
sizeable improvement upon the1988
team's record of 6-10-4 overall, 1-6-
1 in the conference.
The new year brought many
changes for the Wolverines. In ad-
dition to a new coach, the team faced
the challenge of playing in a differ-
ent conference. The newly-formed
Midwest Collegiate Field Hockey
included the Wolverines among its
six teams.
The conference boasted two of the
top five teams in the country,
Northwestern and Iowa, and an
additional top-20 team in Northern
Illinois. Michigan faced all three
teams, as well as Michigan State and
the final minutes in their second
game against Northern Illinois only
to see the Huskies tie the game and
go on to win it in overtime.
In the season finale, the Maize
and Blue fell to an enthusiastic
Michigan State club by a 3-1 tally.
This prevented the team's other goal
from being achieved. They had
previously defeated the Spartans once
and swept Ohio State.
"We'll make those both goals
which we hope to accomplish next
season," a visibly disappointed
Smith said after the State game.
IT IS A TRIBUTE to the
improvement of the team, however,
that the disappointments stand out
more than the many achievements.
This year, the team remembers what
kept it from being great.
There were some great moments.
Michigan defeated a top-20 team in
their win over St. Louis University.
They followed that up by erasing an
early 2-0 deficit against Boston Col-
lege to win 4-2.
disciplined and had a better mental
focus. I think we did a better job of
concentrating on the task at hand."
Cantor felt that this improvement
was a joint effort. "With Patti this
year, we weren't just talking about
things, we actually did it."
One of those doing it was senior
goalkeeper Joanne Green, who turned
in a fine season defending the cage.
The usually enthusiatic Green de-
scibed her feelings as "inexplicable"
after playing her last game.
The greatest accomplishment of
this team is the foundation it set for
the future of Michigan field hockey.
Rookies like Katie Vignevic and
Mary Beth Bird will be able to build
on the feats this year's group per-
formed.
Cantor summed it up for all the
seniors: "(This year) was a good way
to go out. It's too bad it ended the
way it did."
HOCKElY NOTEBOOK
by Andrew Gottesman
Daily Hockey Writer
WELL, MAYBE SOMEONE WILL WIN ONE: Barring a pair of ties
when Miami (OH) takes on UIC this weekend for two games, one or both
of the CCHA cellar-dwellers will get their first conference win or wins of
the year. Actually, for UIC, even a tie would be nice, as the Flames have
gone 0-8 thus far. Miami is 0-3-3 in the CCHA.
OFFENSIVE DROUGHT: No Wolverines are among the top 13 CCHA
scoring leaders. Four players (Denny Felsner, Rob Brown, Mike Moes and
Ted Kramer) are tied for the team lead with eight points. Felsner leads
Michigan with six goals and Mike Moes is pacing Michigan with seven
assists. Michigan State's Kip Miller leads the league in points and goals
with 23 and 13, respectively.
Don Stone's goal Friday night was his first since the second game of the:
season, when he lofted the puck into an empty net against Miami.
"We've had a lot of guys not score in a long time," coach Red Berenson
said. "It's good to see the puck start going in the net."
ALMOST A DOUBLE-CENTURY: Michigan senior center Rob Brown.
has 99 career points on 41 goals and 58 assists. Brown also has 99 penalty
minutes on 48 penalties.
AND HALF A CENTURY FOR A DEFENSEMAN: Senior Todd,
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