Page 8-The Michigan Daily-Sports Monday- November30, 1992 Rice ready for visit by Blue Improving Owls hope to go big-time against cagers by Ken Sugiura Daily Basketball Writer Tomorrow night's season opener against Rice is just one game, right? It's merely a chance to showcase na- tive Texans Jimmy King and Ray Jackson, correct? Don't tell that to the folks down in Houston. While on paper it has the look of a tune-up for Saturday's Duke matchup, Michigan's game against the Owls at the Summit will provide the Wolverines with a taste of what will take place from here on out. "We've made a lot of progress over the last couple years," Rice coach Willis Wilson said, "and we need a test and we need a flavor of postseason and big-time competition." The Wolverines will provide that flavor for just about all of Michigan's opponents this season. Michigan is a big name and a huge prospective upset, the kind of team any coach and program would love to defeat. Make that doubly so for the Owls and rookie coach Wilson. "It's gonna be a good measuring stick for us to find out what kind of ballclub we're gonna have," Wilson said, "and give us an idea of things that we're gonna need to we have to work on." Rice is an improving team, a squad that won 20 games last season for the first time in 38 years. In his five seasons at Rice, coach Scott Thompson resurrected the program from the bottom of the Southwest Conference and then left after last season. Now, in front of a national audience, Wilson has a stellar opportunity to get his tenure off in grand style. Would there be a better way to announce to the world that Rice has arrived upon the basketball scene than an upset of the Wolverines on ESPN? Similar dreams, those of the Walter Mitty variety or otherwise, undoubtedly float through the heads of each coach and player that Michigan will face this season. And certainly the prospect exists tomorrow night, at least according to Wilson. "If we're able to do a good job on the boards and handle the pressure and then control the tempo, we'll make a good showing," Wilson said. Wilson's ace in the hole is center Brent Scott, per- haps the premier center in the Southwest Conference. The 6-foot-10 senior averaged 15.8 points and 8.3 re- bounds per game last season. "He'll come to play," Wilson said. "Brent is one of the few guys on our team who has had an opportunity to be involved with international competition and he's been around good players, and he has a good feel for that. He'll represent himself well." u DOUGLAS KANTER/Daily On Tuesday Eric Riley, Juwan Howard, and the rest of the Wolverines will face Rice, a team that will be trying to make name for itself when it takes on the top squad in the nation. - Q FAST FREE DELIVERY 663-3333 Located next to Colonial Lanes Plaza on S. 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Exclusive Westside Ann Arbor 1 Bedrooms only $409 *2 Bedrooms only $499 PARK PLACE 761-1897 Free Heat Huge Apts. w/ massive closets Rentals from $449 HILLCREST 761-1874 1 Bedrooms only $410 EComplementary Wildlife 2 Bedrooms & Townhomes GOLFSIDE LAKE 434-1016 mOn the banks of Ford Lake Year-round resort living .u Rentals from $415 SCHOONER COVE 485-8666 Minutes from EMU & U of M EHuge 1 & 2 bedroom Apts. -Rentals from $410 GLENCOE HILLS 971-5455 * Heat paid aWalk to U of M Hospital *2 Bedrooms perfect for roommates MEDICAL CENTER COURT 662-2950 *Glass enclosed Florida Rooms Minutes from 1-94 Rentals from $419 awarded team MVP DETROIT - Michigan senior tri-captain Chris Hutchinson was named winner of the Louis B. Hyde Award as the most valuable player of the 1992 Wolverine football team to highlight the 72nd Annual Michigan Football Bust last Tuesday at the Westin hotel. The veteran Hutchinson, who was voted Big Ten Defensive Lineman-of-the-Year by conference coaches, started all 11 games this season for the unbeaten Big Ten champion Wolverines. Michigan is 8-0-3 on the season with its next game vs. Washington in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 1993, in Pasadena. Hutchinson, a starter at defensive tackle for six games and at outside linebacker for five and the tackle leader at both positions, was also named winner of the Dr. Arthur D. Robinson Scholarship Award as top student-athlete on the team. A three- time member of the Big Ten all-aca- demic team, Hutchinson owns a 3.32 grade point in Movement Sciences. Having already earned first-team all-America honors from Kodak and the Football News, Hutchinson is a candidate for academic all-American honors. Senior tri-captain Corwin Brown was presented with the Robert F. Ufer award for spirit, while- senior center Steve Everitt was named win- ner of the Hugh H. Rader, Jr. Memorial Award as the best offen- sive lineman for the Wolverines in 1992. Junior inside linebacker Steve Morrison was named winner of the Roger Zatkoff Award as the top Michigan linebacker. Wolverine coach Gary Moeller, named winner of the Big Ten Dave McClain Coach-of-the-Year Award last week, was proud of the selection of Hutchinson as team MVP. "Chris Hutchinson, in his posi- tion, has played as well as anybody I've seen go through Michigan, and he's just a tremendous student-ath- al 6 0 I