Men's Basketball
at Illinois
Tonight, 8 p.m.
Champaign
SPORTS
Hockey
vs. Notre Dame
Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 7 p.m.
Yost Ice Arena
The M i
Berenson seeks more
than talent
by Chad A. Safran
Daily Hockey Writer
To many, the month of April
contains only one important deadline
- April 15, the date set by the IRS
to pay federal income taxes. Next
month also contains a date important
to Michigan hockey - April 10.
One month from today, three or
four players will sign letters of intent
to play hockey for the Wolverines.
Michigan coach Red Berenson hand-
ed out three of the seven available
scholarships for next season during
* last fall's early signing period.
"Right now I know who will be
here next year," Berenson said. "The
CA Hk
FINAL STANDINGS
Miami (Ohio)
Michigan
Lake Superior
Michigan St.
Western Mich.'
Ferris St.
Bowling Green'
Kent St.
Illinois-Chicago
Notre Dame
Ohio St.
W L T
22 3 5
23 5 2
20 5 5
18 10 2
17 11 2
13 13 4
12 17 1
10 19 1
8 20 2
5 23 2
3 25 2
Pts.
49
48
45
38
36
30
25
21
18
12
8
ed players
kids we are going to sign have all al-
ready verbally committed. We will
be filling what we are losing; two
defenseman for sure."
Next season Michigan goal-
tenders Steve Shields and Chris
Gordon will be seniors and Al Loges
will be in his junior year. For this
reason Berenson will be holding off
signing another netminder until next
year's recruiting season.
Besides trying to attract good
players, Berenson seeks other char-
acteristics in future Wolverines.
"We want to attract the right kind
of kids," Berenson. said. "Warren
Looney (who is one of those already
headed to Ann Arbor for next sea-
son) from Calgary came here be-
cause he read Michigan was one of
the top three academic schools. It
was a good fit for both."
When Berenson first arrived to
coach the Wolverines, the squad
lacked talent. However, success
changes everything.
"It has been less and less difficult
each year," Berenson said. "Because
of our continued success, our repu-
tation gets better each year."
It is the job of assistants Mel
Pearson and Billy Powers to do most
of the scouting because Berenson is
behind the bench for all the Wolver-
ines' games.
"Mel coordinates our recruiting
and he has done a great job," Beren-
son said. "I get out when I can. I
have been to Calgary, British
Columbia, different parts of Ontario,
Boston and Lake Placid."
As with other sports, hockey re-
cruiting is often a game of chance.
"You start looking at kids in
bantam but sometimes you don't
know until senior year, especially
with the Canadian kids," Berenson
said. "We look at kids'who want to
go to school."
'M' cagers,
Illini jockey for
NCAA position
by Ken Sugiura
Daily Basketball Writer
With a week remaining in the
regular season, the topic of con-
versation mostly centers around
NCAA tournament seeds. Every-
one's got an opinion, and everyone
has their hunch.
So much talk about seeding, in
fact, you'd think people were talking
about an empty restaurant.
Illinois coach Lou Henson and
his Michigan counterpart, Steve
Fisher, have their own ideas, too.
"This year, there will be no team
below .500 in the Big Ten that will
get in the tournament," Henson said.
"Everybody that knows basket-
ball knows that if Michigan State
wins their next two games and they
go 8-10 in the league," Fisher said,
"they are without reservation a top
50 team, and belong in the tourna-
ment."
In addition to meeting tonight in
Champaign to iron out their differ-
ences, both coaches will pit their
basketball teams against each other
as well. In their penultimate games
of the regular season, the Wolverines
and Fighting Illini face each other in
last-ditch attempts to impress the
NCAA Selection Committee.
Michigan wants to seal a No. 1
seed, while Illinois hopes to pull an
upset of either the Wolverines to-
night or Iowa Saturday to reel in a
higher ranking.
The Wolverines, No. 3 in the
country, seem headed for the West
region as the No. 1 seed. Fisher said
he was not so certain.
"Without question, we have to
win two games and then hopefully
we can get a number one seed,"
Fisher said. "If we win the two, I
think we've got a good shot at it. If
we stumble once, we don't have a
chance."
Henson, however, held a different
opinion.
"If I had to guess, I'd say Michi-
gan is going to go to the West,
whether they're a number one seed
or two," he said.
As far his own club, third in the
Big Ten behind likely champion In-
diana and Michigan, Henson said he
thought his team would be rewarded
justly.
"We have played good basketball
and we have done a good job in one
of the top conferences in the coun-
try," he said, "so I think when it
comes time for the seedings, the
third-place team will get a three or a
four."
In their first meeting of the sea-
son Jan. 23, the Wolverines topped
the Illini for a 76-68 victory despite
27 points from Illinois forward Andy
Kaufmann and 18 from center Deon
Thomas.
Despite his team's gamely effort
against the Wolverines, Henson said
he is not very confident for an upset.
"If they come in here and have an
outstanding game, it's gonna be dif-
ficult for us to beat them," he said.
Tonight's game takes on an
added dimension as it will be the
first game for guard Jalen Rose since
it was reported he received a ticket
for loitering during a police drug
raid on a Detroit house last Oct. 4.
Rose was cleared by University offi-
cials of any guilt.
CCHA first round playoff pairings
(Best two-of-three)
March 12-14, except where noted
Notre Dame at Michigan
Ohio State at Miami, March 13-15
Illinois-Chicago at Lake Superior
Kent at Michigan State
Bowling Green at W. Michigan
Alaska-Fairbanks at Ferris State
EVAN PETRIE/Daily
Ray Jackson hauls in a rebound against Wisconsin earlier this season at
Crisler Arena. The Wolverines will take on Illinois tonight in Champaign.
ROSE
Continued from page 1
known (is) the reason I was there. I
was there to help a friend, and as far
as I'm concerned, that's the reason
why I was there, and that's the truth.
I won't lie about that.
"I would also like to say 'sorry'
to my family, my teammates, my
friends, and to anyone who supports
me that probably was worried about
me or worrying that I was doing
something to sabotage myself or
what I have going for me, because
I'd never do that."
Rose stressed his innocence of
any wrongdoing.
"I did nothing wrong," he said.
"I'm not in trouble with the law. I
was not arrested or anything like that
... Hopefully it can end today - it
probably won't - but hopefully it.
can end today and we'll go on with
the rest of the season, get a No. 1
seed and win the championship."
Fisher stood behind Rose and his
actions, and he also scolded the me-
dia for overblowing what he consid-
ered be a relative non-story.
"Jalen Rose is not involved with
drugs in any capacity," Fisher said.
"A user, a seller, he's not. I do think
that in hindsight, he stated it, and I
would strongly agree, that he was in
the wrong place at the wrong time,
and if he could do it over again, in
spite of the fact that he knew every-
one there, went to school with sev-
eral of the guys that were there, he
didn't need to be there at that time.
"I want to go on record, in the
discussions that I've had, not only
with Jalen, but with the police de-
partment, they also have stated that
Jalen Rose is not a suspect in any-
thing."
"No one had contacted me or at-
tempted to contact me (from the Free
Press) until a couple of days ago," he
added. "And if it's a situation which
involves Michigan basketball, it
without question involves Steve
Fisher ... I did not think that it was
an issue that would get this type of
attention when I spoke with the po-
lice. When I spoke with the police,
they conveyed that to me, 'Jalen
Rose has done nothing."'
The remaining mystery lies in the
whereabouts of Rose's loitering
ticket. The Detroit Police Depart-
ment never forwarded the ticket to
the 36th District Court, and Rose's
case thus never came to trial. Inves-
tigators told the Detroit News they
decided not to pursue the charge
against Rose. The DPD officially
had no comment on the issue.
"I have no idea what has hap-
pened or where the ticket is," Fisher
said. "That's an issue that you would
have to discuss with the police."
Asked whether he thought Rose
might have received preferential
treatment from the police depart-
ment, Fisher, who said he has known
about the occurrence since Oct. 5,
pleaded ignorance. "I hope not. I
don't think so," Fisher said.
Michigan coach Steve Fisher speaks to the media about Jalen Rose during yesterday's press conference at
Schembechler Hall. Fisher and Michigan athletic director Jack Weidenbach defended the Wolverine point guard,
who has come under scrutiny for his presence at a Detroit crack house last fall. Rose was not caught with any
drugs, and will not be investigated by the University.
Breslin Center Promotions
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INTRAMURAL SPORTS PROGRAM
TABLE TENNIS TOURNAMENT
(Singles and Doubles)
U A
Saturday, March
Michigan State University Auditorium
i