14 - The Michigan Daily - Tipoff 93 - Thursday, November 18, 1993

0

0

i


The Michigan

1993941Big Ten Men's

ILLINOIS
Coach: Lou Henson, 19th year
(369-188 at Illinois, 609-295
overall)
Last season: 19-13 overall, 11-7
Big Ten (third)
Key returnees: C Deon
Thomas (18.3 ppg, 8.0 rpg), F
Robert Bennett (7.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg), G
Richard Keene (8.3 ppg, 2.3 apg)
Big losses: F Andy Kaufmann
(17.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg), G Rennie
Clemons (9.9 ppg, 4.2 apg)
Fresh faces: C Shelly Clark, F
Chris Gandy, G Kiwane Garris
The losses of forward Andy
Kaufmann and guard Rennie
Clemons (due to academic
problems) are huge for an Illinois
team that surprised most
prognosticators last season by
finishing third in
the conference.
Two-time
team scoring
leader and MVP
Deon Thomas
will be the man
inside. He is the
lone returning
senior starter
and should
become the Thomas
school's all-time leading scorer
early in the season.
He is the conference's leading
returning shooter (.606 last year)
and has led the Illini in rebounding
the last three years.
"Deon Thomas is as good a
scoring 6'9" player as I have had,"
coach Lou Henson said. "We would
also like for him to move outside
and shoot the 15, 16, 17-foot shot,
and I think he can do that."
Junior transfer Shelley Clark
will aid Thomas inside. The 6-
foot-9, 265-pound Clark was the
1993 junior college player of the
year. If Henson pairs the two,
Illinois will outmuscle many teams
on the boards.
Power forward Robert Bennett
will aid the Illini on the inside. At 6
foot 6, the junior has also logged
time at center.
Senior T.J. Wheeler, returning
starter and three-point specialist
Richard Keene and freshman
Kiwane Garris will compete for
time at the guard spots.
"We're really concerned about
the inexperience that we have, even
though we have two or three people
who've played a lot," Henson said.

INDIANA
Coach: Bob Knight, 23rd year
(517-164 at Indiana, 619-214
overall)
Last season: 31-4 overall, 17-1
Big Ten (first)
Key returnees: G Damon
Bailey (10.1 ppg, 4.1 apg), F Alan
Henderson (11.1 ppg, 8.1 rpg), G
Pat Graham (6.5 ppg, 1.4 apg)
Big losses: F Calbert Cheaney
(22.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg), G Greg Graham
(16.5 ppg, 2.9 apg), C Matt Nover
(11.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg)
Fresh faces: C Richard
Manderville, G Sherron Wilkerson,
F Robbie Eggers
Junior Alan Henderson and
senior Damon Bailey are the keys to
Indiana's success. With NCAA
Player-of-the-Year Calbert Cheaney
and all-Big Ten first teamer Greg
Graham in the NBA, the remaining
Hoosiers have a great deal of
scoring to replace.
The 1993 conference champions
lost four players in all, who
accounted for 53 points per game.
Bob Knight has seven letterwinners
and five newcomers on the roster.
Bailey needs to reach his
predestined heights for the Hoosiers
to be contenders. When he plays
well, so does his team.
"Bailey has to play a hell of a lot
harder," Knight said. "I haven't
been pleased with his effort."
Pat Graham joins Bailey as the
other senior in the backcourt.
Graham played
in just 13 games
last year after
breaking his foot
in the third game
of the year.
Henderson,
the team's top
returning scorer,
is currently
recuperating
softy from a knee
injury suffered
last February.
Sophomore Brian Evans will
play alongside Henderson at the
other forward spot.
"(Evans) has great potential as a
player," Knight said. "He simply
understands how to play."
After all that is the Indiana
philosophy - employ players who
are secure in the fundamentals.
Knight has never had a losing
season with the Hoosiers and sports
an Indiana winning percentage of
.759.

IOWA

Coach: Tom Davis, eighth year
(152-72 at Iowa, 426-222 overall)
Last season: 23-9 overall, 11-7
Big Ten (third)
Key returnees: G/F Kenyon
Murray (6.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg), G Kevin
Smith (5.0 ppg, 3.9 apg), F James
Winters (8.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg)
Big losses: C Acie Earl (16.9
ppg, 8.9 rpg), G Val Barnes (14.7
ppg, 2.1 apg), F Wade Lookingbill
(7.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg)
Fresh faces: G Chris Kingsbury,
F Jess Settles
Hawkeye coach Tom Davis will
likely have a difficult time this year.
He lost three starters from last
year's team - Acie Earl and Val
Barnes among them - and his top
returning scorer, James Winters,
averaged just 8.6 points.
Senior small forward Winters
could be the team's leader. The top
returning rebounder (5.5 per game)
led a group of Big Ten all-stars in
Europe during the summer with 18.9
points per game.

MICH. STATE
Coach: Jud Heathcote, 18th
season (298-202 at Michigan State,
378-255 overall)
Last season: 15-13 overall, 7-11
Big Ten (eighth)
Key returnees: G Shawn
Respert (20.1 ppg, 2.6 apg), G Eric
Snow (4.3 ppg, 5.2 apg), Kris
Weshinskey (10.4 ppg, 2.4 apg)
Big losses: C Mike Peplowski
(14.5 ppg, 10. 0 rpg), F Dwayne
Stephens (9.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg)
Fresh faces: John Garavaglia,
Steve Polonowski
The Spartans bring a new
philosophy of running and gunning to
_- this year's team.
Three starters and
10 letterwinners
return from the
club that posted
its fifth straight
winning season
and earned a berth
in the NIT last
Respert year.
Mike Peplowski's numbers will
be sorely missed. But junior guard
Shawn Respert - who averaged
20.1 points per game, good for
fourth in the Big Ten - will be
counted on to continue his scoring
ways.
Respert averaged 12.1 points per
game for the gold medal-winning
U.S. squad at the World Uniyersity
Games last summer. Junior Eric
Snow, best known for his lousy
free-throw shooting (.268 last year)
joins Respert in a heavily fortified
Spartan backcourt.
Senior Kris Weshinskey will
play the with Respert and Snow at
times as well as come off the bench.
The three-guard set will allow State
to run the fast-break as Heathcoate
has vowed to do this season.
"I feel comfortable with our
guards," Coach Jud Heathcote said.
"We have the best guard in the
country in Shawn Respert ... Snow
works so hard on his game. We
have an excellent backcourt."
Michigan State will have some
skilled players inside too. Senior
Anthony Miller - one of three
players listed at 6 feet 9-- may be
prepared to make a contribution.
Sophomore Quinton Brooks is
on Heathcote's good list after
adding 15 pounds and playing well
at the U.S. Olympic Festival during
the' summer.
"We have to have a bigger
lineup inside," Heathote said,.

MINNESOTA

Coach: Clem Haskins, eighth
season (111-100 at Minnesota, 212-
173 overall)
Last season: 22-10 overall, 9-9
Big Ten (5th)
Key returnees: G Voshon
Lenard (17.1 ppg, 2.6 apg), G Ariel
McDonald (11.0 ppg, 4.4 apg), F
Jayson Walton (11.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg),
F Randy Carter (11.4 ppg, 6.9 rpg)
Big losses: None
Fresh faces: F John Thomas, C
Trevor Winter

Woethke took over the Western
Michigan program, following duties
as an assistant with Lou Henson at
Illinois. He convinced Fisher to join
him in Kalamazoo. It was not easy.
The Fisher family foundation was
just being set when it was time to
move. Steve had married his wife,
Angie, a special education teacher at
Rich East, in 1974. They bought a
house in 1978. Their first son, Mark,
was born in 1978. Then came 1979
and a large pay cut.
Becoming an assistant with the
Broncos meant Steve would go from
making $30,000 to $18,000. Angie
was without a job at the time, even
though she had a master's degree.
The Fishers' move had an effect
on many people and places, especially
Rich East.
"When they left, it was a big loss.
We had two superstars leaving the
staff," Sandefer said. "There are some
people you would like to have your
kid play for and Steve was one of
them. He was always a gentleman."
The new position at Western was
stressful, so much so that Fisher broke
out into a case of the hives. At the
time, he thought it to be nothing more
than an allergic reaction. The family
changed detergents and Steve even
took scratch tests to no avail.
It was just the stress of moving
from high school to a Division I col-
lege basketball program.
As committed as his family was to
him when the move took place, Fisher
is equally faithful to his wife and kids
- Mark, who is now a freshman at
Ann Arbor Pioneer and Jonathan, 7.
The trio is the most important thing in
Fisher's life.
"Always has been, always will be,"
Fisher said. "It's important for me to
do stuff with my family. My kids can
come over and watch me work and
participate in it. I'm not a guy who
lingers out and about. I'm more of a
guy who goes home when he's done."
The Fisher kids not only come to
Crisler Arena and watch their father
coach the Maize and Blue. The family

Missouri in search of the next star. But
Fisher does what he can to compen-
sate, even calling home three times a
day.
While Fisher's recruiting trips to
far-off places often prove fruitless,
sometimes they pay off. Sometimes,
they pay off five times better than
expected.
Following a 1991 season in which
the Wolverines finished 14-15, in-
cluding a first-round NIT loss to Colo-
rado, Fisher knew his artillery was out
of ammunition. It was time to reload.
"It was important for us to get a
good recruiting class," Fisher said. "I
was smart enough to know that eighth-
place finishes, no matter how good
you think you are doing with what
you've got, you are not going to hold
a job."
Holding a job became a lot easier
when the Fab Five - Ray Jackson,
Jimmy King, Juwan Howard, Jalen
Rose and Chris Webber - arrived on
the scene at the beginning of the 1991-
92 campaign.
From the start, Jackson knew that
Fisher was his kind of coach.
"He was cool. I said to myself that
he was the kind of coach I would like
to play for," Jackson said. "He was
straight and a good person. It was a
better situation (with Fisher) than when
a lot of Black coaches came to my
house. I was thinking I wanted to play
for a Black coach."
While Jackson and fellow Texan
King commited to Michigan in the
early signing period, Fisher had no
idea that his newcomers would be put
under the microscope.
"I didn't really think it was going
to be other than a great recruiting
class," Fisher said. "Never in my wild-
est dreams did I think we would get
this type of media scrutiny before
they even bounced a ball."
Despite the hype surrounding the
star freshmen, Fisher proved his low-
key approach suited the Wolverines
perfectly, coaching them to an unex-
pected appearance in the 1992 NCAA
Championship game against Duke.

abilities to use as a communicator to
put together three Final Four teams.
"Everybody wants to be the man
and everybody can't be. Somebody's
going to score 20 and somebody's
going to score seven. I think I've got
a feel to handle them when they get a
little frustrated," he said. "When you
don't care who gets the glory, every-
body gets more."
Fisher certainly got plenty of glory
in the spring of 1989.
Michigan and Steve Fisher defined

wait three weeks for th
though. Not even Fishe
Head coaching pa
available at Illinois Stat
Michigan. Fisher was
either one. Frieder offer
tion as an assistant with
ils, which he turned do
But before Fisher cou
of those jobs, the Woly
game against the Musk
"I was scared to deal
game)," Fisher said. "I
Eu

Winters
Sophomore Kenyon Murray was
among the conference leaders in
steals, while starting 15 games.
Point guard Kevin Smith is the
only other senior, as well as the
other returning starter. He was able
to fine-tune his game in Europe as
well.
"Our guards are our strengths,"
Davis said. "We'll be fast-breaking
more. We've gotten away from that
because of Acie Earl."
After losing Chris Street in an
auto accident halfway through last
season, the team won 10 of its final
15 conference games.
Davis may have to call on such
inspirational play from his team again.

Considering that Clem Haskins'
club has all five starters returning, as
well as 10 letterwinners in the fold,
the Gophers do not expect to defend
their NIT championship come March.
Preseason second team All-Big
Ten and 1993 NIT MVP Voshon
Lenard showed last season that he is
one of the top guards in the nation.
The junior was second-team All-Big
Ten last year and will carry the
majority of the scoring load again in
1993-94.
"Voshon is a fine ball player,"
Haskins said.
Senior Arriel McDonald will hook
up with Lenard to form one of the top
three backcourts in the conference.
McDonald can dish off the ball well
but must be more consistent.
Forwards Randy Carter and
Jayson Walton had nearly identical
scoring and rebounding statistics last
season and are only getting better.
Walton has tremendous athletic
ability and was among the most
improved players in the conference
last year.
Carter is not afraid to use his 6-
foot-8, 235-pound frame to rebound.
Surely Haskins will not be happy
with -an NIT berth in,1994;
f: ;, a

also makes an occasional jaunt toDairy
Queen or Taco Bell.'
He'll even take a drive with his
children - just as long as he gets to
spend time with them.
Fisher can be spotted kicking the
soccer ball with Jonathan in the back-
yard. He can be seen biking through
the neighborhood with Angie, or per-
haps even giving Mark a hand with
some math homework.
Although Fisher taught high school
math, it doesn't mean Mark comes
running to his father for help.
"I'm the bad cop," Fisher said. "I
have to see it more than him coming to
see me."
Seeing a lot of his family becomes
a challenge for a man whose liveli-
hood takes him to places like Texas or

TheBasketball Times rewarded Fisher
for his efforts by naming him National
Coach'of the Year.
As he has with all his teams, Fisher
used the same philosophy as a coach
that he invoked as a teacher - know
the basics and you will be successful.
"If you don't have math fundamen-
tals, know how to multiply and divide,
you're not going to be a great math-
ematical student," Fisher said. "You
can't win national championships if you
don't have your fundamentals down."
While the past two years have been
full of stars and slams, Fisher has had
to balance egos as much as instruct his
players. Dealing with five prep super-
stars and meshing them with estab-
lished veterans can be trying on many
.coaches. However, Fisher has put his

'That will always last in my mind, because had
we not won, that might have been the last.'
- Steve Fisher
on his first game as Michigan head coach

the term March Madness throughout
the four weeks of the NCAA tourna-.
ment. It all began simply enough when
then-head coach Bill Frieder an-
nounced he was departing for Arizona
State, just days before the Wolverines
were to take on Xavier in the first
round of the NCAA tournament.
Fisher had known Frieder formany
years. Because of the close ties be-
tween Angie and Frieder's wife, Jan,
Fisher teases that "she hired me be-
cause she wanted to get Angie up
here." Fisher had been Frieder's as-
sistant at Michigan since 1982.
Then-Michigan athletic director
Bo Schembechler fired Frieder before
the tourney , filling the vacancy with
Fisher.
"I did not want someone from ASU.
I wanted a Michigan man on the bench
and not an ASU coach," Schembechler
said at the press conference announc-
ing Fisher's temporary hiring.
Fisher's fate was to be decided as
soonas Michigan was eliminated from
the tournament. No one expected to

the locker room. When
the floor, I was the lastc
pregame warm-up to the
I'm wandering around ti
what room we were in."
Fisher eventually fou
and guided Michigan to
Who knows what would'
if Fisher's sense of di
worse.
"That will always last
because had we not wor
have been the last."
It certainly was not th
Five more games wc
Five victories. The last 1
time. And each time CE
picture of Steve Fisher, th
the bottom of the screen r
head coach." Inside, Fisi
ter the Wolverines defea
semifinal opponent Noi
for the first time in three
was not concerned about
Arbor.
"After we beat them,'
was going to get the job,