6- Tipoff '94 - Thursday, November 17, 1994 Big Ten race wide-open after big stars depart % a _ 9 By PAUL BARGER The Big Ten is experiencing a ma- jor transition. Players, such as Indiana's Damon Bailey, who have seemingly been around forever, have left for the fame and fortune of the NBA..New faces throughout the conference will look to keep the league at the high level of play it is accustomed to. One thing that is for certain is that there is a great amount of uncertainty. For the first time in a long time it is very difficult to predict how the con- ference will break down. The traditional power is the favor- ite once again. Indiana will have to deal with the loss of guards Bailey (graduation) and Sherron Wilkerson (injury), but Bobby Knight has been dealt an impressive hand. Knight landed one of the top recruiting classes in the nation to add to his already impressive roster. Forward Alan Henderson leads the Hoosier attack and joins Wisconsin's Michael Finley and Rashard Griffith, Minnesota's VoshonLenardandMichi- gan State's Shawn Respert on the 'media's preseason All-Big Ten team. Respert was selected preseason Player of the Year and gives coach Jud Heathcote hope for a conference championship in his final year at the helm of the Spartans. The senior guard is the only returning member of last season's All-Big Ten first team. Stu Jackson may have dropped Wisconsin for the NBA, but he left behind two outstanding players in Griffith and Finley. If the Badgers can get improved play from their sup- porting cast, the Big Ten title could come to Madison for the first time since 1947. Many experts agree that the Big Ten will remain one of the top confer- ences in the NCAA this season. The conference will have to deal with the losses of national player of the year Glen Robinson, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Deon Thomas, Bailey and Lawrence Funderburke. However, there are a host of qual- ity returning veterans as well as some outstanding new editions. . "Once again the Big Ten is going to be strong from top to bottom," Minnesota coach Clem Haskins said. "With the coaches we have in this conference and the type of athletes you can always expect an exciting season, a lot of fierce competition." Haskins was rewarded during the off-season by a rule he is completely opposed to. Lenard, the Golden Go- phers' senior guard, took advantage of the new rule that allows players to return to college after seeing where they were selected in the NBA draft. Lenard's return instantly put Minne- sota back in the race for conference supremacy. Michigan is not the only team that landed a top recruiting class this year. Indiana has reloaded with a six-mem- ber freshmen class expected to make an immediate impact. Knight's new- est Hoosiers are led by 6-foot-3 guard Neil Reed ofMetairie, La. and 6-foot- 8 forward Andrae Patterson. Illinois avoided a huge blow when guard Bryant Notree was reinstated Nov. 9 by the NCAA after originally being declared ineligible for failing to meet eligibility requirements. Still, coach Lou Henson is pleased with newcomers, like 6-foot-7 forward Jerry Gee, who will likely be a starter by the end of the season. All of this adds up to another ex- citing season of Big Ten basketball. No team truly stands head and shoul- ders above the rest, and as many as six teams could contend for the league championship. 5 r, .' ..'I t A' .a * a .:. , j :';i t "1 !!/ 1 .. ..s ." . .. "_ .. ... .. , , ", A ~ ' " i i +yi i I tyt .. Purdue loses its top weapons in defense of Big Ten championship It's not often that a coach who's returning four starters from a Big Ten championship team has to fend :ff cynics and detractors. Purdue 14-4 Big Ten 29-5 Overall Home: January 3 Away: March 12 Yet Pur- due coach Gene Keady has been made to an- swer the same skepti- cal question ever since star forward G l e n n Robinson left to the NBA: Keady said. "He was such a good leader, he was our best practice player. He was the first guy on the bus and he had a great attitude." Keady hopes senior forward Cuonzo Martin (16.3 points per game, 4.3 rebounds per game) can fill some of the void. Last season, Martin emerged as a star amidst the hoopla sur- rounding Robinson and will be depended upon to fill Robinson's leadership role. However, one player alone is not going to compensate for the loss of Robinson. Instead, Keady instead is looking for a balanced team effort to make the contributions Robinson could make all by himself. "This is probably the best class of juniors or best class of athletes we've had. Their quickness is pretty good. That should be fun," Keady said. "If How are the Boilermakers going to win without their star talent? "It is going to be interesting to see how our kids react to now playing without Glen Robinson after two years," they can improve as much as our kids did last year after the Rhode Island loss, the junior class could be a force in the league." Keady can certainly count on the proficiency of his perimeter shooters. Last season, the Boilermakers were second in the Big Ten in 3-point field goal percentage (.389), and hit 252 total - 27 more than any other con- ference team. Robinson nailed 79 of those, but Martin and junior point guard Porter Roberts (5.3, 3.9) are still around to light it up. "I don't know why anybody would feel sorry for Purdue," Illinois coach Lou Henson said. "Sure they've lost a great player. But they have four starters coming back that almost got to the Final Four. They've got some guys coming off the bench that are really good. They are going to be a very strong team." However, one of the four starters Henson alludes to is lost for the season. Matt Waddell suffered a knee injury in the preseason, and he will miss the entire season - along with his 44 percent 3-point shoot- ing. Purdue may have a much harder time replacing Robinson's presence inside. Junior center Brandon Brantley (4.5,4.5) returns, but the Boilermakers will need significant contributions from either 7-foot-2 redshirt freshman cen- ter Matt ten Dam or freshman Brad Miller. Another option may be 1994junior college national player of the year Roy Hairston. The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 22.6 ppg and 9.0 rbg while leading Hutchinson, Kansas Junior College to the 1994 national champi- onship. -ScottBurton BeV*Rt1ieCebAme AT 51S. DIV tS 140{A Ac KAtb Moo-S6AT 1(lmo SUNDAY 12-6 au QUALITY DRY CLEANING AND SHIRT SERVICE 332 Maynard St. across from Nickels Arcade 668-6335 EVAN PETRIE aiy The Wolverines will count on Makhtar Ndiaye's presence upfront this year. MICHIGAN Continued from page 5 his game is more suited for playing small forward. King will have an added responsi- bility to score this year at shooting guard, but so will Fife, who will be counted on to shoot the ball more. Conlan gives Fisher another op- tion to back up Fife, while Crawford, when he returns, will see action at both guard spots. "I love to pass the ball," Conlan said. "It's my favorite thing to do. I'd rather get 20 assists and five points, instead of the other way around. I think that excites the players more and ex- cites the crowd more." With so much talent on the bench, Fisher could go as many as 10 players deep on a given night. "It's a little bit amusing when you walk in to some place and they say, 'Are you going to have enough balls to go around?" Fisher said. "I tell them, 'You said that four years ago when Webber came, and if I get similar re- sults I'll be happy." The Wolverines waste no time be- fore playing some of the nation's best competition. They open up the season at the Maui Classic against Tulane. Indiana and Maryland are among the other teams in the tournament. A matchup with Arizona State and former Michigan coach Bill Friederis possible in the second round. "I've been here a long time and this is a tough, tough schedule," said Fisher, who came to Michigan as an assistant in 1982. "Our kids like that, and if we can have success with it, it will be a good schedule." Not long after returning from Hawaii, before the Wolverines can even get used to the time zone change, they face No. 5 Arizona at the inaugural Great Eight College Basketball Festival at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Trips to Tennessee-Chattanooga and Duke during December and home games against Detroit, Pennsylvania and Jackson State give the Wolverines ,It's a little bit amusing when you walk in to some place and they say, 'Are you going to have enough balls to go around? I tell them, 'You said that four years ago when Webber came, and if I get similar results I'll be happy." - Steve Fisher Michigan coach one of the nation's toughest schedules - before the Big Ten season ever begins. The Wolverines also play host to St. John's on Super Bowl Sunday right in the midst of the conference season. With all the tough opponents and Michigan trying to break in its several new players, it will be no easy road to the NCAA Tournament.