24 The Michigan Daily Tuesday, April 22, 1997

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Former Michigan basketball star Loy Vaught, a member of the 1989 national
championship team, discusses life after college, the grind of the NBA and Michigan heade
coach Steve Fisher.

As a junior on the 1989 Michigan
basketball team, Loy Vaught aver-
aged 12.8 points and eight rebounds
per game, helping the Wolverines win
the national championship. Vaught
.Wye back his senior season and
improved his numbers to 15.5 points
and 11.2 rebounds per game. In fact,
Vaught was such a prolific rebounder
at Michigan that the Wolverines now
give annually the LoY Vaught
Rebounding Award to the Wolverine
who tallies the most rebounds.
After graduating in 1990 with a

degree in business management,
Vaught was taken as the No. 13 pick
overall, by the Los Angeles Clippers,
in the NBA Draft. Vaught has been a
bright spot on a sub-par team in Los
Angeles, averaging close to 15 points
and 10 rebounds each of the last
three years.
The Michigan Daily's Josh
Kleinbaum caught up with Vaught
recently before a 14-point, nine-
rebound performance in a Clippers
loss to the Detroit Pistons. Vaught
reminisced on his Michigan caree,

and discussed the current state of
Michigan basketball.
DAILY: What was it like to win a
national championship in 1989?
VAUGHT: It was one of the high-
lights of my basketball career. I
played with some great players, and
that run that we had during tourna-
ment time was something that I'll
always remember.
D: In the championship game
against Seton Hall, with Steve Fisher
still in his first month as coach, what
was going through your mind?

V: At that time when Frieder had
left and Fisher took over, we lost a
lot of support from the fans and the
media. Everybody thought that with
the coaching change happening at
that particular time, we wouldn't
have a chance at all to go very far in
the tournament.
It seemed like every time we read
an article or listened to the news,
they said that we'd be home early. We
just got so many people saying nega-
tive things about us that we just all
started to get close together as a
team. We wanted to prove everybody
wrong, so that actually helped us.
D: What did you think about the
coaching change?
V: I didn't have any doubt that
coach Fisher was ready to be the
head coach of the team. Everybody
already respected him and knew that
he was a very smart coach. He
stepped right in, and we played hard
for him.
D: What did you think of the two
coaches and what were the major dif-
ferences between the two?
V: Coach Fisher was a little more
calm and his approach was more laid
back. At that time, when everything
was really hectic all around us, it
really helped us.
D: Have you been following the
Michigan basketball team since you
graduated?
V: Yup. I know they went to the
NIT this year, and I was disappoint-
ed in that.
D: What did you think of this sea-
son as a whole'?
V: It was sort of disappointing. I
would have liked to see them play
good enough to at least get into the
NCAAs and have a good tournament
run, but fortunately, they made the

best of the situation with the NIT.
D: Have you been back to Ann
Arbor since you graduated?
V: Nope. When I'm in Michigan,
I'm at my mom's house or my dad's
house in Grand Rapids. I just go
back to visit my family, mainly.
D: What do you think of the off-
court allegations involving this
year's Michigan basketball team?
V: I don't know all the details, so I
don't have any comment on that.
D: When you were at Michigan,
did you know a booster named Ed
Martin, or do you know if any of
your teammates did?
V: Ed Martin? Is that the guy that
supposedly gave them money? No, I
don't know anything about that.
D: A former teammate of yours,.
Michael Talley, recently told the
Daily that he thought that Steve
Fisher has nothing more to add to the
Michigan program and should not
return as coach next season. What do

you think about that?
V: Oh, wow. I like Coach Fisher.
He recruited me heavily, and he was
the main guy recruiting me out of
high school.
All I can judge him on is from
when I was there, and my experienc
with him was very positive. H
helped me a lot as a player. I like his
coaching style, myself.
D: Talley's main criticism of
Fisher was- a lack of discipline. Did
you notice that when you played for
him?
V: We won the championship in
'89, so I don't think you can criticize
him. We had great players, and he
helped a lot get to the (pro) leagu*
so like 1 said, my experience with
him was very positive.
D: You stayed at Michigan for all
four years and graduated. What
would you say to those players con-
sidering leaving early for the NBA if
you had a chance to talk to them?
V: l'd just tell them to think long
and hard about making that jump,
because if they go for the wrong rea-
sons, like greed or wanting th
money or whatever, it might n
work out the way they planned. They
have to make sure that they make
being the best basketball player they
can be the No. I priority, and not go
for the money or the fame or whatev-
er.
If their basketball's not up to par,
the league has a way of filtering you
out.
D: If you were a sophomore
junior in college right now, and yo
knew that you could be one of the top
picks in the draft, would you stay in
college, or would you go to the
NBA?
V: I'd like to think I'd stay.

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Former Wolverine Loy Vaught (center left) is pictured with Michigan's 1989 national championship team, which also included
current NBA stars Glen Rice (41) and Terry Mills (52). The LA. Clippers chose Vaught in the first round of the 1990 draft.

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