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Crawford: 'll be back in September'
® Electric freshman guard
dispels rumors of transfer;
Ellerbe scolds media
By Mark Francescutti
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan freshman guard Jamal Crawford
said yesterday he is not transferring from
Michigan at the end of this season.
Crawford responded to published reports
that suggested he was considering going
home to the Seattle area to play for
Washington.
"I'm staying, and it's not even a question,"
Crawford said yesterday. "I'll be back in
September."
Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe benched the
freshman for the first 14 minutes of the first
half in Sunday's victory over Illinois because
of what Ellerbe acknowledged was "a flare-up
at practice" by Crawford on Friday.
Ellerbe took considerable time with the
media Monday to say the situation is old
news, stating the incident at practice was
"over" andy"a done deal"
Jamal "made a mistake at practice," Ellerbe
said. "He broke a rule, and now, we move on.
I am sure someone else will break one"
Ellerbe refused to say whether Crawford -
who had started every game this season
before Sunday - would return to the starting
lineup for tomorrow night's game at Crisler
Arena against Northwestern.
But Ellerbe seldom commits to a starting
lineup until gameday.
In Sunday's overtime victory, Crawford
scored 14 points - just three below his sea-
son average - despite playing only 5:38 in
the first half.
The day before Friday's incident at practice,
Seattle Times columnist Blaine Newnham
printed numerous quotes from Crawford
about the freshman's feelings of homesick-
ness.
"There isn't a day I don't think about
Seattle," Crawford told Newnham. "To be
perfectly honest, sometimes I still wish I had
stayed home.
"If I had to do it all over again - and I
don't want to say something to make the
Michigan people mad - well, I'd take more
time in making my decision."
Washington did not recruit Crawford as
heavily as Michigan.
Crawford said yesterday that the Seattle
paper left out several other comments he
made in the interview.
"They didn't put in that I said 'Michigan
was the best place for me,"' Crawford said. "I
said that I missed (home), but I said it's not
killing me to be here."
After Sunday's non-start, Crawford said
that he would definitely stay at Michigan for
the season, but "couldn't predict the future."
Yesterday, Crawford adopted a longer-term
view, declaring he would be in a Michigan
uniform when next season begins.
Ellerbe said that news stories suggesting
that Crawford would transfer used selected
quotes from the freshman out of context.
"The kid's been taken advantage of;"
Ellerbe said. "He was misinterpreted. (The
media) are gloating in something that has no
value. There never was a story (about
Crawford transferring). He never said the
word 'transfer.'"
The coach also stressed that Crawford has-
n't come to him personally about feelings of
homesickness or transferring.
"He's never said one thing about transfer-
ring," Ellerbe said. "The kid's here in heart,
mind, body and soul."
Ellerbe talked with Crawford yesterday and
said there was no discussion of transferring.
So far this season, Crawford has excelled
for Michigan - a team that owns a 2-1 Big
Ten record and a 11-3 overall mark. Playing
both point and shooting guard, the 6-6 shot-
inventor leads the team in scoring, averaging
17 points per contest - good enough for third
See CRAWFORD, Page 5B
Overtime
benefits
DANA LINNANE/Daily
Josh Trexler turned in Michigan's best individual performance
taking first in two events, as Michigan upset Stanford.
s- -
'M'swimming
*dunks No. 2
Stanford by 3
By Benjamin Singer
Daily Sports Writer
Happy 20th birthday, Jeff Hopwood.
The Michigan sophomore's present was not exactly gift-
wrapped. He and the rest of the Wolverines had to earn it
against No. 2 Stanford.
After a lackluster exhibition Friday, the Cardinal (2-2) and
No. 9 Michigan (1-0 Big Ten, 4-2 overall) made their Saturday
afternoon competition about as exciting as a dual meet can be.
The Wolverines ended their five-meet losing streak against
Stanford, beating the Cardinal, 136-106, for the first time since
the 1990-91 season.
"We're definitely up in the mix now," junior Scott Werner
said. "The No. 9 ranking was a little low."
The large, parents' weekend crowd and tough competition
was just a taste of what Canham Natatorium may be like, come
Olate February when Michigan hosts the Big Ten
Championships.
The Michigan divers played a key role in securing the
Wolverines' victory. Senior tri-captain and diver Josh Trexler
led the team with two first place finishes in the one- and three-
meter dive, scoring NCAA zone diving qualifying marks in
both events. Senior Carlos Castillo contributed with his best
day as a Wolverine, placing second in the one-meter dive and
third in the three-meter dive.
"We must thank the divers," Urbanchek said. "They bailed
us out."
The Wolverines tallied six other first place finishes, includ-
*ing two big upsets in sprints where Stanford expected to dom-
inate.
By the eighth event, the meet seemed to be slipping away
from the Wolverines' grasp as Stanford led, 71-59, with two
sprint events coming up. Michigan, normally a pushover in the
100-meter freestyle, finished 1-2 for the first time in five years
See STANFORD, Page 3B
Wright drops Big
Ten tenms final
By Jeff Phillips
Daily Sports Writer
EAST LANSING - Senior Matt Wright came close to
becoming the first Michigan Big Ten singles champion
since 1996 yesterday, but fell short in the finals, dropping
a tight 7-5, 6-4 thriller to Tyler Cleveland of Iowa.
Iowa's No. 1 player took the championship over Wright
behind a tough forehand and an even tougher serve.
* "He served really well and I just couldn't get a good
return on it." Wright said. "It was his day today."
Despite a tough serve, Wright was nearly able to defeat
Cleveland in a match with multiple momentum swings.
"My confidence is still really high," Wright said. "It
was a good way to start off the season."
Wright blew past his opponents in the first three
rounds, losing just 10 games in his first three matches. In
the quarterfinals, Wright faced fifth-seeded Illinois'
Graydon Oliver.
Once again, Wright proved that he was up to the chal-
Olenge, by defeating Oliver in straight sets and advancing
to the semifinals.
Yesterday, on the final day of competition, Wright
became the second Michigan player to face Royce
Ramey. Like Henry Beam earlier, Wright did not have an
easy time with Ramey. Wright needed a tiebreaker to win
in the first set. In the second, Wright finished off Ramey
Michigan 95, Ilin ois 91 (OT
Hoops rebounds
in second half
against Illinois
By David Den Herder
Daily Sports Wrier
In a basketball boxscore, there are two categories for
free throws: those made, and those attempted.
And in the free-throws-made category Sunday,
Michigan was impressive. In fact, the Wolverines were
record-setting. They converted 37 of 45 attempts from
the line - the most ever made by the maize and blue.
But perhaps the boxscore should contain one more cat-
egory: clutch free throws. If it did, the stats might be able
to tell the real story of this game.
In all-too-familiar fashion, the Wolverines had the
chance Sunday to defeat a Big Ten team in regulation.
All Michigan needed to beat Illinois was one of two
clutch free throws - this time from veteran Josh
Asselin. But clang went the first, clang-clang went the
second, and with them came another opportunity for this
young team to "get overtime experience."
Fortunately for Michigan, it was another good experi-
ence. This week, the Wolverines needed only one over-
time period to close out Illinois, 95-91, and improved to
2-1 in the Big Ten.
Asselin, who admittedly contributed to Michigan's
.167 season CFTP (clutch free-throw percentage), may
have made up for the bricks with his second double-dou-
ble of the season.
"That's happened to me before, where I've made a
mistake in a game," Asselin said. "I just try to make up
for it in one way, shape or form. In overtime, I thought
we played hard."
More like hard-nosed. After eight points from Jamal
Crawford and a block from Asselin, freshman guard
Kevin Gaines took a stiff forearm to the nose and used
his jersey to soak up most of the blood.
Fans called for a flagrant foul, Illinois' Robert
Archibald shrugged his shoulder (as if to,ask, "What?"),
and with the game tied at 89, Gavin Groninger stepped in
to take Gaines' free throws.
Swish. Swish.
Michigan's lead was in good hands with Asselin this
time. After a quick hoop on the other end tied it up,
See ILLINI, Page 5B
UAVIDUOUHKNU/Uaiy
Sophomore Leon Jones tiptoes along the out-of-bounds line, much like Michigan tiptoed past Illinois on Sunday, 95-91 in over-
time. Jones finished with 10 points despite fouling out.
Blue icers sweep Miami, seize CCHA lead
By Uma Subramanian
Daily Sports Writer
If this past Saturday's hockey game had
been played in Sherwood Forest, the Merry
Men - with a little help from Robin Hood -
would have saved the day.
And although Michigan's rather unusual 5-
1 victory over Miami wasn't played in
England but in the friendly confines of Yost
Ice Arena, where the Wolverines had defeated
the Red Hawks 5-2 the previous night, the
game played out like a fairytale anyway.
The Wolverines catapulted to victory and
to first place in the CCHA thanks to the sharp
shooting of Saturday's fourth line, featuring
two Cinderella heroes - sophomore Craig
Murray and junior Krikor Arman.
Murray and Arman haven't played every
game this season (16 and six games respec-
tively), but when given a chance, they put the
puck in the net - literally.
Murray played the most impressive game
Wolverines ahead 1-0 early in the first period
off a feed from J.J. Swistak - the freshman's
first career assist.
"To tell you the truth, it was kind of weird
after I scored," Murray said. "It's been a year
and a half, and I almost forgot what that feel-
ing was like. I guess I liked it enough to get
another one.
"I did everything the same, but it was just
clicking tonight. I waited long enough."
Murray also scored Michigan's fourth goal
midway through the third period, obliterating
all of the RedHawks' comeback hopes.
For his efforts, Murray led the team's post-
game rendition of Hail to the Victors and
earned the home-ice game puck emblazon
with a blue 'M.'
The saga continues: After Murray scored,
the game took some convoluted turns that not
even the best storyteller could envision.
Robin Hood - also known as Michigan's top
line of Mike Comrie, Andy Hilbert and Geoff
pass from Comrie and shot the puck high over
Miami goalie David Burleigh and into the net
before it flew back out again - or so it
appeared as the red goal light went off.
On the ice, half the players stopped skating
as Michigan began celebrating. But the offi-
cials determined that the puck had clanged off
the upper crossbar without ever crossing the
plane.
Perhaps as a result, momentum swung in
Miami's favor. The RedHawks rebounded to
tie the game 1-1 at the 10:39 mark of the sec-
ond.
The puck behaved oddly all night -
though it often worked in Michigan's favor. In
a dramatic about-face from the previous night
when they had allowed Miami to take 39
shots on goal, the Wolverines stomped on the
RedHawks' offense allowing only 10 shots.
"We held up under their best attack,"
Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "We did-
n't allow any point-blank shots or grade-A
the go-ahead goal with 45 seconds left in the
second period to give Michigan a lead it
would never relinquish, Burleigh's luck ran
out.
Arman, scoring his first goal of the season
early in the third period gave the Wolverines a
two-goal lead, some energy and a little bit of
breathing room.
"It was a great feeling to score," Arman
said. "I'm glad it came at the time it came, it
was a big lift for us; we were getting a little
big lax."
The recognition from the weekend went to
frequently unheralded athletes, but big name
players were crucial too.
Goaltender Josh Blackburn stayed unde-
feated, 3-0-0, since his return from injury.
The sophomore has stopped 68 shots while
only allowing three goals. With four points,
Comrie again put up the biggest offensive
numbers.
On Friday, freshman Robin Hood, Mike
i