12 -- The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, November 17, 1999
Mail drop n
two basketb
By Chris Duprey
aily Sports Editor
Michigan basketball coach Brian Ellerbe prob-
ably went through yesterday's mail like this: junk,
advertisements, more junk, letters of intent ...
wait right there!
Official US mail might have been responsible
for delivering the letters, but it was Ellerbe and
his aggressive staff who delivered Avery Queen
and Bernard Robinson. They became Michigan's
two newest recruits yesterday after the basketball
office received complete signed letters of intent
from both.
Some feel that Michigan's recruiting effort this
fall was subpar since the Wolverines failed to land
one of the marquee big men they were pursuing.
But with Queen and Robinson, Michigan has
become a deep squad for next season at both
guard positions and wing forward.
"I'm not sure any program in the country has a
setter roster at those three spots," said Clark
Francis, recruiting analyst and publisher of The
Hoop Scoop.
Ellerbe was equally pleased.
Queen and Robinson "without question, fit into
the overall plan toward developing a champi-
anship caliber basketball program," Ellerbe said
in a released statement.
The Wolverines are hoping that good things
:ome in small packages. Queen is listed between
5-foot-4 and 5-foot-8, but Francis estimates that
5-5, 5-6 is fair" - but don't call him the next
- 8{
a<'4R iS.,.
ar 5",
,
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"I'D LOVI
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c(gA
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ets Ellerbe
)all recruits
Muggsy Bogues just yet.
"Bogues was a lot stronger, and that's one of
the things that's going to hurt Avery," Francis said
of the former NBA guard, who stood at 5-foot-2.
"He beats you with quickness, transition, and out-
side shooting."
Queen will be Michigan's fourth quality guard
that can make decisions on the run and distribute
the ball down low. Queen's 11.5 points and 6.5
assists as a junior last season at Maine Central
Institute show that ability.
Michigan focused hard on Queen this summer.
The Wolverines were in a tough position, trying to
find a skilled player, but one who would be will-
ing to fight for playing time with the three fresh-
man guards they have already.
Robinson gives Michigan another reliable
option on the wings. Standing 6-foot-6 but weigh-
ing just 185 pounds, the wiry Robinson will learn
the trade from Brandon Smith, an established
small forward, and freshman LaVell Blanchard.
A native of Washington, D.C., Robinson is well
known inside the Beltway for his prowess in the
summer leagues, where he attracted most of his
attention.
"I probably saw him play 30-to-40 times over
the summer," Francis said. "He's a phenomenal
athlete. He now is a very effective 3-point shoot-
er."
The fall signing period ends today, meaning
Ellerbe won't likely receive anything more than
junk mail until spring.
____________ 7-
i
I,,
; Hockey notches
pair of defensemen
Free&E~ay.
S _ (2 worda
yo uwonIt hear
Cmilng ut
of her mouth.)
D'A A I.\ANE, Daiy
Already Red Berenson and the Michigan hockey team have
signed Mike Komisarek and Andy Burnes for the 2000-2001
season. The signing period ends today.
- .BERKA
Continued from Page 11
mind when talking about those teams.
No game consisting of teams that would
have a hard time beating the Michigan
Daily IM flag football squad is the best
rivahy.
So after I left the library, I went to a
coffee shop and heard some talk about
the Stanford-California game.
I can see how this would be a big
game, as both schools enjoy coffee but
have radically different viewpoints on
world politics. Both the Cardinal and the
Golden Bears have similar prowess on
the football field. But both teams stink.
Which just leaves one other rivalry to
consider. This rivalry is between two bor-
dering states and has tradition steeped in
elegance and entertainment. For those
who play in it, it is one of the most influ-
ential games that they will play in in their
football lives. The perenial battle of titans
that I'm talking about is none other than
TM
By Chris Grandstaff
lady Sports writer
The Michigan Hockey team entered
this year's recruiting race with one thing
in mind - sign defensemen, defense-
men and more defensemen.
And they've done just that.
Yesterday the Wolverines signed high-
ly touted defenseman Mike Komisarek.
Komisarek, from Battle Creek, scored
four goals and recorded five points in fif-
teen games for Team USA's under 18
team.
Komisarek would be the Wolverines'
second recruit in as many years from
Team USA.
Michigan standout freshman Andy
Hilbert was a member of the red, white
and blue last season - if his play is any
indication of the talent level on Team
USA, the Wolverines should be in good
shape with Komisarek next season.
"I'm pleased that he's coming,"
Michigan coach Red Berenson said. "I
hate to characterize a player before I've
seen him play, but I've heard people say
that he's a clone of Jeff Jillson.
"He's a physical right-handed defense-
men with a huge upside. He has a lot of
talent, a lot of size and will bring the right
kind of attitude to this team."
Jillson, Michigan's sophomore
the Minnesota-Iowa game.
Yes, I realize that this game never
means anything on a national scale. I
also realize that at least one, if not both,
of these teams have a horrible record
coming into this game. But this rivalry is
tight as hell. Why? Because you play for
a pig, which supersedes the poor-quality
of the two teams.
The Floyd of Rosedale trophy, which
is awarded to the winner of this grudge
match, is a bronze likeness of a pig. In
1935, the governors of Minnesota and
Iowa bet on the game, with the prize
being a pig named Floyd. Minnesota
won, but Floyd died that year. So the uni-
versities designed the pig-shaped trophy
and have fought for it ever since.
Ok, it's a dumb story. But the fact that
two universities would get all worked up
over a pig is pretty darn cool.
- Ti Berka gets worked up over pork
chops and foods of the like. He can be
reached via e-mail at
berkat@umich.edu.
defenseman, was the first collegiate play-
er selected in last summer's NHL draft.
The Wolverines have now received
two official letters of intent - both fro
defensemen. Michigan also signed Andy
Burnes of the Compuware Ambassadors.
Burnes. a 6-foot-0, 184-pound
defenseman, will join last years
Compuware signees J.J. Swistak, John
Shouneyia and Mark Mink.
Michigan has until midnight tonight to
add any more players before the fall sign-
ing period ends. The Wolverines have
one more oral commitment, but they
cannot comment on him until receiving
his letter of intent.
"We've had a good early signing peri-
od," Berenson said. "We weren't looking
to sign a lot of players because we have a
small senior class, but we did want to get
some defensemen and we've done that:"
The Wolverines, who usually keep
nine blueliners on their roster, saw that
number drop to six after the unexpected}
departure of wouldbe co-captain Mike
Van Ryn to the pros and the transfer of2
other players.
Despite the fine play of the Michigan
defense so far this season, two more
defensemen will provide the added depth
the Wolverines will need at the position,
next year.
SPARTANS
Continued from Page 11
One Michigan State student whp
wanted anonymity said that members
of the Izzone have bought many tick-
ets already.
"The Izzone can easily buy a
bunch of tickets," the student said.
"All they have to do is have a ton of
people buy them in sets of four. 'I
think they've already bought several
tickets."
Brooks plans to try to send a cam-
pus-wide e-mail to inform students
of the change and to build excitement
for the game.
"We feel it's a tremendous benefit,
for the whole campus," Brooks said.
"We're trying to talk with ITD now.
As we try to improve our atmosphere,
we want to push a pro-Michigan
advantage. That's our job."
6C-OILEGIAI
ASS/f/ED
www.CollegianClassifieds.com
Your classified ad on the web.
Totally free.
ree Ess
to yoU"Cd
311 delivery
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E TO FIND OUT
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MORNING, BUT
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CK MY EMAIL: '
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