The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - November 13, 2000 - 3B r DAVID DEN HERDER Michigan outsizes DII Wayne State By Michael Kern IDaly Sports Writer u Drew Henson shows his true colors K urpeikis at the Michigan 42. Kennedy at the Michigan 37. Pettigrew at the Penn State 25. Three interceptions in one game. ' I guess you knew it would happen sometime. Drew Henson. it turns out, is just as prone to making mis- takes as any other mortal on this campus. That realization Saturday brought me to a conclusion that shoulW have been I never apparent for weeks. pleasure Henson is the Rick Le best quarterback I c have ever seen wear when w the maize and blue. Jim Ha He is also one of the few men at this I was )U university for ~~ whom I have . the highest respect. The line between being young and being a kid is almost invisible - probably because you don't know when you've crossed it until } you're on the other side. As a kid, potential is inseparable from seniority. Any person that represents real hope, real success, reap mastery is invariably older than you are. So naturally, as a college kid, I was skeptical to hear that someone younger than me had committed and was coming in to lead "my" team. To me as a freshman, fifth- year senior Brian Griese was more like a hero than a peer. And here was some kid who hadn't even been to a senior prom? What I couldn't realize then is that Henson is no kid. Not now, and probably not then either -- despite all the kids who thought otherwise. And as the college days have torn raucously by, I have watched expectations of No. 7 grow inex- plicably high. When he first took the field as a true frosh, students replaced "Let's Go Blue" with "Let's Go Drew." By the time he was a sophomore, Lloyd Carr was already calling Henson the most talented quarterback he'd coached. Local media would occasionally remind everyone of his deal with the Yankees, and as his Junioi year arrived, pundits would interchange the name Henson with "phenom" and "golden boy" - before lie ever started a game. Henson was going to be the final, vital key to Michigan's amazing offense that would march all the way to Pasadena - or per- haps further. And when Michigan lost to UCLA with No. 7 injured on the bench, Henson's return was going to save Michigan's season. Today, the Wolverines; headed to the Rose Bowl, offense, while impressive, been enough Michigan in cad the 10. are not and the has not to keep the Top h Don't let the score of the Michigan basketball team's 82-56 exhibition victory over Wayne State at Crisler Arena yesterday fool you. The two tallest players on the Division II Warriors' roster, junior Rick Fox and freshman Nick Gout, are listed at just 6-foot-8 and 6-foot- 6 respectively. By comparison, the Wolverines have seven players on their roster 6-foot-6 or taller. Despite a sloppy first-half performance where Michigan shot just 40 percent from the field and 35 percent from the free-throw line (6-for-17), the Wolverines used that size advantage to con- trol play inside and went into the half with a 35- 23 lead. Michigan got the offense going in the second half, shooting 53 percent from the field. The Wolverines dominated the glass, outre- bounding Wayne State, 55-26. Forced to shoot most of their shots from the perimeter, the Warriors shot just 35.8 percent from the field - including 7-of-29 from three-point range - and had just two offensive rebounds compared to the Wolverines' 17. Freshmen Bernard Robinson and Josh Moore both had double-doubles with 11 rebounds each and 16 and 12 points respectively. "We couldn't match them inside. There was Just no way possible," Wayne State coach Ron Hammye said. "Every time they caught the ball inside we tried to have two or three guys around On tap: The Michigan men's basketball team opens its season this Friday at Oakland. The game at Oakland's 3,000 seat 'O' Rena is sold out. Sophomore forward LaVell Blanchard - the Wolverines' lead- ing scorer last year - is expected to make his first appearance of the sea- son for Michigan after sitting out the exhibition season with a sprained ankle. them, and that gave them some rebounding opportunities on the offensive glass" Even though he led the team in scoring for the second straight game, Robinson struggled early, turning the ball over twice in the first three min- utes and shooting just 2-of-9 in the first half. "I didn't think he took good shots," Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe said. "We'll be able to talk to him now and help him understand that there's a reason why you get games like he had" last Tuesday. Letters of intent: Over the weekend, four play- ers signed letters of intent to play for the Wolverines next year - 6-foot-3 guard Dommanic Ingerson from Santa Barbara, Calif., 6-foot-7 forward Chuck Bailey from Detroit King, 6-foot-8 forward Kelly Whitney from Chicago Marshall and 6-foot-6 guard JaQuan Hart from Flint Northern. Ingerson and Hart are the top players from the class. Both are rated by most recruiting analysts among the top 30 players nationally. Hart "is the closest thing I've seen in the last few years to a guy like Jamal (Crawford)," Ellerbe said. "With his size, he is very difficult to guard. He's got great ball skills. I think he shoots the ball better than Jamal, though." Michigan still has one scholarship available and hopes to get a player signed before the dead- line on Wednesday. "It gives you more time to spend with your team," Ellerbe said. "Otherwise, you are con- stantly trying to develop your roster." J '