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raiSOTS

WEDNESDAY
FEBRUARY 14, 2001

11


Searight
to practi
future ui
By Dan Williams
wily Sports Editor


returns

A914

Schumacher quits
women's basketball

ce with
ncertain

By Benjamin Singer
Daily Sports Writer

Maurice Searight practiced with the Michigan men's
basketball team yesterday a source close to the program
said. It has yet to be determined whether or not the fresh-
man will dress for tomorrow's game against Iowa or if his
punishment has been completely served.
Searight had a long meeting with Michigan coach Brian
Ellerbe before the practice began.
Searight was suspended indefinitely by Ellerbe for miss-
ng last Saturday's practice. He did not travel with the team
o Bloomington, where the Wolverines fell to Indiana
Sunday, 72-59.
Searight's former high school basketball coaches have
been working with the suspended freshman to try to help
him rejoin the team.
Orchard Lake St. Mary's assistant coach Leonard
Karschnia, who spoke with Searight yesterday afternoon,
said the point guard still wants to play for the Wolverines.
"I certainly hope so," Karschnia said. "By all indica-
tions, that's what we're working towards."
Karschnia also said he's also been in contact with
Ellerbe regarding the situation, but he has not yet learned
xactly what it will take for Searight to fully rejoin the
team.
"It's an educational mood. He's trying to teach Maurice
the rules of life as far as being responsible." Karschnia
said. Ellerbe "is talking to the other coaches and Maurice,
but he hasn't laid out any specific criteria to me."
Ellerbe has elected to keep the situation largely private,
and he has not publicly indicated what it will take for
Searight to return to game action with the Wolverines.
"He's suspended indefinitely for a violation of team
les. He's suspended until I change my mind, and right
now I have not changed it," Ellerbe said in his Monday
press conference. "We're definitely trying to teach him life
lessons, just like any other kid."
George Porritt, the head coach at St. Mary's, hasn't
talked to Searight since the winter holidays, but he felt that
his former player was bothered by a lack of playing time.
"I think that's part of the problem," Porritt said. "There's
a frustration. I don't know if he's handling it well. But he's
a good kid."
Searight was also suspended for violating unspecified
team rules for the Dec. 30 game against Eastern Michigan.
Porritt said that he also had to suspend Searight in his
junior year of high school for missing practices.
"He really grew up after that," Porritt said.
The coaching staff at St. Mary's appears to be trying to
act as a mediator between the two parties. They hope
Searight will decide to stay with the team.
"That's the place he needs to be," Porritt said. "As far as
discipline goes, he needs to correct it right there at
Michigan and become a good student-athlete."

Freshman Christie Schumacher offi-
cially left the Michigan women's basket-
ball team this past Saturday before the
Wolverines' 4 p.m. practice.
The Milford high school star was run-
ner up last year for the Miss Basketball
award in Michigan. She was accompa-
nied by her mother when she told coach
Sue Guevara in her office that she quit
the team.
"She was stressed,
unhappy and
depressed," Guevara
said.
A representative
of the team told They
Michigan Daily on
Sunday that the
freshman was2
absent from CrislerS
Arena for the 74-60 Schumacher
win over Illinois due to illness. But
Guevara had told her players at practice
the day before that their teammate quit.
Schumacher declined to comment on
the reasons for her decision in a tele-
phone interview. She did say she is not
planning on transferring elsewhere.
"I'm just going to stay at the school,"
she said.
Guevara, who said she did not try to
talk Schumacher out of quitting, dis-
cussed her future plans in the meeting.
"I talked to her about transferring and
she doesn't want to transfer," Guevara
said. "She just doesn't want to play bas-
ketball anymore. She's burned-out with
basketball."
After averaging 29.2 points and 12.5
rebounds per game as a high school
senior, she played in 16 of 24 games at
Michigan and averaged 5.5 minutes each
outing.
"Everybody wants to play, I think that
was part of it," Guevara said. "I don't
think there's any doubt about that."
But based on the conversation with
Schumacher, who is an LSA major try-
ing to switch into the School of
Engineering, Guevara also said that han-
dling the workload of school and the
pressure of basketball had simply been
too overwhelming.
Most of the Wolverines were taken by
surprise, having seen little indication
that Schumacher was unhappy and con-

templating quitting the team.
"She really didn't talk to us thatmach
because she had so much work to do'
fellow freshman Stephanie Gandysaid;
"We really didn't see each other that
much off the court."
According to Guevara, Schumacher
mentioned in the airport to a coupeof
players that she mightsquit basketball on
the way back from the. Holy Cross loss
this past Thursday.
"I just thought it wis a very rushed
decision, said senior, co-captain Anne
Thorius, who did not find out.-until
Guevara's announcemWnt. "If you'rQxthat
unhappy you need tostalk to some:pco-
ple, you need to talk to your team nates;
"I'm sure she sort of hinted at stuf,,
but this is something she had been look-
ing forward to all ,her senior year (at
Milford). And thenthe situation doesn't
turn out exactly the way she wantedjit to
be - but there's still hope."
Guevara was as shocked as anyone
else on the team, first hearing about
Schumacher's decision when she got a-
phone call from the dissatisfied player.
Saturday morning before their talk.
"I know some kids are unhappy
because they're not playing, but I hada
meeting with Shoe (before she quit)
about what she needed to do to play
more" Guevara -said. "She gave -e-
every indication that she was going to
work on it and that she would comeback
a better basketball player next year" .
Michigan has dealt with the loss ,of
players the last. two years R-Ruth
Kipping was suspended indefinitely last
year for undisclsed reasons and Miny
Stowe left the teamn in 1999 citing a&lack
of playing time. In both cases, the paities
eventually reached a mutual agreti i
to separate.
Schumacher', departure comes sever-
al weeks late in the season than
Kipping's did, and with the year winding
down.
"As a team we hate to lose teammatitn
but we're in the end of the season aniid
that's what we're concentrating on right
now," Thorius said.
So far, the Wolverines have not suf-
fered from the loss of Schumacher.
"I didn't see any affect on this team in
the practice'Saturday or the game a,
Sunday," Guevara said. "I think they did
a good job;-of focusing on what they
needed to focus on." --

ALYSSA WOOD/Daily
Indefinately suspended guard Maurice Searight has had an up-and-down year with Michigan. The fresh-
man returned to practice with the team yesterday after a long meeting with coach Brian Ellerbe.
Cagers look for Iowa sweep

By Dan Williams
Daily Sports Editor
Two and a half weeks ago, the Michigan
men's basketball team appeared to finally find
a course to victory and success when it beat
then-No. 16 Iowa 70-69 at Carver-Hawkeye
Arena.
The pains of the season's first half were
temporarily alleviated. Two grinning freshmen
point guards talked to reporters, complement-
ing each other's comments like an entertain-
ment duo. Even the Michigan managers
bounced through the hallways with an exuber-
ance previously concealed.
The dominant mood was that the worst was
over for Michigan - the team had gotten over
the hump.

CRISLER ARENA
Who: Michigan (3-8 Big Ten, 9-13 overall) vs. No. 25 Iowa (6-
4, 17-6)
When: 8 p.m. tonight
TV: ESPN-Plus
Latest: Michigan upset then-No. 16 Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye
Arena on Jan. 20. Since then, the Wolverines have gone 1-5.
"We're very happy to come in one of the
greatest environments you can possibly play
in and get a win against a team that sits atop
the Big Ten conference," Michigan coach
Brian Ellerbe said at the time.
Instead, the shocking victory in Iowa City
will mostly likely go down as the season's
peak, an abberation in a sea of woes.
See HAWKEYES, Page 12


Ten big things to know for swimming
WOMEN'S SWIMMING iN FEB. 15-17 - BLOOMINGTON
CHAMPIONSHIP S



I I

I

V

By Steve Jackson (bas, dbw)
Daily Sports Writer
Take your marks.
The women's swimming Big Ten
ampionship is in sight. This weekend
Bloomington, the No. 16 Wolverines
(4-2 Big Ten, 4-5 overall) will seek their
13th conference title in 15 years.
The Big Ten has tremendous depth
with seven schools ranked among the
nation's top 26 teams. The Wolverines
are among the favorites, but they will
need to perform well in their relays and
dial up some good fortune to bring the
title back to Ann Arbor.
Olere are ten things to look for in the
tournament:
1 - ARSENAULT AILING: Michigan's
freshman phenom has been suffering
from a sore shoulder for most of the sea-
son. But that didn't stop the 2000 gold
medallist from posting some of the
fastest times in the country. She finished
second in the nation in the 500-yard
freestyle and posted one of the two
fastest times in the Big Ten in four dif-
ferent individual events. If her shoulder
*ds up, look for Arsenault to play a key
role by anchoring some vital relays for
the Wolverines.
2 - DIVING UPGRADE: Freshman
Tealin Kelemen has given the Michigan
diving squad some star power. She came
out of the gate this year with a lightning
MCD4 g1
FEBRUARY 15, 2001
.wrrWTTT A AYT A/TD PIYiD~AT T 121111th

fast start, en route to winning her first six
events as a collegiate athlete. She has per-
formed well in both the one-meter and the
three-meter diving competitions this sea-
son. Her points could give the Wolverines
a huge boost in an event where schools
like Ohio State have been dominant.
3 - FLY SO SLOw?: An admitted
weakness for Michigan this season has
been its performance in the butterfly.
This is the only stroke where the
Wolverines are without an individual
time among the nation's top 25. It is also
a weak point for the conference as a
whole. Wisconsin's Andrea Wanezak is
the only Big Ten swimmer ranked
nationally in the event.
4 - GO-PHER HELP: After Michigan
reeled off a dozen straight Big Ten cham-
pionships from 1987 to 1998, No. 19
Minnesota (3-1, 6-1) has hung the last

two banners. Most of the key contribu-
tors to those conference titles graduated.
Minnesota coach Jean Freeman even
went so far as to dub the Wolverines as
the favored team in 2001.
"Minnesota is rebuilding this year,"
Freeman said. "We are more in the mid-
dle of the pack this year."
5 - BIG TENS? BIG DEAL: No. 12
Wisconsin (6-0, 9-0) has all the talent to
win this year, but it may have other goals.
Wisconsin has historically put more
emphasis on the NCAA Championships.
"Honestly, I would be very surprised
if they tapered and shaved for this,"
Michigan coach Jim Richardson said.
"They have a legitimate shot at a top 10
(national) finish, and you have to ask if
that is worth sacrificing for a Big Ten
title."
See BIG TENS, page 12

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