to 1U - The Michigan Daii - Wednesday, March 7, 2001 I The first legend Pre-madness is swan song for the forsaken Expect familiar teams atop this week's conference tournaments BS JEB SINGER m DAILY SPORTS WRITER Years ago, a young kid marched off the wrestling mat at Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor having been defeated, pinned. His grandfather came over to him and offered words of encouragement. Many wrestlers would take Grandpa's words of unconditional love for granted, but Jim Keen Jr. listened intently. After all, they were coining from the most successful wrestling coach in Michigan history. "Grandpa always believed that wrestling was highly educational and developmental," Keen Jr. said. "Even after losses he'd say that you could chalk this one up to experience." Cliff Keen left an enormous mark on the sport of wrestling. Keen, the man for whom Michigan's wrestling arena is named, coached the Wolverines from 1925 to 1970. Afterward, he worked as founder and president of Cliff Keen Athletic Products, the largest wrestling equip- ment and apparel company in the United States. He went to work until the day that he died. Whether guiding one of his 12 Big Ten Championship teams, studying for his law degree fiom Michigan, serving as a Naval commander during World War II or running Cliff Keen Athletic Products, Keen's favorite attribute was self-discipline. He always raised his athletes to be in bet- ter conditioned than the competition. For this reason, if Keen was alive today, he'd be a big far of the 2001 Wolverines. "He'd call them 'a fine group of boys,"' Keen Jr. said, recalling one of his grandfather's favorite phrases. "He'd be impressed with their accom- plishments off the mat too. He always recruited athletes with more than just wrestling ability." Like many Michigan alumni, Keen Jr. believes that this group of wrestlers could be among the best in Michigan's history. "Their potential is up there with any of them," Keen Jr. said. "Joe McFarland brings a lot of excitement with him -- people have high expec- tations." No wrestler epitomizes the Keen- like discipline more than captain and Big Ten champion Otto Olson. "He'd like the same thing (about Olson) as I do," Keen Jr. said. "The guy got run over by a car for pete's sake. You could whack him with a two-by-four and it wouldn't faze him. In his first match back from By Dan Williams Daily Sports Editor COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT Michigan wrestling coach Cliff Keen, the man for whom the wrestling arena was named, coached the Wolverines to 12 Big Ten titles between 1925 and 1970. injury, I thought he was going to kill the kid." McFarland, a former Michigan wrestler, never got to wrestle for Keen but he did have the privilege of meeting him. "I remember the first time I met him as a high school kid from Cleveland," McFarland said. "I knew I was wearing Cliff Keen headgear (Keen invented the wrestling head- gear), I was in awe. It's incredible how many former wrestlers of his have nothing but praise for Coach Keen." The relationships that the living Keens have with Michigan wrestling are a great example of the program's family-like atmosphere. "We are Michigan people," Keen Jr. said. "Michigan has continued to be part of our blood." McFarland and Keen's son Jim and grandsons Tom and Jim Jr. have a close, personal relationship with McFarland. Jim Jr. is now the presi- dent of Cliff Keen Athletic Products. "The whole family is really a class act," McFarland said. "I am grateful to be friends with them. It is some- thing I hold dear to my heart. They've all gone through the University and graduated from here." While Keen never achieved the insurmountable amount of success that Iowa coach Dan Gable did, he developed Michigan into a historical power - some consider him a Gable before Gable. His 12 titles came at a time when the Big Ten Championship was the highest honor for a team to win - the national tournament was after the season and thus, not as important. "Gable was able to do at Iowa what no coach has done in any sport," McFarland said. "But they are both legends in their own way, and they've inspired a lot of athletes." McFarland is proud to be part of a tradition that includes Cliff Keen. Jim Jr. is thankful for his biological lin- eage. "I never saw it as big shoes to fill," Keen Jr. said. "It is great that people thought so highly of him. You realize that you were privileged to know him." Exit the regular season. Enter con- ference tournaments - the time of reborn hope. Suddenly, every team in the nation attached to a league with a tourna- ment and an automatic bid is within four games of making the Big Dance (tough luck, Washington State). Typically though, if you're a scrub for four months, March's magic isn't enough to transform you into the reincarnation Pete Maravich, Therefore, expect to see mostly familiar names in the biggest games this weekend, which means plenty of gratuitous camera time for Coach K's daughters. The Big East Final: Saturday, 8 p.m. With surprising teams in the top seeds, bountiful freshmen phenoms and no sign of Virginia Tech or Rutgers (the worst two teams weren't invited to play), this tournament is shaping up to be a real hoot. The Big East is dominated by teens, and teens tend to be unstable beings. Therefore, don't get too juiced for a deep run by Eddie Griffin and Seton Hall, Omar Cook and St. John's or Caron Butler and Connecticut. Instead, look for a team with vet- erans, a lethal inside threat, and some complementary three-point shooting to cut down the nets. Troy Murphy and Notre Dame should be just a little too balanced for the com- petition. Prediction: Notre Dame The ACC Final: Sunday, 1 p.m. Unbeknownst to most fans, a class-action suit filed by five ACC teams forced the conference tourna- ment out of the state of North Carolina. That means the whole gang is headin' west to Atlanta for one token year, after which the cite will undoubtedly return to Greensboro or Charlotte - the league can't afford to let ol' Dean Smith hyperventilate for over four days. Surely, it will be vexing for the Tar Heels to compete in an atmosphere where the crowd isn't dominated by cooters in toilet-freshener-blue sweaters. Therefore expect them to exit early, in the quarterfinals against either Virginia or Georgia Tech. The torrid Maryland squad is an interesting choice for conference CCHA Continued from Page 9 No. 4 NEBRASKA-OMAHA (15-10-3 CCHA, 22-13-3 OVERALL) vs No. 7 OHIO STATE (13-13-2, 16-16-2) Nebraska-Omaha, a team that began play just three seasons ago, sizzled down the stretch to go 13-2-1 in its final 16 games to climb to No. 13 in the nation. But no one could have guessed what adversity the Mavericks would have to face this year. "We've had five or six of our top players out at times this season," Kemp said. "But I'm pretty pleased with the way our depth has come through." The Mavericks have dealt with the absence of their three top defensemen and two leading forwards for huge chunks of this season by rallying around solid goaltending by freshman Dan Ellis. Ellis, who received CCHA All- Rookie team honors, adds a strong wall along with the Mavericks' up-tempo, in- your-face, physical style of play. But Kemp feels that'the Buckeyes' scoring capabilities will pose a problem for his team. "We look at Ohio State as dangerous offensively," Kemp said. "With (Dave) Steckel and (R.J.) Umberger, (Jean- Francois) Dufour - they can create some firepower." The Buckeyes' firepower heated up on road this season, as Ohio State posted an impressive 9-5-2 record away from Value City Arena. But the mixture of Ohio State's lack of experience (10 freshmen along an academically-ineligible captain) and the Mavericks' home-ice advantage will be the determining factors, as Nebraska-Omaha squeaks out in a hard- fought three-game confrontation. Prediction: Nebraska-Omaha in three. No. 5 NORTHERN MICHIGAN (12-10- 6, 16-11-7) vs. No. 6 WESTERN MICHIGAN (12-10-6, 19-11-6) After spending its last three weekends on the road, Northern Michigan over- . , - r C 20U champion - sweet Sally would that be a cathartic triumph for longtime underachievers. Unfortunately, the Terrapins relish their Charlie Brown role. No matter. It's almost like Duke and North Carolina and the media and everyone else has been holding that football out, saying 'kick it Maryland, kick it!" But Maryland always winds up on its ass. Shane Battier and Jason Williams have shown a knack to play clutch basketball all season. That can't be overlooked when the elimination rounds begin. Prediction: Duke The Big Ten Final: Sunday, 3:30 p.m. As a conference, the Big Ten has maintained the top conference RPI pretty much all season. That won't mean diddly-poo (bless you, Jim Mora) come Friday, because Michigan State and Illinois are lev- els above the rest of the field There are plenty of quaint stories beyond the top two - Mike Davis and Indiana triumphing over adversi- ty, Wisconsin triumphing over its own mind-numbing style of play (A side note: if there's one good argu- ment to keep top players in school, it's so that Wisconsin can no longer stockpile the Mark Vershaws of the world and befuddfe youthful oppo- nents by boring them into submis- sion) and of course Penn State tri- umphing over the NCAA Tournament, which was in danger of catching the Nittany Lions right to the end. "Safety and security in the NIT," Penn State coach Jerry Dunn must be thinking. The coaches of the "other nine" are fond of pointing out that No. I and No. 2 have never met in the Big. Ten Tournament finals in its storied three-year history. But reality unveils that none of these teams are fit to beat the league's two superpowers. When it gets down to the Spartans and the Fighting Illini, expect Michigan State to defend its title. Illinois won the first matchup, and these teams are too closely matched for any winning streaks. Furthermore, the trend in sports has been for the most irritating team to win - possibly God's way of flip- ping off mankind - and Michigan State certainly falls under that cate- gory. Prediction: Michigan State Peninsula for the first-round. "I'm just excited not to have to travel anywhere," Northern Michigan coach Rick Comley said. While the Wildcats will gladly trade in their suitcases for snowshoes, Western Michigan coach Jim Culhane knows the heavy challenge that awaits his team. "It's going to be at least an eight-hour ride up there, plus I'm sure there'll be another foot of snow waiting for us,' Culhane said. But more important than the travel woes will be the Olympic-sized ice sur- face in Northern's Berry Events Center, something that Culhane said could "change the dimension of the game and take away a lot of the physical play" But physical play is not the Broncos game, and Comley is well-aware of his opponents' offensive capabilities. "We don't want to get in a run-and- gun type series, that's for sure,' said Comley, who emphasized the impor- tance of his team staying out of the penalty box and harnessing the Broncos two top guns - CCHA leading scorers Mike Bishai and David Gove. In the end, Western Michigan will have too much firepower for the Wildcats, and will make its long UP trip worthwhile by advancing to the next round. Prediction: Western Michigan in three games. ACADEMIC HONORS: Last night the CCHA named its All-Academic team, and Michigan junior defenseman Jeff Jillson found his name on the list. He is joined by Dan Carlson (Notre Dame), Jim Dube (Ferris State), David Gove (Western Michigan), Jim Lawrence (Alaska-Fairbanks), Dave Noel-Bernier (Nebraska-Omaha), Daniel Samuelsson (Nebraska-Omaha) and Curtis Valentine (Bowling Green). Andy Hilbert was also one of several Wolverines to receive honorable men- tion for this award. Academics "is something I pride myself in," Hilbert said. ""There's life 4- liY - a .nl-unt --,' di.t n Chajpman leads '0 gO to its firstwi Andrew Chapman was king of the Michigan golf world this past Sunday. The Grand Blanc native fired a three- under 69 in the second round of the rain shortened Wolverine South Invitational, good enough for a share of the Hunter Course record and a Michigan victory. But Chapman wasn't the only star for the Wolverines. Junior Andy Matthews also took third place with a score of 143 after two days. In addition, all four of Michigan's scoring rounds were at or below 6 over par. And its team score of 581 was its best two round mark of the young sea- son. The next item on the Michigan golf schedule is the El Diablo Intercollegiate March 17-18 in Citrus Springs, Fla. -Staff reports Wolverines sending three divers to zones Michigan will be sending three rep- resentatives to the NCAA Zone Diving Championships in Bloomington. Tealin Kelemen, a three time Big Ten Diver of the Week this season, and@ Jason Coben - both true freshmen - are the greatest threats for Michigan. "We are really optimistic about the future of Michigan diving," Kimble said. "Everyone that finished ahead of Jason at Big Tens was a senior." The top six men and women from each zone will advance to the NCAA Diving Championships. The women's final will take place next Thursday in Long Island, New York. And the male finalists will com- pete the following week at Texas A&M. - Steve Jackson s RTBRIEFS Lousiville AD will talk with Pitino soon LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)- ' Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich said yesterday that Rick Pitino was his top choice to be the Cardinals' next coach and they will discuss the job this weekend. Denny Crum, who coached Louisville to two NCAA champi- onships, announced his retirement last Friday, ending a 30-year Hall of Fame career. Speculation about Pitino - for- mer coach of Kentucky and the Boston Celtics- began almost immediately. "I will be meeting with Rick this weekend down in Florida;'Jurich said at a news conference. Former Wolverine . quarterbacks sign PONTIAC (AP) - Jim Harbaugh agreed Monday to a two-year deal with Detroit, giving the Lions a solid backup* to injury-plagued quarterback Charlie Batch. Harbaugh led the Wolverines to the 1987 Rose Bowl with an 11-2 record. Last season, Harbaugh spent most of his time as a back-up for the San Diego Chargers. ELVIS SIGHTING: Former Wolverine and free-agent quarterback Elvis Grbac agreed to terms of a five-year, $30 mil- lion contract with the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday. Grbac played last season for4 the Kansas City Chiefs. p 1 f }! .. r I i C 0 d fI Wit'$1 Are you a mess? Knock us out with a brief description and up to four color photos of your messy apartment. You could walk awav filthy rich!! 3 NCAA men Yesterday's results Sun Belt Conference: Western Kentucky 64, South Alabama 54 Midwestern Collegiate Conference: BuE 53, Detroit 38 Ivy League: PRINCETON 68, Pennsylvania 52 MidContinent Conference: Southern Utah 62, Valparaiso 59 Qualified for NCAA Tournament Winthrop George Mason lona Indiana State Monmouth Eastern Illinois North Carolina -Greensboro Georgia State Gonzaga Butler Princeton Western Kentucky Southern Utah I 0 0 i anarlmfenls.m TM college apartment contest 0 NCAA women Yesterday's results No. 2 Cowcncur 78, No.1 Notre Damne 76 No. 23 TEXAS 77, Nebraska 60 No. 6 Louisiana Tech 67, DEwR 55 NBA Yesterday's results Minnesota 95, Charlotte 89 NEW YORK 97, Indiana 83 CHIcAGo87.Cleveland 74 I I