Daily forum Who do you want Michigan to hire as the new basketball coach? Are you concerned about Drew Henson's future? Stop yelling from the sidelines. Speak your mind at michigandmly.comlforum. We'll see you there. michigandaily.com/slports ZJbe Sit 9ga ailp P OR TS THURSDAY MARCH 22, 2001 5A Pitino changes his mind, goes to Louisville By Raphael Goodstein Daily Sports Editor Despite leaning towards Michigan yesterday morn- ing, Rick Pitino decided to accept the coaching job at Louisville yesterday. Pitino was offered the head coaching job at Michi- gan, and as late as 11:30 a.m. yesterday was leaning towards signing with the Wolverines. "I had a wonderful experience talking with the athlet- ic director (Bill Martin) at Michigan," Pitino said at his press conference. "The student body there was great to me in terms of their support. I was blown away by that. And at 11:30 this morning, I called my two friends and said 'I'm probably going to go to Michigan.' "And they said 'what's stopping you from doing that?' and I said 'cowardice. I can't get on the phone and tell (Louisville athletic director) Tom (Jurich) no. I can't tell him this."' The Michigan Daily reported yesterday that Pitino was leaning towards coming to Michigan, and that his family would play a large role in his decision. "My wife (Joanne) said 'I think that you love the state of Kentucky; you love the people you met at U. of L. I think you should go back to the place you love."' The news came a few hours after an organized rally in the Diag in support of Pitino coming to Michigan. The rally was led by Superfan Reza Breakstone and Michigan alumnus Joe Johnson, who organized a peti- tion which was signed by nearly 4,000 students in favor of Pitino coming to Michigan. The signatures were ulti- mately faxed and mailed to Pitino's home in Boston. Pitino's friend and ESPN basketball analyst Dick Vitale said that Pitino ultimately "loved the state of Kentucky too much," and that "Louisville got such a jump on recruiting him. They recruited him so hard for so long, it was really tough for him to say 'no.'" The petition "really meant so much to him," Vitale said. "He was really impressed with that." The Sporting News reported that Martin offered Piti- no a base salary of $900,000, a report that Martin refused to comment on. Ultimately, the attraction of returning to Kentucky was too much for Pitino to turn down. "That was the most important thing for me," Pitino said, "to be back in the state you love." Pitino won the 1996 national title with Kentucky and took the Wildcats to the Final Four in 1993 and 1997. He coached Providence to the Final Four in 1987. His hiring follows an aggressive courtship Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich had with Pitino for the last two weeks. Two weeks ago, Jurich said that Pitino was his only candidate for the job. The hiring leaves Michigan looking in other direc- tions for Brian Ellerbe's replacement. Vitale said that Seton Hall's coach Tommy Amaker still is a candidate, but that he has not had an opportuni- ty to see who else is on Michigan candidate's list or who the Wolverines might be leaning towards. It has been reported that Amaker will be in Ann Arbor this weekend to meet with Martin about the job. Martin refused comment on this. THANK YOU: Johnson thanked everyone who attend- ed the press conference and helped the cause. "We went from being laughed at, to starting some- thing, to speaking to Rick, to Rick thanking us to Rick saying 'You almost had me. You almost had me,' " Johnson said. Johnson spoke with Pitino yesterday "He kept thanking us for all of the support. He's a class act. It's too bad it didn't work out." When asked who Johnson would like to see Michigan hire, he said "I voted. I wanted them to hire Pitino. But I'll support Michigan basketball no matter who they hire." DAVID NKL/Dily r quarterback Drew Henson is considering giving up football after one year as a starter to play baseball with the Yankees full-time. STEPHANIE OFFEN Drew, what's changed? n a 1999 interview with ESPN, Drew Henson admitted that he had no intention of ever leaving Jhe University of Michigan early to rsue a baseball career with the New York Yankees. If Henson want- ed to play baseball, he could have played right out of high school, after agreeing to a $2 million sign- ing bonus with the Yankees. He could have left school the next summer instead of waiting patiently for his starting opportunity with the Wolverines on the gridiron. The quarterback reiterated his Wmmitment to Michigan before the ginning of his first season as a starter - before sitting out three games with a foot injury. And even after that injury and after a some- what disappointing season, Henson reconfirmed his commitment to his team, and to getting his degree, four days after he led his team to a Citrus Bowl victory. And after David Terrell, his star *ceiver, passed up his senior year to enter the NFL draft, Henson was still true to his word: He came to Michigan to play Michigan football - for four entire years - and nothing, no signing bonuses or departing receivers were going to change that. But only two months after that Citrus Bowl victory, only two months after Henson committed himself to starting a full season as a 1ichigan quarterback, everything 1ien son had committed to might -now be taken in vain. The money that didn't entice him before may .,have enticed him Tuesday when George Steinbrenner decided to attempt to lure Henson away from his beloved Wolverines for $4 or $5 million dollars a year. It is no secret that Steinbrenner as always had a warm spot in his eart for the third-baseman. Stein- brenner reluctantly traded Henson to the Cincinnati Reds last summer, in part because Henson wouldn't give up Michigan football to devote himself entirely to the Yankees. The Record of Hackensack, N.J. reported Tuesday that Henson is regarded as a superstar in the Yan- kee organization and will be valu- able in taking over third-base duties after Scott Brosius' contract expires in a year. So it is obvious why Steinbrenner wants Henson and wants him all to himself right now. But it is not so obvious why Henson would even contemplate solely wanting the Yankees. The money will still be there next season as long as he avoids injury. Injury is always a risk but so is dri- ving down State Street during any weekday - the point is that you take the risk anyway. What won't be there next year is a Heisman trophy. What won't be there is a national championship. What won't be there is a college degree. What won't be there are his friends who have worked hard with him for four years to bring the team and the program to where it is today. What won't be there at the end of next year is a column about how Henson was true to his word that he is, in his words, "In no hurry to leave." None of us at this university are in the position to pass judgment or try to make a decision for the star quarterback. With four or five mil- lion staring me in the face, I would probably give up my last month of See OFFEN, Page 8A Food for Thought Human Rights The protesters accused the U.S. of supporting a brutal South Vietnamese regime. Where are they now, when 2,000 more Montangards have joined the "disappeared" under the regime of communist Vietnam? Gary Lillie & Assoc., Realtors www.garylillie.com Ultimately, Rick Pitino's familiarity with the state of Kentucky attracted him to the Louisville job. Wolverines beat St. Joe's i home opener By Benjamin Singer Daily Sports Writer A look at the 11-1 score for the Michigan baseball team's win in yesterday's home opener would suggest the Wolverines looked like they were taking batting practice against St. Joseph's. While they were at it, Michigan had a little pitching practice as well. Michigan used seven different pitchers, six of whom pitched just an inning each. Vince Pistilli threw for the win in three innings in relief of starter Bryce Ralston who was mak- ing his first appearance, since coming back from Tommy John surgery. Ralston allowed one unearned run, in part due to back-to- back walks which loaded the bases and brought in the run. "My arm was fine, just a little rust," Ral- ston said of his early departure. "My arm felt great, that's the main thing. I threw a lot more balls than I normally would, but that's expected coming off surgery for the first time." Other than Pistilli and Bobby Garza, those who pitched yesterday have seen limited action. None of them had pitched more than 2.1 innings for the year. "We're trying to get guys work," said Michigan assistant coach Chris Harrison, who was filling in for coach Geoff Zahn who chose this game to serve an NCAA suspen- sion from last season. "This is basically like a bullpen for them, except they get to get out and throw in competition." The offense also saw a lot of different hit- ters by the day's end, but the production was not so evenly divided. The hit parade was led by left fielder Jordan Cantalemessa who went 4-for-4 with three RBIs and was a triple shy of the cycle. Gino Lollio and Nate Wright added three RBIs and a homerun each. I 1ss- ALYSSA WOOD/Daily Michigan ran by St. Joseph's yesterday, taking its home opener, 11-1. Summer Camp for Children and 0 - *- s " s Adults with Developmental ? Junes11 -August17 d Disablitie i:01. b. 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