BiTTERSwEET VICTORY
The Michigan women's gymnastics
team captured a solid victory but lost
Chelsea Kroll for the year to injury.
PAGE 6B
JUMP AROUND
Stephanie Linz qualified for the
NCAA Championships in the
high jump over the weekend.
PAGE 7B
GENNARO FILICE
Sports: The world's
greatest form of
pure entertainment.
PAGE 3B
The SportsTuesday Column
SPORTSrUESDAY
January 18, 2005
lB
abe idiigun j~aut,
Cameron
drafted by
Columbus
By Anne Ulble
Daily Sports Writer
While his soccer future was being decided in
Baltimore, former Michigan men's soccer for-
ward Knox Cameron was in Ann Arbor hover-
ing over his computer, watching a live Internet
feed of the Major League Soccer SuperDraft on
Friday.
"My dad and I were watching the computer,
and I was getting really nervous," Cameron
said. "I was just trying to avoid phone calls
from friends and family."
In the fourth round of the draft, Cameron was
selected by the Columbus Crew. Since the draft
wasn't televised, Cameron had to watch it via the
Internet and rely on phone calls from Michigan
coach Steve Burns. Burns was at the draft and got
to hear his player's name called first hand.
"I was really happy when they called his
name," Burns said. "You always want to see
your players go on and do well for themselves.
I think Knox had sort of thought that he would
have gone in an earlier round, so I think he was
feeling a little bit of anxiety as the draft contin-
ued. I just told him that it's not where you enter,
but where you finish."
But in the fourth round with the 44th pick,
Cameron's name was finally called.
"It was such a relief when I got picked," Cam-
eron said. "Afterwards, I got close to 20 phone
calls from people congratulating me. It was
such an exciting moment for me. It has always
been my dream to play professional soccer."
Burns believes that Columbus will be a great
team for Cameron to play with because of its
location and its impressive ability to develop
young players.
"In a way, he was hoping to play in New York
near his family," Burns said. "Now he. gets to
play near us, his adopted family.
Cameron was predicted to be one of the nation's
most exciting players to watch when he entered
his final season with the Wolverines this fall. He
was named 2003 Big Ten Conference Player of the
Year, was second in Michigan history in points
scored (72 points on 28 goals and 16 assists) and
was nominated for the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy,
given to the nation's top college soccer player.
But everything changed early last summer when
he tore the meniscus in his knee during an exhibi-
tion game with his summer league team and had
to undergo surgery. His doctors didn't promise his
return for his senior campaign.
But later in November, Cameron rejoined his
team on the field and helped them secure an at-large
bid to the NCAA tournament with three points over
the final six games of the season. Even with the
return of one of their best players, the Wolverines
ended up losing 1-0 to Indiana in the second round.
The Hoosiers went on to the NCAA Championship
and, ultimately, won the tournament title.
Cameron will join up with the Crew late next
month for preseason training where he will
be examined by the coaches. His first game is
scheduled for April 2 in Columbus against the
Los Angeles Galaxy.
Cameron is the second Wolverine to be draft-
ed into the MLS. In 2004, Kevin Taylor (2000-
03) was selected with the 25th overall pick
by the Colorado Rapids. There are four more
rounds left in the draft this week, and Burns is
hopeful that graduating senior forward Mychal
4. Turpin will also be drafted.
In 2004, Turpin earned second-team All-
Big Ten Conference honors while leading the
Wolverines with 17 points on six goals and five
assists. Turpin ended his career at Michigan
having missed only one game as the all-time
leading scorer for the Wolverines. In his career,
Turpin compiled 85 career points on 33 goals
and 19 assists. His 33 career goals are also a
record at Michigan, and his 19 assists place him
second all-time.
Nittany
L ion
tamer
Michigan 66, PENN
STATE 62
Sstays unbeaten
in conference play
By Megan Kolodgy
Daily Sports Writer
STATE COLLEGE - It's no secret
that Michigan freshman Ron Cole-
man is becoming more adept at shoot-
ing from beyond the arc. In each of
the Wolverines' three Big Ten games
this season, Coleman's percentage
from downtown has been better than
his overall field-goal percentage.
But in the first half of Saturday's
game at Penn State (0-4 Big Ten, 6-
11 overall), the trey just wasn't fall-
ing for the freshman. With a little
more than seven minutes left in the
half, he lined up for the familiar shot
and fired. But this time, he didn't just
miss - he threw up an airball.
For the remainder of the half, and
a good portion of the second half, the
Penn State faithful mocked him mer-
cilessly, chanting "airball" any time
he even considered taking a shot.
Another airball made their jabs look
like a self-fulfilling prophecy, but
the Wolverines (3-0, 12-5) had faith
in their lone freshman and perhaps
more importantly, he had faith in
himself. In the last 6:06 of the con-
test, Coleman knocked down four
treys, including one with 37 seconds
remaining that put the Wolverines
up by five and essentially sealed the
66-62 win for Michigan - the team's
sixth consecutive victory.
"He's a freshman, and he'll play like
a freshman - hopefully not for much
longer," Michigan coach Tommy
Amaker said. "At times, he will do
that. But I thought his teammates
really stuck with him - showed a lot
of faith and trust in him, and you can
see why ... He's been a terrific player
for us this year, and certainly his play
(on Saturday) was outstanding in the
second half."
Although Coleman appeared rat-
tled by the Penn State crowd, he said
that it did not impact his play.
"I was rushing my shots a little bit,"
Coleman said. "They weren't falling,
but I just kept looking for the open
shot ... I've just got to keep playing
my game."
The freshman's 3-pointers were
critical in offsetting junior Daniel
Horton and sophomore Dion Harris's
cold shooting in the second half. Har-
ris notched 14 points in the first frame
but was held scoreless for the rest of
the game - a dearth that was largely
due to the defense of Nittany Lions
Ben Luber and Mike Walker. Horton
managed just six points, but his floor
performance may have made up for
his lack of production. He recorded
a career-best 10 assists and just one
turnover, albeit a critical one that
allowed Penn State to come within
four points with just over two minutes
left. By making up for his offensive
setbacks through his care and distri-
bution of the ball, Horton's maturity
as a leader and a player was that much
more present.
Junior captain Graham Brown's
leadership was also impressive. This
was Brown's second game back since
a six-week absence from the court due
to hernia surgery, but he certainly did
not look to be hampered by any, lin-
gering pain. Brown got several open
looks down low and finished off the
game with 13 points. He also grabbed
10 rebounds, which gave him his first
collegiate double-double.
"I thought Brown played exception-
ally well for them," Penn State coach
Ed DeChellis said. "We let him get too
deep at times, and he got too much. We
were trying to make somebody else
beat us, and he stepped up and did."
In a game that was riddled with
fouls, Brown's clean play early on
was imperative in keeping Michigan's
frontcourt afloat. While he finished
See LIONS, page 5B
TREVOR CAMPBELL/Daily
Michigan needed each one of Graham Brown's 13 points In its 66-62 win over Penn State on Saturday.
The forward anchored a frontcourt that was hampered by injuries and foul trouble.
Freshman clutch in victory
MEGAN KOLODGY
ON MEN'S BASKETBALL
STATE COLLEGE - After nearly
every game since freshman Ron Cole-
man became a regular fixture in Mich-
igan's starting lineup, the reactions to
his performances have been ones of
surprise.
It seems that few expected him to do
much of anything this season. Michi-
gan returned so many veteran players
that there seemed to be little need to
let a freshman spend so much time on
the floor. But Coleman has proven the
doubters wrong.
His first start came in Michigan's
loss to Providence at the Preseason NIT
Tournament on Nov. 26. But his per-
formance did little to foreshadow what
a crucial role the freshman would play
for the Wolverines later in the season. It
was, statistically speaking, fairly bland.
Despite grabbing five rebounds, he went
1-for-ll from the field, including a 0-
for-5 drought from 3-point land.
Since that day in New York, he has
scored 125 points. And although his
complete season points per game aver-
age is at 7.6, his average in the games
that followed the tournament is con-
siderably higher: 10.4. Junior Daniel
Horton has averaged 11.8 points per
game in that same period, while junior
Chris Hunter leads the Wolverines
with 13.9.
The primary difference between
Coleman and these team leaders is that
he remains one of the few Wolverines
untouched by the unlucky string of
injuries that temporarily halted their
seasons.
This uninterrupted playing time -
which may not have occurred if not for
his teammates' various ailments - has
resulted in Coleman's metamorphosis
from the low man on the Michigan totem
pole to a serious contributor in whom
the team and coach Tommy Amaker
have placed a great deal of trust.
The freshman's breakout performance
occurred on Dec. 4 at Crisler Arena,
when Michigan beat Notre Dame in its
first win over a ranked team this season.
He shot 4-for-5 and went 2-for-3 from
beyond the arc.
Because he received the opportunity
See COLEMAN, page 5B
TREVOR CAMPBEL/Daily
Freshman Ron Coleman sank four key 3-pointers in
the second half of Saturday's win.
* Icers keep rolling, sweep away Nanooks
By Jake Rosenwasser
Daily Sports Writer
With four minutes remaining in the third
period on Saturday and Michigan leading 5-
0, the Michigan Pep Band Director, Damon
Talley - as is his ten-
dency - started to AK.-FAIRBANKS 2
dance to the delight of
the fans. But this time
Fairbanks zone on a 3-on-2 break with senior
Eric Nystrom and freshman Chad Kolarik.
Tambellini passed to Kolarik in the center and
continued down the left side of the ice. Kolarik
took the pass and waited a second before he fed
the puck back to Tambellini. The junior skated
in on Rogers and backhanded the puck into the
net to put the Wolverines on the board.
In the second period, Michigan poured it
on with a balanced attack. Senior Milan Gajic
took a pass from senior David Moss with 4:22
remaining in the period and scored on a shot
that hit the top of the net. Later in the period,
T.J. Hensick's shot hit Jason Ryznar who fed
it to sophomore David Rohlfs to push Michi-
banks never let up.
"(After the second period) we just talked
about not quitting - no matter what;' Alaska-
Fairbanks coach Tavis MacMillan said. 'We
didn't care who we were playing. We didn't
care what time of the season it was. The big-
gest thing was just not to quit"
MacMillan's plea must have struck a chord
with his team because Michigan's momentum
did not carry over into the third period. Alaska-
Fairbanks outplayed Michigan in the final 20
minutes, outscoring the Wolverines 2-0. The
Wolverines and their coach, Red Berenson,
were happy with the weekend's results, but a
bit upset about their lackluster third period on
ber when Michigan beat up on Miami (Ohio),
5-2 and 5-3. Even with all the success in the
CCHA, Hensick is not totally satisfied because
of the lone conference loss Michigan suffered
to Ferris State back in October.
"I think everyone in our locker room thinks
we should be 16-0," Hensick said. "That was
a devastating loss to Ferris in overtime, but
we're playing hard, (and) we're playing well
in our CCHA games. We know that each
game, no matter who (we) play, it's going to
be a battle."
Although Friday and Saturday's games
ended with the same final score, Friday's
contest was much closer. Entering the third
he added a prop to his
customary Michigan
victory dance - a
AK.-FAIRBANKS 2
broom. Four minutes and two meaningless
Alaska-Fairbanks goals later, Michigan had
I -: