The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, February 14, 2008- 5A
Average Joes get
their chance
Michigan coach Rich
Rodriguez will hold
open tryouts today
By COURTNEY RATKOWIAK
Daily Sports Editor
Rich Rodriguez compares
his first open tryout experi-
ence to the movie "Invincible"
- the story of Vince Papale, a
bartender who tried out for the
Philadelphia Eagles and made
the team.
"The first year I did it, I had
about five or 10
guys show up NOTEBOOK
who had never
even played high school foot-
ball," Rodriguez laughed.
That was seven years ago.
But in Rodriguez's last season
at West Virginia, almost 50 ath-
letes showed up for a chance to
be a Mountaineer football play-
er.
This year, he's continuing the
tradition - and possibly start-
ing one at Michigan. Today at
4 p.m., Rodriguez will hold an
open tryout for the Michigan
football team. Interested ath-
letes must undergo a physical
exam before the tryout and have
some high school or junior col-
lege football experience. Regis-
tration will begin at 3:30 p.m. at
Schembechler Hall.
As a student at West Virginia,
Rodriguez walked onto the foot-
ball team and eventually earned
a scholarship.
"I'm a big believer in the
walk-on program," he said.
"The opportunity's going to be
there. If the guy can run around
RODRIGO GAYA/Daily
Senior Kevin Porter is making a strong case for the Hobey Baker Award, college hockey's MVP award, by leading the country in scoring as the captain of the nation's top-
ranked team. The only other Wolverine to win the award was Brendan Morrison, who won it in 1997.
H'H PEFUL
a little bit and maybe looks like a
potential contributor, we'll keep
him."
Rodriguez said he gave schol-
arships to 25 walk-ons the past
five years at West Virginia. He
said the Michigan football team
may keep four to five athletes
after today's tryout.
Making the cut doesn't guar-
antee a roster spot next fall, but
it ensures the players will be on
the team through spring prac-
tices.
EVERYONE'S A ROOKIE: The
Wolverines now have' 24 com-
mitments for next season, but
due to upperclassmen depar-
tures, Michigan will not fill all
85 scholarships.
Rodriguez can only give 25
scholarships per year, and as of
Signing Day, he said the Wolver-
ines had 26 or 27 scholarships
because of players leaving early.
When Rodriguez arrived at West
Virginia, he said it took two or
three years to make up for the
upperclassman deficit resulting
from the coaching change.
"I'm hoping we won't lose any
more of our upperclassmen, but
I can't guarantee you," Rodri-
guez said. "I'm not going to lock
the doors from the inside out.
We're going to be demanding."
Rodriguez said his new sys-
tem means "everybody's kind of
in a rookie mode" - and he may
not have a solid idea of where his
team stands until two-a-days
finish in August.
"I don't know what we've
got," Rodriguez said. "Heck, I
haven't had a practice yet. I like
winning too much to not adapt
to our people, but I don't know
See FOOTBALL, Page 8A
OPEN TRYOUT:
F NOT PRYOR,
HOW 'BOUT
YOU?
An open tryout will be held
offering students the chance to
make the roster as walk-ons.
WHAT: Open tryouts to walk-on to the
football team
WHO: Any undergraduate student with
some high school orjuniorcollege experi-
ence and a copy of a physical examform
signed by a doctor.
WHEN: Today, 3:30 p.m.
WHERE: Schembechler Hall
Senior captain the
odds-on favorite to
win college hockey
MVP award
By NATE SANDALS
ManagingSports Editor
Chad Kolarik doesn't get to vote
for the Hobey Baker Award win-
ner, but if he could, he'd already be
committed to a candidate.
"Kevin Potter - no question,"
the alternate captain said.
Sure, there might be some bias in
that vote. Kolarik and Porter aren't
just linemates and Michigan's only
scholarship seniors. They're also
best friends and housemates.
But even those who don't live
with Porter agree he's putting
together a historic season.
"He's had a Hobey Baker career
at Michigan, and now he's doing it
right this year," Michigan coach
Red Berenson said. "If it weren't
for him, where would our team
be?"
That's a scary question, consid-
ering the impact Porter has had
leading the Wolverines at both
ends of the ice.
Porter's defensive prowess is an
important part of his Hobey Baker
campaign. Being the nation's top
scorer is no guarantee for a Hobey
Baker award - it doesn't even
guarantee a spot in the top three.
Last season, Michigan senior
T.J. Hensick had the most points in
the country but was left out when
the three finalists for the award
were announced in late March.
The slight came as a shock to many
in the Michigan locker room, but
maybe it shouldn't have.
"I think it was our team that
affected him the most," Kolarik
said. "Our team wasn't that good.
We were decent, but we didn't have
a run like we're having now."
Even more surprising, last sea-
son's award went to North Dakota
sophomore Ryan Duncan, which
perturbed Berenson, who thinks
a player's class status should be a
consideration in voting.
"This is Porter's senior year and
it's his best year ever," Berenson
said. "And look around the country,
even if he doesn't win the scoring,
look what he's doing for our team."
There's no denying this year's
team is returning the favor to
Porter. As the best player on the
nation's No. 1 team, Porter has a
good shot at being Michigan's sec-
ond-ever Hobey Baker winner.
The other Wolverine to win the
award, Brendan Morrison, won it
in his senior season in 1997. For his
successes, Morrison is a role model
to many current Michigan players,
including Porter.
"He's had a great career in the
NHL," Porter said. "He was a great
leader here ... There's not a better
guy to look up to."
The Northville native can eas-
ily rattle off what made Morrison
a prototypical Hobey Baker win-
ner: Great offensive numbers for
four years, great leadership and a
National Championship.
The description sounds a lot like
Porter, who is climbing his way up
the list of Michigan's all-time great
players.
Kolarik is pretty sure he knows
how Porter's Michigan story will
end up.
"I was telling Ports the other
day that I had a dream he won
the Hobey Baker and I was cry-
ing when he was giving his accep-
tance speech," Kolarik said. "It's a
little weird, but that's something I
strive for, for him to win the Hobey
Baker."
For Kolarik, who may keep play-
ing with Porter after college since
they're both' Phoenix Coyotes'
prospects, an award for Porter
would mean more than the hard-
ware.
"I'm his best friend. He's my
best friend," Kolarik said. "We're
linemates, and if he wins, I'll get a
piece of it."
RICH RODRIGUEZ
Wright a go-go: Redshirt freshman
emerges as team's reliable sixth man
CHANEL VON HABSBURG-LOTHRINGEN/Da
Junior Melinda Queen has put up season-high numbers against Northwestern the
past two times the teams have faced each other.
* With postseason play on
the line, Blue hits the road
Queen hopes for
continued success
against Wildcats in
front of family
By ALEX PROSPERI
Daily Sports Writer
For the first time since 2000-01,
the Michigan women's basketball
team is playing a meaningful game
midway through February.
Let that sink in.
Michigan's record (6-6 Big Ten,
13-9 overall) speaks volumes to the
team's improvement this season.
Coming off four straight losing
campaigns under former coach
Cheryl Burnett, first-year head
coach Kevin Borseth has turned
the program around. And with six
games left, Michigan has a chance
to play beyond the Big Ten Tourna-
ment.
Luckily for the Wolverines,
those six games begin at North-
western (0-12, 4-20), a team on a
Virginia native
sparks Wolverine
offense, plays solid
on defensive end
By H. JOSE BOSCH
Daily Sports Editor
To relax before every game,
redshirt freshman Anthony
Wright listens to Critical Condi-
tion Band, a little-known Wash-
ington D.C.-area go-go ensemble.
Like the band, Wrighthasbeen
performing in obscurity for much
of the season.
But to Michi-
gan coach John Michigan
Beilein'sdelight,
the Sterling,Va., at IOWa
native's offense Matchup:
is becoming a Michigan 6-17;
major piece in Iowa 11-14
the Wolverines' When:
slow and steady Tonight, 9 P.M.
improvement. Where:
"It's really Carver-Hawk-
important to eye Arena
have that third TV/Radio:
guy who can ESPN
score," Beilein
said.
Beilein wants two scorers on
the court as often as possible.
Sophomore DeShawn Sims and
freshman Manny Harris are the
team's leading scorers and both
are in the starting lineup. With
Wright's continued success on
offense, Beilein can rest Sims
earlier and still keep two scoring
threats on the floor.
The boost off the bench has
also helped Michigan avoid the
first-half scoring droughts that
plagued it for much of the season.
"I've always been willing to
shoot," Wright said. "But now
the balls are just falling in, and
my release feels great. So I'm just
trying to be consistent with that
now."
Before his 15-point perfor-
mance against Illinois, Wright
failed to score in double digits
for 14 straight games, going back
to Michigan's second game of the
season.
Beilein attributed Wright's
struggles to his deflating per-
formance against then-No. 5
Georgetown, in front of family
and friends.
"That knocked him back a lit-
tle bit," Beilein said. "He has his
confidence right now, and that's
really important."
After that run of tough games,
Wright has scored double digits
in three of the past seven games.
During the stretch, Wright has
tallied seven points per game,
four better than his average
before the Illinois game.
While Wright hasn't scored at
the same rate as Sims and Harris,
his first-half point bursts against
Illinois, Michigan State and Penn
State kept Michigan in the game
and are glimpses of how valuable
Wright can be as a sixth man.
"It definitely helps for him to
come off the bench and shoot at
such a high percentage," fresh-
man Kelvin Grady said. "He takes
our team to a whole new level."
His play hasn't just improved
on offense. Wright has developed
into a solid defensive player, too.
Beilein trusted Wright's defen-
See WRIGHT, Page 8A
13-game losing
streak.
And no Wol-
verine is hap-
pier than junior
Melinda Queen
about Michigan's
upcoming game
against the Wild-
cats.
Although
she has not put
up huge num-
bers this season,
Queen's track
Michigan at
N'westem
Matchup:
Michigan 13-
9; N'western
4-20
When:
Tonight, ' P.M.
Where:
Welsh-Ryan
Arena
record against Northwestern is
impressive.
Last year, when Queen averaged
just four points and two rebounds
per contest, she had her best game
of the season against Northwest-
See WILDCATS, Page 8A
CLIF REEDER/Daily
Redshirt freshman Anthony Wright has scored in double-digit figures three of the
last seven games. Next up: the Wolverines travel to Iowa tonight.
&