4 8A - Wednesday, February 4, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com '1W surprisingly hasn't seen a shootout so far The Victors vs. the eSt We know the Wolverines have a game tomorrow against Penn State. So what? The team is taking on Connecticut, the top-ranked squad in the nation, on Saturday - and that's always a big deal. The Daily has dug through the record books and found Michigan's all-time record versus the No.l team in the na- tion, and guess what? It's not great. In 19 tries, the Wolverines are 1-18. Can they make it 2-18 on Saturday? By NICOLE AUERBACH Daily SportsEditor Last month, the CCHA released its annual captains' poll. The awards given out ranged from the serious (best passer) to the silly (best nickname). "Best shootout skater," intended to be a legitimate category, turned out to be one of the most comi- cal. The honor went to Wolverine sophomore forward Aaron Palush- aj, a talented skater and stickhan- dler. What's so funny about Palush- aj's nod? Well, he plays for the Michigan hockey team - the only squad in the conference to not play in a shootout so far this season. During the off-season, the con- ference became the nation's first to implement a three-player shootout formation for CCHA games that remain tied after 60 minutes of regulation and a five-minute over- time period. But the Wolverines haven't competed in a shootout, let alone played in overtime, through their first 20 conference games. By this time last season, Michi- gan had already posted three ties. And it's not like the Wolver- ines haven't been in close games. They've played eight games decid- ed by one goal and won five of them.. "It's kind of weird," junior act- ing captain Chris Summers said. "I guess it's just how the puck bounces. We don't really expect to go into overtime or anything like that. I guess it's just a coincidence that we haven't." Summers said it would have been nice to have an extra period Saturday night against then-No. 1 Notre Dame, the closest the team has come to ending regulation in a tie. With 31 seconds left in the game, it appeared that junior defense- man Steve Kampfer had battled a loose puck into the back of the net for the game-tying goal, complet- ing a comeback from a three-goal deficit and drawing comparisons to last year's Frozen Four game between the two teams. "They called the goal off, so I wasn't really getting my hopes up," Palushaj said. "Since we haven't been to overtime this year, I don't think it went through most of our heads (that we might)." And because Michigan hasn't played an extra pefiod all season, it logically hasn't competed in a shootout, either. The conference decided to institute the shootout because it needed a tie-breaking procedure for the CCHA standings. The team that wins the shootout gains an extra point - making it equiva- lent to a regular or an overtime victory. Coaches voted and league officials agreed that an NHL-style, three-player shootout would be crowd-pleasing and less draining on players than endless overtime periods. Each Wednesday in practice, the players divide and compete against one another in a mock shootout. But Berenson doesn't think a prac- tice environment simulates the pressure of a game-deciding shot in a hostile arena. "You try to create some compe- tition," Berenson said. "But still, I couldn't tell you for sure who's going tobe good in a shootout until they actually do it in a game." Palushaj, the captain's poll favorite, and fellow sophomore forward Carl Hagelin are likely selections for a shootout. Players seem to enjoy Wednesday shoo- touts, always teasing teammates who miss and cheering players who score. This weekend's opponent, Lake Superior State, has the experi- ence in shootouts that Michigan lacks. The Lakers have been in six overtime games and are tied for most in the conference. And while that could give them an edge in a potential extra frame or pressure- packed shootout, the Wolverines aren't worried. "They've been in them, and we haven't been in their," Berenson said. That doesn't concern me. We're playing to win every game, not to tie." 4 FILEANDAPPHOToS From left to right: The Wolverines lost to No.1i's UCLA in 2006, Duke in02001, Illinois in 2005 and Ohio State in 2007. They will face No .1Connecticut this Saturday. No. 1 No. 1 No.1 No.1No.1 Ohio State Ohio State Ohio State Duke Kentucky LOSS LOSS LOSS LOSS LOSS 80-58 89-64 72-57 100-93 84- N0.1 1 No 1 No. 1 No. 1 UCLA * Indiana Indianaf Indiana f Indiana LOSS LOSS LOSS LOSS LOSS 90-77 74-48 80-74 72-67 OT 6 NoNo0. 1 No.l No. * No.1 Duke f Duke f Indiana , Duke Duke LOSS LOSS LOSS WIN LOSS 88-85 OT 71-51 93-92 81-73 104-6 No.1 No.1 No.1l No.1 -No.1 Duke Illinois UCLA Ohio State Connecut LOSS LOSS LOSS LOSS 104-83 57-51 92-55 65-61 0 What's wrong with recruiting? Theprocess, not the players HOLLAND - When wide receiver Roy Roundtree decom- mitted from Purdue in favor of Michigan on National Signing Day last year, he drew the ire of Boilermaker football coach Joe Tiller. "If we had an early signing date, you wouldn't have another outfit with a guy in a wiz- ard hat sell- ing snake oil to get a guy at the last min- ute, but that's DAN what hap- FELDMAN pened," Til- _ ler told the Indianapolis Star last February. You probably won't hear any coaches blast A.J. Westendorp or Nader Furrha today, the first day high school football recruits can sign National Letters of Intent. Westendorp is a senior at Hol- land Christian, and Furrha gradu- ated from Ann Arbor Pioneer last month. Both were excellent high school quarterbacks and will play at the collegiate level next year -- Westendorp at Central Michigan and Furrha at Michigan. Although neither verbally com- mitted anywhere, both called the coaches at the other schools that had recruited them once they decided to go elsewhere. It wasn't hard for them. It was the right thing to do. Roundtree didn't call Tiller, and the redshirt freshman said at Michigan Media Day last summer that he regrets it. Dissecting how the recruiting process has changed, several pun- dits have criticized "kids these days" for being disloyal. The Mich- igan football team has already had seven players back out of verbal commitments, and it'd be pretty surprising if at least one more didn't today. Schools all around the nation have had similar issues. But fixing the kids isn't the way to solve the problem. The bet- ter answer is ensuring high-end recruits go through a lower-pres- sure process like Westendorp and Furrha, who had a single Division I offer between them. Although the rules for Division II recruiting aren't different, the practices clearly are. Westendorp says his strength is scoring touchdowns, and his num- n 0% bers certainly back that up. He's not the fastest, and he's not the biggest, but he threw 40 touchdowns (with just four interceptions) and ran for another 25 this year while leading his team to a state title. Most of his interest came from DivisionIIschools.Themostuncon- ventional element he encountered in the recruiting process was Grand Valley State coach Chuck Martin stopping by his house to pick up a highlighttape and askinghimnotto take an official visit to North Dakota State. Hardly sinister. But Westendorp spent most of his time in the process waiting for a Division I offer. He finally got it Sunday, and he will attend Central Michigan. Furrha grew up so close to Michigan Stadium that he proba- bly would have heard the cheers on football Saturdays had he not been at the games. Division II powerhouse Grand Valley State also pursued him. He weighed his options and opted to walk on at Michigan. It wasn't a drawn-out public affair. He follows recruiting, sees players waver in their commitment to the Wolver- ines and wonders how hard it is to make a decision. Well, it's hard because the pro- cess is so screwed up. I'm sick of everyone putting the blame on' recruits not being mature enough to honor their commitments. Are Westendorp and Furrha better people than all the recruits nationwide who decommit, or are there other factors for the recruits who have multiple options with-top schools? Our generation isn't the problem. It's the way recruiting is set up. It's in a recruit's best interest to commit early, even if he's not sure he's want to attend that school. By verbally committing, at least in theory, a school will hold a scholar- ship for him. But that isn't always the case. South Carolina coach Steve Spur- rier pulled a scholarship offer from a committed recruit, according to Palmetto Sports. Spurrier found better recruits and cast the lesser player aside. The NCAA needs to take a few steps to ensure these tricks don't spiral out of control: 1. Give recruits the option of signing a. non-binding letter of intent at any time. A recruit and a school can agree to hold a schol- arship, and the player wouldn't be allowed to have contact with any otherschools. If a player wants to re-open his recruitment, he could formally 4 rescind the letter. The school couldn't void it unless the recruit has disciplinary problems. This way, schools and recruits know exactly where they stand. Players couldn't hold a spot while flirting with other schools, and coaches can't pull the rug out from under recruits. 2. Eliminate oversigning. More and more, schools are signing more players than they have room for under the NCAA's 85-scholarship limit. It always seems to work out because someone doesn't qualify academically or someone isn't cleared medically to play. But that leaves coaches in the position of needing some of their players to fail. Coaches should have to show the available scholarships for every letter of intent, binding or non-binding. An added benefit is coaches would give preference to players they know would qualify academi- cally. 3. Guarantee scholarships for four years. Currently, scholar- ships are granted on a year-to-year basis. This would also help stop coaches from oversigning since they wouldn't be able to jettison older players to make room for new recruits. 4. Investigate and punish. No set of rules will work if the NCAA doesn't actively seek out offenders and discipline them. These suggestions are not origi- nal, and they're pretty straight- forward. But until these or similar measures are implemented, college football recruiting will continue to be a mess. Recruiting used to be annoying. It's quickly becoming unbearable. The NCAA needs to take action and give top recruits the chance to show the class of Westendorp and Furrha. Although not calling Tiller was a mistake, Roundtree isn't necessar- ily a worse personthan Westendorp 4 and Furrha. The other two justben- efited from goingthrough a simpler, less-stressful recruiting process. - Feldman can be reached atdanfeld@umich.edu