8- Tuesday, April 14, 2009 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Backfield could be backbone Sophomore Manny Harris (left) and junior DeShawn Sims say they're a package deal. Harris and Sims id i conie oSptions By JASON KOHLER Daily Sports Writer When sophomore guard Manny Harris hopped onto the stage at the Four Points Sheraton to receive the Bill Buntin Most Valuable Player award, junior forward DeShawn Sims followed him. Harris received the award from Michigan coach John Beilein and then handed it to Sims. "He deserves it," Harris said. As the two headed back the seats, Beilein quickly joked, "Can we do that? If both of you come back and stay next year, we'll let you both have it." The big question surrounding the Michigan basketball team at its annual year-end banquet was whether Harris and Sims would be back with the Wolverines next sea- son or bolt to the NBA. After Michigan's second-round loss to Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament, it seemed that there was no gray area. Harris and Sims were definitely coming back. "I love the college game," Har- ris said at the time. "I still have a lot of work to do before I make the jump." Beilein has insisted all along that his two stars make an educated decision and explore their options. "It's sort of a rite of spring where I think they should think about things for a long time," Beilein said before the banquet. "They should find out where they are and where they would be if they ever did decide to come out. But finding out where you are and coming out are two different things." Harris and Sims are being coun- seled by an advisory board led by Stu Jackson, the NBA Executive Vice President of Basketball Opera- tions. The board has been giving the players a sense of where they would stand if they were to enter the NBA draft in late June. Beilein said he has a feeling of what his players are thinking, but he wouldn't comment on it. Harris and Sims said they are a package deal - if one goes, so does the other - and they will make a decision later this week. If the Wolverines lose Harris and Sims, they will lose 48.3 per- cent of this past season's offensive production. Harris was a first-team All-Big Ten selection and Sims was second-team. When asked what they would do if they were forced to make a decision today, both players said they would be coming back to Michigan. By RUTH LINCOLN Daily Sports Editor Last season, then-junior Brandon Minor led the Michigan football team with just 533 total rushing yards. It had been 45 years since a Wolverine led the team with fewer. But now, with a solid offensive NOTEBOOK core around him and the other running backs, the ground game could become one of the team's biggest strengths. The Wolverines return four run- ning backs who started at least one game last season. Veterans like Minor, senior Carlos Brown and fifth-year senior Kevin Grady have shined in spring practice. "I believe you've got to have a number of tailbacks - more than two, more than three," Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said. "You've got to have at least four ready to win with.... The more competition you have, it raises everybody's level. We have some backs that their role may be different than others." Rodriguez said he wanted to give his younger players more playing time Saturday and avoid injuring his top players. Minor was limited to just a few carries in Saturday's spring game, but he will likely be the Wolverines' top back in the fall. Brown has had his moments, like last season against Northwestern when he rushed for 115 yards on 23 carries, or during a three-game stretch in 2007 when he averaged over 103yards per game. But injuries have plagued his career and pre- vented him from establishing much of a rhythm in the backfield. Now at full strength, Brown showcased his speed and strength allspring.InSaturday'sspringgame, he broke free for an 82-yard run. Grady looked good Saturday, too. After promising freshman and sophomore seasons, an ante- rior cruciate ligament injury in 2007 and a DUI charge last August marred Grady's career. But coach- es have been impressed with his recent spring performance. "Part of what we've talked about is that everybody is going to have a role," Rodriguez said. "If they embrace that role as well as they can, we're going to be a better foot- ball team. Carlos is one that does that and understands that. Kevin is the same way. They've both had outstanding springs." Early-enrollee Vincent Smith showed off his speed towards the end of the spring game with a 25-yard run in the "overtime" ses- sion. Despite his 5-foot-6,158-pound frame, Smith has shown toughness. "(Smith's) probably one of the most gifted guys we've got back there, as far as being able to jump cut, press a block and get north and SAID ALSALAH/Daily Senior Carlos Brown had an 82-yard run in Michigan's spring game on Saturday. south," Rodriguez said. "From what we've seen this spring, he's got a chance to be in the mix. Again, there is a lot of things that freshman backs have to learn,but he's on his way." Add sophomore running back Michael Shaw, who missed the spring to have surgery on a sports hernia, and redshirt freshman Michael Coxto the mix, and carries this fall will be tightly contested. ALUMS WEIGH IN: Several for- mer players were on hand Saturday for the alumni flag football game, including quarterback Rick Leach (1975-78), linebacker Larry Foote (1999-2002) and receiver Desmond Howard (1989-91). All three were optimistic about next season. Despite the Wolver- ines' youth, Leach said he thought the team would showvisible growth in Rodriguez's second year. . "I'm anxious to see what hap- pens," Leach said. "I knew (fresh- man quarterback) Tate (Forcier) when he was being recruited. I've stayed in touch. Iknowhis family.... There's going to beups and downs, but he's tremendously accurate as a passer, he's got great mobility and he loves football." Howard pointed to Rodriguez's improvement in his previous stops - West Virginia went 3-8 in Rodri- guez's first season and 9-4 the next year - as evidence that Michigan will be better. And though the Wol- verine defense still needs to adjust to first-year defensive coordinator Greg Robinson's system, the grow- ing pains will be less noticeable. "(Robinson) told me he's going to have ... a defense that is going to keep pressure on quarterbacks so they can never get comfortable," Howard said. "He said it's like a school of 11 piranhas. It's like 11 piranhas in that little fish bowl your teacher used to keep on her desk with the little goldfish in it. Imagine 11 piranhas in that thing. It's like a frenzy." DEFENSIVE DOWNSIDES: How- ard might see defensive piranhas in Michigan's future, but few were around Saturday. Robinson didn't want to show too many of his schemes too early, and the defense looked less than spectacular. Senior Brandon Graham saw limited action for the same reasons as Minor, and sophomore defensive tackle Mike Martin did not play due to injury. Redshirt sophomore defensive end Ryan Van Bergen -left the field midway through the scrimmage with what Rodriguez called "not a major knee thing." "We have a lot less experience up front and at the safety positions," Rodriguez said. "I like our gdlys' attention to learning new termi- nology defensively, but we've got a lot of work to do there because of inexperience." I 0 0 0 The Daily: A trip to remember t was 8 a.m. on a summer morning in 2007, and my cell phone was ringing. Wondering who could possibly be calling so early, I croaked a groggy hello. On the other end of the line was Michigan alum J. J. Putz, then the All-Star closer for the Seattle Mariners. As the star ballplayer apologized for waking me up - bethought I was still in Michigan,i n not my home state of Cali- fornia - I ran downstairs COLT to put him on ROSENSWEIG speakerphone, -- turn on my recorder and conduct an interview. A month later, I found myself behind the scenes of the USA Championships for men's gym- nastics,just a few feet away from the best gymnasts in the country. Among the champion athletes was a group of Wolverines, who wel- comed me with big smiles and hugs. None of it would have been possible without the Daily. And though nothing quite turned out the way I expected - I thought I was destined to write baseball - I wouldn't change a thing. If Karl Stampfl hadn't finally succeeded in dragging me to 420 Maynard in the second semester of my fresh- man year, I wouldn't have stayed'at Michigan for fiv vers T nhale would have just gone to classes, hockey and football games, and I would not have had nearly so many amazing memories. I've covered the extraordinary men's gymnastics team, made the kinds of friends who will last a lifetime and had unforgettable adventures. There was the game the Michi-' gan men's club rugby team brought me along for in Columbus, where I stood in the drivingsleet and wind for three hours with a coach using me as a shield - and I couldn't stop smiling the whole time. There was the time in 2006 when, planning atrip to Okla- homa for men's gymnastics NCAA Championships, I unwittingly booked myself a room in a hooker hotel. Upon my arrival, I got myself transferred to the cushy Sooner Hotel by playing the Daily card and then ended up hitching a ride to the arena with an Oklahoma student I met as I wandered around lost. There was that 10-hour drive to Minnesota at 4 a.m. with two travel buddies - both of whom instantly conked out as I attempted to see the road through the pitch blackness and snow flurries. I've met wonderful people like Russell Czeschin, Dylan Carney, Kyson Bunthuwong, Derek Helsby anri Mitchell1Mnv-who finncly broadened my gymnastics world beyond the Wolverines. And one of the positive conse- quences of this crappy economy is that it was cheaper for me to ride to away meets with the team I've cov- ered for four years. I'll never forget the impromptu karaoke parties that sometimes rose in the back of the bus, with 15 boys belting out old songs because they were too happy to do anything else. Practice became as routine for me as it was for the athletes I cov- ered. Each day, as I sat down in my "cozy spot" by the floor exercise, I felt a quiet contentment that I don't think I'll find elsewhere anytime soon. "There are six empty chairs here," Michigan assistant coach Scott Vetere used to point out (before he realized it was futile): "And you're sittingon the floor." It was the best seat in the house. I've gotten to watch this team develop from a squad that missed NCAA team finals in 2006 into the confident group that won a confer- ence championship this year. I've watched these athletes get their hearts broken and seen them rise to unbelievable heights. The day after Michigan won Big Tens this year, one of the team moms hugged me, saying she was happiest for me - that, after years of covering the team for the Daily, I got to go out on such a high note. When the Big Ten champion- ship win got top billing on that SportsMonday, I eagerly watched the gymnasts pick up newspapers at the Coliseum. I'll never forget the smiles that spread across their faces. And without the Daily, I might not have even known this team existed. I'd never have found this "job" that made me happier than anything in the world. It never felt like work. So thank you, Ian Herbert, for encouraging me when I needed it most. Thank you, Jack Herman, for teaching me (without knowing it) that it is a beat writer's duty to make the road trips. Thank you, Scott Bell, for all the props that made me feel valued. Thank you, Andy Reid, for all the times this season you've joked, "(Michigan men's gymnastics coach) Kurt Golder is goingto be pissed next year!" Thank you to all my fellow writers who have made this whole crazy ride so-special, and thanks to "the Kids," who always sup- ported me. Graduating into the frightening "real" world, I know I'll treasure these last four and a half years more than ever. I've had the time of my life. - Colt is in Minnesota for the men's gymnastics NCAA Championships, just as she promised her "freshmen" she would be.