qw 8 - Tuesday, January 31, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Horford's season in question By BEN ESTES Daily Sports Editor To say the last month-and-a- half has been a frustrating time for Michigan forward Jon Hor- ford would be an understate- ment. The sophomore has not played a game since Dec. 10 due to a stress frac- ture in the fifth NOTEBOOK metatarsal bone in his right foot. For a while, Horford's injury didn't seem to be that serious, and most didn't expect that he'd still be sitting so long after the injury first came to light. Hor- ford actually played through pain in the win over Oakland at the Palace of Auburn Hills - Michigan coach John Beilein revealed that he sustained a "stress area" in his foot after the game against Iowa State a week before. At the time, Beilein said he would rest Horford to prevent the relatively minor injury from becoming something more serious. Considering the then- 20th-ranked Wolverines were facing a pretty breezy three- game stretch of mid-major opponents before opening the Big Ten season, Beilein's deci- sion seemed natural. But then Horford didn't play against Penn State in the con- ference opener, and Beilein announced that Horford was "week-to-week." A medical redshirt became a legitimate option, pending an MRI. That MRI didn't reveal fur- ther damage, but an X-ray a couple weeks later showed that Horford indeed had a stress fracture in the metatarsal, put- ting a potential return this sea- son even further in doubt. While he hasn't traveled to several of Michigan's road games, Horford did make the trip to Columbus on Sunday in street clothes. He said he's been frustrated having to sit out. "But that's life, and my team- mates have been real supportive of me," Horford said. "It's been hard, it's always hard when you can't play. Everyone's been help- ing me stay up, and hopefully in the near future I can be 100 percent." In recent weeks, Beilein has given periodic updates on Hor- ford's status. First, he was doing 0 " S MARISSA MCCLAIN/Daily Michigan coach Brady Hoke coached the Wolverines toa 10-2 regular season. Hoke is third coach to receive Maxwell Award at Michigan ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily Sophomoreforward Jon Horford was injured against Oakland and hasn't entered the lineup since December. rehab work on his own. Then, he came back to practice doing only some of the activities. He finally resumed practicing full-go last week, but Beilein said he was rusty and wouldn't play until he got back to full health. It's unclear if that will happen soon. Considering Horford still hasn't played, and since Michi- gan (6-3 Big Ten, 16-6 overall) has just nine regular-season games remaining, it appears more and more likely that Hor- ford will sit the rest of the year and take a redshirt. The move would have several advantages. For one, it would break up the sophomore class, which has four other players. The departure of five players two years from now would hurt roster continuity. It would also help space out the big men on the roster, as one of his class- mates is redshirt sophomore Jordan Morgan. And Horford would have an extra year of eligibility, mean- ing this wouldn't be a wasted season. But on the flip side, the Wol- verines are hurting for depth, especially in the frontcourt. Sophomore forward Evan Smotrycz is much more natural as a "4" man but has been forced to take the backup center role. And while Morgan has done a better job of avoiding foul trou- ble this season, he's still liable to slip up. When he and Smotrycz both pick up too many fouls - as was the case against then-No. 4 Ohio State and its burly front line on Sunday - the team's frontcourt depth issues become obvious. Junior forward Blake McLimans is the next option, but he doesn't have the physical- ity to battle down low like Mor- gan or Horford. Beilein has an important decision to make: try to get by without Horford this season, or bring him back and essentially sacrifice his sophomore year for a better chance at a strong finish in the stretch. "You always want to be out there," Horford said. "You want to be able to help your team. I feel like the only way I can con- tribute now is try to pick these guys up when they come out of the game in timeouts." HOKE-INFLUENCED?: It wasn't easy to notice, but in the run-up to the tilt with the Buck- eyes, Beilein began to refer to the university simply as "Ohio," adopting the jargon popular- ized by Michigan football coach Brady Hoke. Beilein continued to omit the "State" in his press conference after the game and in the Big Ten Coaches' teleconference on Monday. But he clams the lin- guistic decision is all his own. "I can't tell you how it's hap- pened, it's just sort of happened with (the football saying) 'Beat Ohio,' " Beilein said. "I have received no direction from anybody. I've just adopted that myself. But there's some unifor- mity with what Brady's doing." IZZO PRAISES BURKE: After the Wolverines' 60-59 win over then-No. 9 Michigan State on Jan. 17, Spartans head man Tom Izzo was reticent to praise Michigan freshman point guard Trey Burke. Perhaps you can chalk it up to Izzo being disappointed with the loss, because he was much more open about Burke on Mon- day. "I think he has (surprised)," Izzo said. "He wasn't a top recruit coming out (of high school). He just kind of fits what they do. He's done a good job and is a very, very, very good offensive player. He can do a lot with the ball, uses balls screens pretty well and shoots it very well." Izzo also praised Indiana freshman forward Cody Zeller for his contributions as a first- year player. Michigan welcomes Zeller and the 20th-ranked Hoosiers to the Crisler Center on Wednesday night. By ZACH HELFAND Daily Sports Editor The season has been over for nearly a month, but" the hard- ware keeps rolling in for Team 132. The Maxwell Football Club named Michigan coach Brady Hoke as its Collegiate Coach of the Year on Monday. The award is Hoke's third this season. The first-year coach earned Big Ten Coach of the Year honors from both the coaches and the media. He was also a finalist for three other national Coach of the Year honors. "Coach Hoke has engineered a tremendous turnaround in the Michigan football program in just one year, and it was obvi- ous that his team improved each week," said Mark Wolpert, executive director of Maxwell Football Club. "It is quite an accomplishment to compile an 11-2 record playing a rigorous Big Ten schedule in his first year at the helm. Coach Hoke has set the tone for a high degree of future success for the Michigan pro- gram." Established in 1935, the Max- well Football Club is the oldest football club in the nation and has named a collegiate coach of the year since 1989. The award was named the Joseph V. Pater- nlo Collegiate Coach of the Year Award for one year until the Maxwell Club removed the name in November of 2011. Along with the award, Hoke received an invite to the 75th Maxwell Club National Awards Gala, which will be held at the Harrah's Atlantic City Resort on Friday, March 2. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rod- gers, coach Mike McCarthy, LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu and Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, among others, will also receive awards. "(Hoke) engineered a tremendous turnaround." Hoke compiled an 11-2 record (6-2 Big Ten) in his first year at the helm, and with a victory in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, he became the third coach to win a BCS bowl in his first season in a new program. 6 NO, SERIOUSLY, WANT TO JOIN THE DAILY SPORTS STAFF? We're not desperate, we just know you're at a tremendous crossroads. Trust us and come on in. MEETINGS ARE AT 1 P.M. IN THE UPSTAIRS BOARD ROOM AT 420 MAYNARD STREET 4 NEW YORK UNIVERSITY , Behind every book, magazine, and website, there is a versatile, well-trained team. _. - '}.t ', l a ,- 2 ' jr4 k ' k 4 r [ . ' f _: , ° ,' a I bi CA134Y1-St8Q4f $U ; , . Freshens- yY ry i , l- i' \,l ':... .... _..J , '' iurnrrn s anti P;'la ° + .,, ooonACArE .. 4