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8 - Tueday, March 27, 2012

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

8 - Tuesday, March 27, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

Devin Gardner's
springfling

11
ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily
Sophomore defenseman Jon Merrill is still deciding whether he will return to the Michigan hockey team.
Seniors takedifferent
paths after season s end

By LIZ VUKELICH
Daily Sports Writer
After the Michigan hockey
team's premature exit from the
NCAA Tournament in the first
round on Friday, the upcoming
hockey banquet is the last chap-
ter remaining to be written in the
2011-12 season.
It serves as the seniors' last
hurrah, and to celebrate the work
the four members of the class of
2012 have put in over the years as
Wolverines.
Too bad not all the seniors will
be there. Forward David Wohl-
berg left Michigan on Monday for
Albany, N.Y. to sign an amateur-
tryout contract with the New
Jersey Devils' AHL team.
What should be time for the
Wolverines to unwind after the
end of their six-month season
is instead full of questions, as
uncertainty remains about which
players will stay in Ann Arbor to
continue their collegiate careers
and which will leave.
It's a different situation for
Wohlberg, who has finished his
Michigan eligibility and is no
longer a member of the team. But
it did provoke thought about the
only situation in which Michi-
gan coach Red Berenson would
approve of players leaving - a
chance to go to the NHL.
"Do you think there's a player
that graduates from Michigan
who would give up their senior
year to play in the American
League?" Berenson said. "There's
no way.
"(The AHL is) a development
league. Are you going to be more
ready to play in the NHL than if

you stay
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We grad

red at Michigan?" you're too good for college hock-
tight after Berenson's last ey and you're going to step right
or Michigan in the 1962 into the NHL, then there's some-
Tournament, he started thingto talk about."
L career with the Mon- Sophomore defenseman Jon
nadiens - the only team Merrill is the only Wolverine
ted to sign with. In fact, who hasn't appeared to make a
en told the NHL that he decision regarding next season.
't play for any team unless Merrill, who's been drafted by
the Canadiens. It was a the New Jersey Devils, said there
quest for a young player are several people he needs to
ut of college, but Beren- talk to before makinga final ver-
his wish. And even then, dict - namely Berenson - but he
made sure he was back hopes to come to a decision soon.
Arbor in time to finish Sophomore defenseman Mac
or his business degree. Bennett, who confirmed that
he intends to stay for his junior
season, hopes that the rest of
the team could potentially sway
they're not Merrill's decision in favor of
remaining at Michigan.
rried about a "With the group that we have
for the next season, I would
Sbanquet" think we'd be able to do some
serious damage," Bennett said.
But not all of the Wolverines
feel the same way. Junior defen-
lear from that anecdote seman Lee Moffie spoke very
erenson values nothing bluntly about the possibility of
r his players than educa- his teammates' departures.
d he didn't hide his plea- "If they don't want to be
en talking about the path around here and don't want to
e of his other seniors has give that extra effort, then maybe
to take. it's time to move on," Moffie said.
gh defenseman Greg "People we want around here are
had offers to go play for dedicated to Michigan."
L, he's chosen to stay at As it stands, Wohlberg will be
n to finish out his degree. the only Wolverine not present
nson,that speaks volumes for the end-of-year celebrations
is captain's priorities, and on Saturday. Berenson suggested
s it sets an example for that he fly back to Michigan after
of the Wolverines. -his game on Friday, but doesn't
y did you come to school expect Wohlberg to show up.
with?" Berenson asked "He won't do it, I don't think,"
play hockey? If you did, Berenson said. "The pros don't
me to the wrong place. think about that. They're not
duate people here. Unless worried about a hockeybanquet."

It's either the worst-kept
secret or the biggest non-
story of the Michigan
football team's spring practics:
Devin Gardner is taking snaps
at wide
receiver.
It's part
rumor, part
intrigue,
part imagi-
nation. Or
much ado
about noth- T
ing. T
Here's ROHAN
what we
know:
Last week, offensive coordi-
nator Al Borges - or any other
Michigan player or coach, for
that matter - would neither
confirm nor deny Gardner's new
role.
"Yeah," Borges said with a
smirk, "practices are closed for
a reason."
Denard Robinson - who
was a decoy and a sprint run-
ning back next to Gardner, the
quarterback, in Borges' "Deuce"
package last season - was
asked if the 6-foot-4 Gardner
were athletic enough to catch
a football. A switch flipped.
Robinson appeared robotic and
prepared, saying:
"Both of us just have the
same mindset. Whatever it
takes for the team to win, and
that's what we're going to do."
What about Gardner's hands?
"Both of us have good
hands," Robinson said.
Hmmm. Fishy.
Then, the most damning
evidence came over the week-
end when my brother, who's a
sophomore at Penn State, vis-
ited. As we drove by Michigan
Stadium, he asked about how
the team was shaping up. My
first thought was of Gardner.
I had gone to every press
conference. I had heard every
answer on Gardner. And I still
couldn't tell my brother for
certain he'd been practicing at
wide receiver. .
Before I could say anything,
my roommate Mike piped up
from the backseat. He didn't have
an unidentified source or break-
ing news to report from Twitter,
but he did have dinner the night
before with a football player who
told him Gardner looked good
takinga few reps at wide receiver
in practice. It's not fact. It's what
spring football is supposed to be
about: part rumor, part intrigue,
part imagination.

But the spring comes with a
warning, as does the rest of this
column - the heroes of spring
could be the dogs of fall. At its
best, spring football is a sneak
peak; at its worst, much ado
about nothing.
Let us indulge.
Imagine Gardner and Robin-
son and the flea-flicker possibil-
ities. Imagine Gardner running,
galloping past cornerbacks and
safeties. Imagine Robinson
throwing fades to the back
of the endzone to a tall, lean,
leaping No. 7. It doesn't seem
so crazy when you remember
Michigan lost its jump-ball
specialist to graduation. You
don't have to be an offensive
guru (read: Borges) to draw up
plays includingboth a Heisman
Trophy candidate and a previ-
ously top-ranked dual-threat
quarterback. What if the Deuce
was just a taste of what Borges
had in mind?
What if Gardner is getting a
head start on his preparation
for the NFL? If he's granted
a medical redshirt, Gardner
could have - at most - two
years to start at quarterback
after Robinson graduates.
But what if much-hyped 2013
freshman quarterback Shane
Morris proves himself ready
as the pocket passer Borges
needs? What if Gardner never
entrenches himself as Michi-
gan's starter and Robinson
hands the baton to Morris?
Now, calm down. I know I'm
getting ahead of myself. For
now. If you ask Borges, nothing
is out of the ordinary.
"We're doing-what we did a
year ago, pretty much," Borges
says. "We're going to play the
best 11 guys. Devin's the backup
quarterback right now. He's
number two, and we're goingto
do what we have to do to,get the
best 1ion the field. Nothing's
changed in that perspective, so
we pretty much have the same
mentality that we had."
So all of this speculation is
crazy, right?
Then Borges says things such
as, "(Gardner's) certainly one of
our better athletes on the team,
and we have to find a way to
exploit that.".
And then, he's asked if Gard-
ner's growth as a quarterback
will be stunted as he masquer-
ades at other positions, and
Borges says, "Nope. Not at all.
Smart kid, he'll be fine."
And then, he's asked if Gard-
ner is open to all of this, and

Borges says flatly, "Yeah. He
wants to play."
And then, you think to your-
self, OK, Tim's not so crazy
after all.
Since Borges came to Michi-
gan, he has said things such as,
"Every time you put together
a plan, you have to find out
how to factor him into it some-
where," in regard to Robinson
and Gardner. Last week, Borges
sounded convincing on the sub-
ject of Gardner, but in the next
breath he tried to spoon-feed
doses of reality.
"As you guys saw last year,
we're always looking for oppor-
tunities to get (Gardner) in
the game in some way, shape
or form without breaking the
rhythm of the quarterback,
which I don't think we did,"
Borges said. "And seeing to it
that we use him getting the ball,
use him throwing the ball and
use him decoying. With that
in mind, doingthe same thing
with Denard."
Reason says Gardner's job
description will be more sophis-
ticated than getting the ball,
throwing the ball, and decoy-
ing. If the job does include
receiver work, is that a knock
on Roy Roundtree, Jeremy Gal-
lon and the receivers? Or a nod
to Gardner's talent and Borges'
creativity?
Before Morris steps foot on
campus, Borges may be wise
to keep his top-two passers
healthy, especially consider-
ing Robinson's penchant for
boo boos. But why shouldn't he
dream a little this spring? Even
if he won't admit to Gardner
taking snaps at wide receiver,
a reasonable man like Borges
would admit that the spring's
the time to imagine, tinker, and
wonder: Will Gardner's role be
increased next season?
"I don't know," Borges said.
"I want to see. Maybe. I don't
know yet. We'll see. It's amatter
of how. That's the key. What are
you going to do? We've done a
lot with him, but there's still a
lot more that he can do, so we'll
see."
- Rohan can't wait for former
managing editor and former
co-managing sports editor and
former Michigan hockey beat writer
Nick Spar to look back on this,
column in 15 years and fondly laugh
at how Gardner went on to become
the next Marquise Walker. Rohan
can be reached at trohan@umich.
edu or on Twitter @TimRohan.

0

MEN'S BASKETBALL
Michigan yet to contact CMU transfer Trey Zeigler

By LUKE PASCH
Daily Sports Editor
It's always heartwarming to
hear of a star basketball recruit
opting to play for an unheralded
program to help it move toward
relevance.
Sometimes, though, that deci-
sion doesn't play out as planned.
On March 14, Central Michi-
gan men's basketball coach Ernie
Zeigler was fired after six sea-
sons with the Chippewas, and
his son, sophomore shooting
guard Trey Zeigler, was granted
a release soon after so he could

transfer. Zeigler was a consensus
top-100 recruit in high school,
and he declined offers from
Duke, Michigan State, Michigan
and UCLA to play for his father.
But now the recruiting battle
is back on after Zeigler averaged
over 31 minutes and 15 points per
game in each of his first two sea-
sons with Central Michigan. He
visited Duke last weekend and
ranks the Blue Devils at the top
of his list.
"I really liked Duke this past
weekend," Zeigler told The
Michigan Daily on Monday. "I
got to know Coach K a little bit,

better and his staff, some of the
players. It's definitely a possible
spot for me."
Zeigler has also spoken with
Pittsburgh, UCLA, LSU and
Michigan State, and he plans
to make some more visits in
the coming weeks. Contrary
to reports from some online
recruiting services, Michigan
has not yet reached out to Zei-
gler.
Michigan's lack of interest is
peculiar because the Wolver-
ine backcourt will lack depth
next season, especially with the
recent news of freshman combo

guard Carlton Brundidge trans-
ferring. And Zeigler indicated
on Monday that he may be inter-
ested if Michigan were to contact
him.
"Yeah, Michigan recruited me
all the way until the very end,"
Zeigler said. "I didn't make a
decision until my senior year.
Me and Coach Beilein had a very
good relationship, and the assis-
tants, too. So I felt really com-
fortable the first go-around.
"It would be hard to tell until
I talked with Coach Beilein if
they do reach out, just because
I don't really know where they

fall or what they
what they're plan
All in all, I was ve
Michigan the firs
I would definitel
and see what's wl
The 6-foot-5 g
vide versatility
lineup. He's sho
play the one, twe
tion over his
two college
seasons, and
he exhibits a
physical style
of play around
the basket.
But there
are some ques-
tion marks in
Zeigler's game
that could
be keeping
Beilein away. L
shied away frot
range shots and
on 29 percent
attempts. That w
in Beilein's shoot
Free-throw shoe
clear weakness.
last season und

're looking for, from the line.
nning on doing. Still, Michigan may not be
ry interested in in a position to be picky. If the
t go-around, so Wolverines could pluck Zeigler
y listen to them off the market, he could provide
hat." depth upon becoming eligible
uard could pro- in the 2013-14 season. Zeigler
for Michigan's indicated that he will likely peti-
wn an ability to tion to be eligible for action in
o or three posi- the 2012-13 season, but for now,
he is simply
focusing on his
t . e school deci-
"I thmk (Beilem) Sion.
Should
is a genuine Michigan
reach out, Zei-
guy. He's a gler thinks he
,, could fit well in
good guy. Beilein's sys-
tem.
"He spreads
the floor," Zei-
ast season, he gler said. "He usually plays four
m taking long- perimeter guys, and it makes guys
only converted like me who are more versatile and
of his 3-point play more than one spot to do more
vouldn't fly well on offense. I also like (Beilein) as
-happy offense. a person - I think he's a genuine
oting is also a guy. He's a good guy."
as he finished Zeigler says he'll likely make
ler 50 percent his decision by late April.

Applications are now being accepted for the
Undergraduate Program in
Philosophy, Politics & Economics
w PPE
Deadline is March 30. Visit
www.lsa.umich.edu/ppe
for more information

AFi

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