The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
)or
Trey Burke prepared to look
past tumultuous off-season
Thursday, November 8, 2012 - 7A
Hutchins signs
5-year extension
By ZACH HELFAND
Daily Sports Editor
Trey Burke's roller-coaster
offseason began drawing head-
lines just weeks after the Michi-
gan basketball team was knocked
out of the NCAA Tournament.
First came the reports that he
would forgo the final three years
of college to enter the NBA Draft.
After he decided to return for
another season in Ann Arbor,
the hype machine began swirl-
ing around the basketball pro-
gram. By time fall rolled around,
some experts were slating No.
5 Michigan as a Final Four pick
and Burke was selected as an
Associated Press first-team All-
American.
At some point during that
tumultuous offseason,the sopho-
more made what Michigan coach
John Beilein called "out-of-char-
acter decisions" that Burke "now
regrets." After being suspended
for the Wolverines' exhibition
against Northern Michigan,
Burke was relieved to finally
return to the court in Monday
night's 76-48 exhibition victory
over Saginaw Valley State.
After scoring 16 points and
dishing out eight assists in just
21 minutes of action, Burke -
speaking to the media for the
f first time since the suspension -
expressed his readiness to move
past what he referred to as a "sit-
uation in the summer."
He specifically noted how, as a
team leader, he handled the situ-
ation.
"I obviously apologized about
the situation, but we moved on
from there," Burke said. "I know
that with being a leader comes
responsibility, and I know that
I made a mistake, so like I said,
I apologized to 'the team, they
a different perspective," he said.
"It's going to be pretty hard to
guard us this year as long as we
make the right play.
"I learned we've got options.
Last year, the offense was kind of
stagnant a lot, and though these
are exhibition games ... you can
just tell that (we have a lot of
options)."
With Burke and the rest of the
team anxiously awaiting their
regular-season opener against
Slippery Rock on Friday, Beilein
says to look for new wrinkles in
Michigan's offense because of his
point guard's experience.
"We have been experimenting
more than we have ever experi-
mented," Beilein said. "I think
that whatever you do, offensively
and defensively, when you've got
a point guard back - we had to
take our package down a little bit
last year and expand it and then
we had to take it down for him,
now I think that he understands
more."
Beilein also spoke about hav-
ing more flexibility to make in-
ALDEN REISS/Daily game adjustments with a veteran
ay after being sus- quarterbacking the offense this
ichigan last week. year. Burke believes he'll handle
sive machine in in-game situations more seam-
er the Wildcats. lessly, and will instead turn to
cial statement the role of on-court teacher rath-
e suspension, er than student.
ke had "learned "I'm able to give out instruc-
a valuable les- tions and things to the freshmen
son" and "will that come in," he said. "Last year,
grow from this I was kind of running the play
experience." to where I was and not trying
But for Burke, to mess it up, or asking (former
watching from guard Stu Douglass) what the
the bench in play wag, or I might have forgot-
a shirt and tie ten the play.
taught him "This year, it's kind of natural
more than just and I'm able to teach (freshmen)
lesson. Caris (LeVert) or Spike coming
g from the side- off the bench and tell them what
to see that from to do."
By COLLEEN
Daily Sport
The winningest
Michigan athletic
be around for a wl
Michigan softb
Hutchins signed a
tract extension c
that will keep her
the softball prod
2017. Hutchins ha:
the Wolverine sofi
1983 and became t
in 1985.
"Coach
Hutchins con-
tinues to be a
tremendous
asset to. our
athletic depart-
ment and
University,"
said Michi-
gan Athletic
Director Dave
Brandon in
a press release.
leader of young w
proven to be one o
cessful coaches in
collegiate softball.
to have her contin
both on and off the
Hutchins has co
424-4 record as
which is the most
tory and fourthi
tory. Under her it
Wolverines were t
east of the Missis
win an NCAA soft
THOMAS they beat UCLA in 2005. The
s Writer 2005 season also set five program
records, including most wins and
t head coach in the first No.1 ranking.
s history will Michigan has won 15 Big Ten
bile longer. titles, including the past five, and
all coach Carol Hutchins herself has won numer-
five-year con- ous conference and national
an Wednesday coach of the year awards.
at the helm of "I continue to be blessed to be
gram through the head coach at the University
s been a part of of Michigan," Hutchins said in
ball staff since a statement. "I am grateful to
the head coach Dave Brandon and (Senior Asso-
ciate Athletic
Director) Bitsy
Ritt for their
"I continue to continued sup-
port of me, my
be blessed to be coaching staff
and our pro-
the head coach gram. They
have invested
at ... M ichigan." so much in our
program and
we look for-
ward to the
She is a great future."
'omen and has On Oct. 19 the University's
f the most suc- Board of Regents approved new
the history of softball facilities adjacent to the
We are excited Wilpon Complex's Alumni Field.
ued leadership The Donald R. Shepherd Softball
e diamond." Center is expected to cost $4 mil-
impiled a 1,251- lion and will be built on the foot-
head coach, prints of the old softball facility.
in school his- The new center will have
in NCAA his- upgraded facilities for the players.
nstruction, the and coaches with locker rooms
the first school and offices, and will expand the
ssippi River to training facilities and meeting
ball title, when areas.
Sophomore guard Trey Burke returned tothe floor on Mond
pended for Michigan's exhibition opener against Northern M
all forgave me about it and I told well-oiled offen
them it won't happen again. I'm an 83-47 win ove
ready to just move forward and In an offi
continue to lead this team and regarding the
make sure that doesn't happen Beilein said Bur
with no one on
the team."
Without
Burke in the
lineup, fresh-
man point
guard Spike
Albrecht -
who com-
mitted to the
Wolverines justt
Burke had report
go pro - led what
"With being a
leader comes
responsibility."
two days after an off-the-court
edly decided to "Just watchin
t looked to be a lines, I was able
FOLLOW ON TWITTER
It's good for you.
@THEBLOCKM
Michigan among
heavyweights in
loaded conference
By ERIN LENNON
DailySports Writer
Technically speaking, every
game is anyone's game to win.
But when it comes to Big Ten
volleyball, the euphemism
couldn't be truer.
The Big Ten is the strongest
conference in the NCAA this
season by a landslide. No. 3 Penn
State - No. 1 until the end of
October - Nebraska, Minne-
sota, Ohio State and Purdue are
ranked among the top-25 in-the
nation. And Penn State, Nebras-
ka and Minnesota represent the
conference in the top-10 poll as
of Nov. 1. Both Michigan and
Illinois have also been ranked at
times this season.
So it only makes sense that
Big Ten teams have taken a lik-
ing to beating up on one another
this season. Even the seemingly
invincible offense of Penn State
was shut down last week by No.
4 Nebraska.
Yet the Fighting Illini, who
nearly stole a game from the
Nittany Lions in five sets, were
swept by the Wolverines in three
sets.
On Friday night, Michigan,
who had also given Penn State
a scare at home, defeated the
Cornhuskers in yet another five-
set thriller.
In this conference, there is no
formula for victory.
"The Big Ten is a great prepa-
ration for the NCAA Tourna-
ment," said junior outside hitter
Lexi Erwin. "We see countless
teams that are amazing, that are
top-ranked teams. Just being
able to be in the conference and
play every single weekend, every
single night, against a team
that's ranked is going to help us
out a lot."
For Michigan (7-7 Big Ten,
19-9 overall), the difference
between a win and a loss in con-
ference play has been like a flip
of a coin.
"We know that the games
that we've lost we could have
played a lot better," said senior
middle blocker Claire McEl-
heny. "Whether we would have
won (those games) or not,I don't
know."
Having taken down Nebraska
and cruised past Iowa in straight
sets, it would appear that the
Wolverines are getting hot at
the right time. This weekend's
results brought a .500 confer-
ence record for Michigan and
momentum heading into the
final six games of the season.
The difference over the last
five games, according to Michi-
gan coach Mark Rosen, has had
nothing to do with physical
strength.
"Confidence is one of those
weird things where you can't
give it to anybody, you have to
earn it," Rosen said.
"You have to be in enough
situations and you have to earn
that right to have that confi-
dence, and I'think this team is
starting to get that."
While both Rosen and his
team insist that nothing about
their game has changed physi-
cally, the stats prove that.Michi-
gan volleyball has hit its stride.
"We're a young team, and
we've known that all year,"
Rosen said. "We haven't used it
as an excuse but it's a reality."
Among the young starters
are freshman libero Tiffany
Morales, middle blocker Krysta-
lyn Goode and sophomore setter
Lexi Dannemiller. Junior out-
side hitter Molly Toon recorded
her career-high 25 kills and
Dannemiller nearly tied her per-
sonal record of 64 assists in the
match versus Nebraska. Young-
er players and upperclassmen
alike have raised the team's kill
percentage and kept errors to a
minimum.
So what's next for the Wolver-
ines?
"Wisconsin," Rosen said. "We
got swept by Wisconsin last year
in their place and here, we got
beaten by them at their place.
We want Wisconsin."
Senior forward Jeff Rohrkemper moonlighted at defenseman last Saturday af ter Michigan dropped to five defensemen on the active roster in Marquette.
Roh rkemper steps Up on'D
By LIZ VUKELICH
Daily Sports Writer
Last weekend, the Michi-
gan hockey team lived out a
nightmare when freshman
defenseman Jacob Trouba was
suspended for a game against
Northern Michigan after lay-
ing a heavy blow that included
contact to the head of a Wildcat
defenseman.
Had the game been at Yost Ice
Arena, the call wouldn't have
been as impactful. But on the
road, with an already depleted
blue line crippled by injuries
and the remaining healthy
defensemen back in Ann Arbor,
it wasn't an ideal situation.
Immediately, questions
swirled about what Michigan
coach Red Berenson would do
to fill the gap on the defense's
third defensive pairing.
Luckily for the 12th-ranked
Wolverines, senior forward Jeff
Rohrkemper's performance put
any pre-game uncertainties to
rest.
Yes, Rohrkemper a forward,
made his debut on the blue line
on Saturday, and even though
Michigan (1-2-1 CCHA, 3-3-1
overall) walked away from the
game with a loss, Berenson took
notice of Rohrkemper's adapt-
ability.
Rohrkemper never really
doubted his ability to transition
to a different position.
"I've played hockey my whole
life and watched , defense-
men (play) forever," he said. "I
thought I could handle it, and I
did alright."
Berenson spoke highly of
Rohrkemper's defensive poten-
tial. In fact, he was so certain
his senior could handle it that
the two didn't even have a con-
versation about the switch
beforehand. Berenson simply
told Rohrkemper his expecta-
tions and asked him just one
question:
"How well can you skate
backward?"
The question was partly a
joke, the hope being that by the
time a player reaches the colle-
giate level, he's mastered Skat-
ing 101.
But there was some serious-
ness to it too, considering that
backward skating is a blue-
liner staple, and that before
last weekend, Rohrkemper had
never played a defensive shift in
his entire hockey career.
Despite that, playing
Rohrkemper on the blue line
wasn't really that difficult of a
decision to make, Berenson said.
"He's got the ingredients (of
a defenseman)," Berenson said.
"He's smart, he passes the puck
well and has good defensive
instincts."
His linemate, junior Kevin
Clare, and the rest of. the for-
wards made a point to take spe-
cial care of Rohrkemper during
his shifts - more attention was
paid to screening, covering
Rohrkemper's blind spots and
playing as defensively as pos-
sible to compensate for his inex-
perience.
But perhaps Rohrkemper's
biggest advantage was °the
offensive know-how he brought
back to the blue line. And now
he can bring new defensive
knowledge back to the forward
corps.
"The main thing I took away
from it was how much forwards
can help defensemen out,"
Rohrkemper said.
"Forwards don't really
understand how hard (playing
defense) is. It really makes you
realize how supporting your
defensemen can be really ben-
eficial."
Rohrkemper still finished
out the game with a minus-one
plus/minus rating, though he
did have a very close look at net.
But more importantly than the
box score, Rohrkemper earned
Berenson's trust to potentially
return to the defense in a pinch.
Rohrkemper joked that
there's no permanent position
change actually in the works,
but in a season in which defen-
semen have been dropping like
flies due to injuries, it's reassur-
ing to have an extra contingency
plan.
"He looked like a defense-
man," Berenson said. "If we
had a guy go down, now I'd feel
really comfortable and so would
he, knowing he can up there and
do that."