The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, February 10, 2014 - 3B
SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN
Separating an investigation and its response
In keeping with Michigan's
mishandling ofthe
aftermath of former kicker
Brendan Gibbons' expulsion
for sexual
misconduct,
Michigan
coach Brady
Hoke's press
conference on
Wednesday
was, again,
unacceptably
lacking. ZACH
Hoke had HELFAND
putouta
statement
to a secretive meeting of five
select news outlets Monday.
Asked again about the Gibbons
situation Wednesday, Hoke
made references to that nebulous
statement. He made a prolonged,
stern stare. He made more
references to that statement.
He talked freely about
recruiting - it was National
Signing Day, after all - but in
his first open press conference
after the Gibbons incident came
to light, he said almostnothing
at all. He said he has "no idea"
how student misconduct is
investigated. He said, of those
who feel the University is hiding
behind something, "That's your
opinion."
He said, again, "Did I give you
a statement?"
This was another misguided,
discomforting response to the
questions over how Michigan
handled allegations of sexual
misconduct against Gibbons.
But it has now become too
easy to confuse Michigan's
botched response for a botched
investigative process. The
Athletic Department and the
University still must answer
questions about that. But there
are two distinct issues here:
how the University pursues
charges of sexual misconduct,
and Michigan's unsettling lack of
transparency.
To be clear: The idea that
the University or the Michigan
"Fort Schembechler" - the
nickname bestowed upon the
football program's nothing-in-
nothing-out tendencies - is
nice for football games, but it
is less so for more important
matters.
So it comes with little
surprise that the Athletic
Department's first reaction was
to deny knowledge of Gibbons'
expulsion. It comes with little
surprise the University's first
reaction was to cite privacy
laws, despite the fact that they
explicitly exclude "a student
who is an alleged perpetrator
of any crime of violence ... or
a nonforcible sex offense." It
comes as little surprise that
Bill Martin, Michigan's athletic
director at the time the alleged
incident occurred, denied
knowledge of any incident
involving Gibbons. And it comes
as little surprise that at the first
public comments made by Hoke
followingthe Daily's reporton
Gibbons's expulsion, the Daily
and other outlets were not
invited. It matters little when the
press conference was initially
scheduled.
Still, all of this is evidence of a
mishandled response to Gibbons'
expulsion. That shouldn't be
confused for a cover-up or a delay
in investigating his misconduct.
Currently, no evidence supports
that claim.
We can't change how the
University investigated Gibbons
or anyone else in the past. But we
can engage in a debate over how
the University can better create
a safe space;while protecting
the rights of all involved. We can
ensure the other incidents, the
ones that don't involve football
players, are handled properly.
But that would require
transparency. The University
and the Athletic Department
have shown that's a non-starter.
Helfand can be reached
at zhelfand@umich.edu or
on Twitter @zhelfand
Michigan football coach Brady Hoke and the Michigan Athletic Department have responded poorly to the Brendan Gibbons case, writes Zach Helfand.
football team would in any way
obstruct or cover up sexual
misconduct allegedly committed
by Brendan Gibbons doesn't
seem logical.
Consider: Gibbons was, in
2009, a mediocre freshman
kicker who was in his redshirt
year; better players have been
kicked off or disciplined for less;
it doesn't make sense for Hoke to
risk his job by playing Gibbons
in an effectively meaningless
game against Iowa on Nov. 23
- a few days after a University
body found him responsible for
sexual misconduct. The Ann
Arbor police, apparently, did not
have enough to press criminal
charges.
The University's sexual
misconduct policy at the time
required a complainant to
initiate an investigation. Unless
a complainant came forward, the
University had no options. With
no action from the police or from
the University, the football team
did nothing.
In 2013, the same year the
University implemented its
new sexual misconduct policy,
Gibbons was investigated and
expelled.
To this point, the University
acted exactly as it should.
Assuming no complainant came
forward, it had no recourse
against Gibbons. The football
team refrained from punishing
someone who had not been
charged by the police or
investigated by the University.
When the new policy allowed,
the University took action.
Here, though, the questions
begin. When was the Athletic
Department notified?
And, more importantly: this
case receives public attention
because it involves a football
player. But what about the
others?
The most recent statistics
released by University Police
under the Clery Act, from 2012,
show 21 reports of forcible rape,
21 reports of forcible fondling
and three reports of sexual
assault with an object. Yet, there
were zero permanent separations
in the 2011-2012 academic year,
accordingto the recent data from
the Office of Student Conflict
Resolution. With the new policy
in place, what is being done about
the others? Why was Gibbons'
expulsion so rare?
There are answers to these
questions. The University owes
its students and stakeholders
the transparency that can
provide them.
Unfortunately, transparency
is not the default response for the
Michigan Athletic Department.
This is a university that,
according to a 2009 report by the
Daily, holds an unusually narrow
interpretation of Michigan's
Freedom ofInformation Act.
This is an athletic department
that gives no access to football
practices; limits player
availability to internally selected
players (Gibbons faced questions
just once in 2013, followinga
triple-overtime victory against
Northwestern on Nov. 16); and
prohibits contacting players'
families without department
consent.
Some Michigan sports are
more restrictive than others.
Nobody likes to hear reporters
complain about access. And when
we do complain, we are more
often concerned with writing
stories about depth charts
than with serving as a public
watchdog.
Would increased access to
Gibbons or other players or
families have shed any light on
his expulsion earlier? Maybe not.
What this does show, though,
is an athletic department
whose first reflex isto obscure.
Iowa drops Wolverines 7 .
Hawkeyes' Marble
scores 22 in half
By DANIEL FELDMAN
Daily Sports Writer
IOWACITY- Outrebounded,
outhustled and outmuscled, the
No.10 Michiganmen'sbasketball
team couldn't silence the crowd
or stop Iowa, suffering its largest
loss of the season.
With the open concourse of
the Carver-Hawkeye Arena,
it's hard to contain the noise
that flows throughout the
building. As the sound carries,
hitting the ceiling and windows
paneling the concourse, the
volume seems to grow louder
and louder as action unfolds.
Hoping to contain or stop that
flow - highlighted by Iowa's
Roy Devyn Marble outstanding
performance in the first half -
proved to be impossible for the
Wolverines on Saturday.
"Iowa punched us early
today," said Michigan coach
John Beilein, "and it was hard
to respond."
After scoring 13 points in
the team's last meeting in
January, Marble poured in 14
of his team-high 26 points - on
four 3-pointers - in the game's
first 10 minutes to give the
Hawkeyes (7-4 Big Ten, 18-6
overall) a 14-point lead - one
they never looked back from in
their 85-67 win.
"We knew they were going to
come out strong," said sophomore
guard Nik Stauskas. "We knew
the crowd was going to be a big
part of this game. But that's the
same for any game inthe Big Ten.
It means what are we going to do
in response. And I think we did
an OK job at times but overall it
wasn'tgood enough."
As Iowa made six out of
its first seven triples, No. 10
Michigan (9-2, 17-6) made only
one of its first seven attempts.
"You know, it changes
everything," said Iowa coach
Fran McCaffery regarding
Iowa's hot start. "(Do) you shoot
threes? Do you not shoot threes?
Do you drive it? Do you grind it?
When you're behind, it changes
your entire approach."
Stauskas didn't score his first
basket of the game until 7:01 left
in the half, so the Wolverines
rode the hot hands of sophomore
guard Caris LeVert (22 points)
and freshman guard Zak Irvin
(19 points). Behind the duo,
Michigan was able to go on an
8-0 run to cut the lead to 33-25.
But Marble was there to silence
the Wolverines and ignite the
Hawkeye faithful as he had been
from the beginning of the game.
After making a three to end
Michigan's run, Marble made his
sixth triple - for 22 points in the
half - as time expired to end No.
17 Iowa's 7-0 run as it went up 14.
"That was a Player of the Year
candidate performance today,"
Beilein said. "Iowa is blessed
to have a player like him. He is
hungry because Iowa was so
close last year. It is players like
him that are going to make it
happen. He is tremendous."
Marble enabled Iowa to
shoot 53.3 percent from the
field and 73 percent (8-for-
11) from behind the arc
thanks to an 8-for-13 shooting
performance from the field in
the first stanza. Meanwhile,
the Wolverines struggled to
match that shooting, going 27
percent from deep as they were
outrebounded 20-11 with Iowa's
Melsahn Basabe and Aaron
White gathering six apiece.
Even after it shut down the
Hawkeyes to begin the second
half, Michigan failed to box out
and mark defenders in the zone.
The Wolverines allowed nine
offensive rebounds as a result,
while collecting just 17 rebounds
- nine fewer than Iowa.
Offensive rebounding may
have helped put the nail in the
Wolverines' coffin, but it was
Iowa's defense that ultimately
overpowered Michigan.
"We feltlike,tobeatMichigan,
you have to play the kind of
defense we played," McCaffery
said. "They have so many
different weapons. You know,
so it was not only getting stops,
but it was getting stops and then
running, and getting offensive
opportunities in transition and
not givingthem seconds."
The Wolverines were unable
to reduce the deficit below 14
in the second half and never
had a chance to replicate
their second-half play against
Michigan State - where it put
together a stretch of small runs
before unleashing a rash of play
to overcome the gap.
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Freshman goaltender Zach Nagelvoort was pulled after surrendering three first-period goals Saturday night.
'M' thrashed by Penn State
By ALEJANDRO ZUNIGA
Daily Sports Editor
STATE COLLEGE - On
Saturday night at Pegula Ice
Arena, David's stone hit Goliath
right
between MICHIGAN 0
the eyes. PENN STATE 4
Penn
State, in just its second year as a
Division I program and winless
through nine Big Ten games,
stunned the Michigan hockey
team with three first-period
goals within 10 minutes to cruise
to a 4-0 win.
The loss keeps the 10th-ranked
Wolverines (6-3-1-1 Big Ten, 14-7-
1 overall) behind Wisconsin and
Minnesota in the conference
standings, though Michigan has
two games in hand.
The Nittany Lions fired
pucks at the net early and
never relented. At 5:31 into the
first period, Zach Saar poked
a rebound past freshman
goaltender Zach Nagelvoort.
Six minutes later, forward
David Glen slid the puck by the
netminder from an awkward
angle after Penn State won a
faceoff in the offensive zone.
And before the sellout crowd
had settled from the second goal,
forward Casey Bailey received a
pass in the slot and ripped a shot
that went five hole on Nagelvoort
to find twine.
"Some nights the puck goes
in, some nights it doesn't," said
Michigan coach Red Berenson.
"The puck went in for them, and
it didn't for us."
The Nittany Lions' trifecta
on nine shots prompted
Berenson to pull Nagelvoort
for sophomore goaltender Steve
Racine. In his first action since
Dec. 28 in the Great Lakes
Invitational, Racine stopped 30
of the 31 shots he faced.
"I don't think Zach was
ready for at least two of them,"
Berenson said.
Down by three, Wolverines
delivered a blow of their own
in the second period, though
it came on the ice and not on
the scoreboard. Freshman
defenseman Michael Downing
cleanly leveled Nate Jensen as
he carried the puck up the ice,
which caused a brief stoppage in
play as the Penn State (1-9, 5-18-1)
defenseman made his way slowly
to the bench.
Sophomore forward Boo
Nieves nearly scored the goal
Michigan desperately needed
later in the period, but his
slapshot effort on a rolling puck
rang off the post and rebounded
harmlessly up the ice.
And early into the third period,
freshman forward JT Compher's
wraparound try crossed the goal
line after a scrum in front of the
net, but officials had already
whistled the play dead.
"The longer we went, the
harder it was to score," Berenson
said.
Forward Ricky DeRosa sealed
the game when he added the
Nittany Lions' fourth goal on a
slapshot from the blue line that
Racine never saw.
Minutes before the final
intermission, junior forward
Alex Guptill skated off the
ice gingerly with an apparent
injury when he was sandwiched
between two Penn State players.
He didn't return for the third
period and left the arena after
the game with a large pack of ice
taped around his right shoulder.
Berenson acknowledged that
Guptill suffered an upper-body
injury, but he didn't comment on
the severity.
After PJ Musico and Eamon
McAdam split time in goal for
Penn State in a 7-3 Wolverines
win Friday, Matthew Skoff
earned the start Saturday.
The sophomore stopped all
32 of Michigan's shots on
the night, and stoned senior
forward Derek DeBlois' partial
breakaway with 10 minutes
remaining.
And when the final horn
sounded, the Nittany Lions
poured onto the ice to celebrate
their first Big Ten win of the
season, an unmitigatedthrashing
of the Wolverines.
HOCKEY
From Page 1B
Bennett forgets that Michigan
split a series or that both teams
finished with seven goals on
the weekend. And instead, the
Wolverines file out of the locker
room with their heads down and
their mouths shut.
Is there anything that needs
to be said after Saturday?
"Nope," Bennett said. "We'll
just leave it here and move on."
But he knew
teams can find
consistently or,
letdown from a
before. Now th
have to go to fo
Minnesota on t
But now, insi
that good played with a "chip on our
a way to win shoulder."
avoid the Outside, Bennett takes the
7-3 win the night headphones off his shoulders
e Wolverines and puts them over his head.
rmer No. 1 The music starts and Bennett
he road. walks to the bus waiting just
outside.
Inside, one team savors the
historic moment. Outside, one
ide the locker team is haunted by it.
room, Skoff talks about the
confidence his team had from
the beginning of the game and
the way he and his teammates
Garno can be reached
at ggarno@umich.edu and
on Twitter @GGarno