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The Michigan Daily -- michigandaily.com
Tuesday, September 30, 2014 7
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - 7
RECRUITING ROUNDUP
Football commits
excel as one leaves
Lev Facher: An opportunity for
Michigan to take the next step
By JUSTIN STERN
Daily Sports Writer
With Michigan's 2-3 start
to the season, niany fans and
writers are questioning if
Michigan football coach Brady
Hoke has seen the end of his days
in Ann Arbor. And the impact of
a potential firing would not only
affect the team, but it may also
result in some of Hoke's recruits
wavering in their commitments.
On Monday night, the Wolverines
saw their first decommit from
Darian Roseboro.
For the recruits that have
stayed, here's a rundown of
how everyone fared this past
weekend.
Chris Clark, tight end: Avon
Old Farms (Conn.) vs. Cheshire
Academy (Conn.); Ranking: ESPN
(109) Scout (26)
In Avon Old Farms' second
game of the season, the Beavers
lost, 55-35. The team dropped
three spots in the state rankings
and is now ranked No. 6. On
4 Sunday, Sept. 28, Clark tweeted,
"If coach' hoke gets fired that
changes everything."
Brian Cole, athlete: Saginaw
Heritage (Mich.) vs. Saginaw
(Mich.); Ranking: ESPN (139)
Scout (40)
After returning from
a suspension for an
unsportsmanlike conduct
penalty two weeks ago, Cole
bounced back to rush for 124
yards on eight carries with three
touchdowns. He led the Hawks
to a commanding 45-0 victory
over Saginaw, improving the
team's record to 2-1.
Darian Roseboro, defensive
tackle: Lincolnton (N.C.);
Ranking: ESPN (165) Scout (151)
Accordingto 247Sports' Steve
Lorenz, Roseboro spent his week
off taking an official visit to
North Carolina State, a violation
of Hoke's "no-visit" policy. On
Monday night, he tweeted "I
have officially decommitted from
the university of Michigan."
Michael Weber, running
back: Cass Tech (Mich.) vs.
Detroit Denby (Mich.); Ranking:
ESPN (169) Scout (104)
After receiving his Army
All-American jersey on Friday,
Weber led the Technicians
rushing attack with 11 carries for
124 yards and two touchdowns.
Cass Tech defeated Detroit
Denby 44-6 to continue its
undefeated season.
Tyree Kinnel, safety: Wayne
(Ohio) vs. Miamisburg (Ohio);
Ranking: ESPN (192) Scout (152)
Wayne won its non-conference
game in blowout fashion, 45-3.
The Warriors moved up five
spots in the state rankings and
are now the fifth-ranked in Ohio.
Grant Newsbme, offensive
tackle: The Lawrenceville
School (N.J.) vs. DePaul (Conn.);
Ranking: ESPN (242) Scout (215)
Lawrenceville lost 62-20
against a difficult opponent,
DePaul, ranked No.8 in the state.
Despite the loss, Lawrenceville
moved up four spots in the state
rankings and is now ranked No.
35 with a 1-2 overall record.
Darrin Kirkland Jr.,
linebacker: Lawrence Central
(Ind.) at Center Grove (Ind.);
Ranking: ESPN (266) Scout (114)
Kirkland did not register a
tackle in Lawrence Central's
49-31 loss on Friday. The Bears
are now 2-4 overall.
Alex Malzone, quarterback:
Brother Rice (Mich.) vs. Detroit
Catholic Central (Mich.);
Ranking: ESPN (NR) Scout (184)
Malzone continued his
impressive season as he lead
Brother Rice to a 41-14 victory
over Detroit Catholic Central.
He passed for 276 yards and three
touchdowns, and also rushed for
one touchdown.
Jon Runyan Jr., offensive
lineman: St. Joseph's Prep (Pa.) at
St. Joseph Regional (Pa.); Rank-
ing: (NR)
Runyan Jr. led an offensive line
that assisted in 462 yards of total
offense on Saturday. Despite the
offensive production, the Hawks
lost 47-29 and are now 1-3 on the
year.
Anew coach's truest test
comes when his or her
wn recruits begin to
take center stage. Winning with
someone else's talent is easy;
losing with someone else's lack
of talent is
forgivable.
Winning
with your
talent is the
sign you've
arrived;
losing
with your
own lack LEV
of talent ... FACHER
well, that
won't be a
problem for Michigan women's
basketball coach Kim Barnes
Arico.
The skipper has plenty of
talent on her hands entering
her third year at the helm
of the Michigan women's
basketball program. And as that
talentbegins to dominate the
landscape of her program, the
time is now for the Wolverines to
leap into national prominence.
Competitive windows open
and close, and apt as she is when
it comes to developing young
talent, there's no avoiding the
productive hit Barnes Arico's
team willtake after losing
seniors Shannon Smith, Nicole
Elmblad and Cyesha Goree to
graduation.
So while Barnes Arico's squad
will inevitably make forward
progress in the next three
seasons, its best opportunity to
make the leap from developing
program to annual contender
is now. The Wolverines have
a proven post presence in
Goree, one of the conference's*
scrappiest and most underrated
players in Elmblad and a senior
backcourt presence in Smith,,
Their strengths don't lie
entirely with their seniors,
though - a trio of guards is
waiting to shoot the Crisler
Center lights out from behind
the arc.
Sophomore Siera Thompson
was one of two players in the
country to draina 3-pointer in
each of her 24 games played
Michigan coach Kim Barnes Aricoawill begin her third season with high expectations and a chance to make history.
in 2013-14. Junior Madison
Ristovski set the Michigan
single-season record for 3-point
percentage, converting on 46.6
percent of her attempts last year.
And if the hype is real, freshman
Katelynn Flaherty might be the
best shooter on the squad.
The Wolverines will need to
run and gun from long range
if they want to build upon last
year's success. Elmblad and
Goree made it clear last season
they'd never be out-worked, and
with Elmblad at small forward
and Goree at power forward, the
duo could be unstoppable.
But Michigan doesn't have
much size to workewith, or depth
at the forward position. With
6-foot-4 forward Val Driscoll
lost to graduation, Goree will
play center exclusively, pushing
Elmblad to the power forward
position. If the Wolverines are
going smaller, they'll have to go
faster and further outside.
Barnes Arico is coy when
asked whether her expectations
for this year's squad are higher.
For a program that hasn't
advanced past the second round
of the NCAA Tournament since
its inception in 1973, her long-
term expectations are high. Her
expectations are also the reason
she's in Ann Arbor, and the
reason she owns a collective .627
winning percentage in her first
two years with the program.
Of course Barnes Arico's
expectations are lofty. The
Wolverines lost less than 10
percent of their scoring and
return 87 percent of their total
minutes played from last season.
All that after the team's third
consecutive yearwith0 or
more wins, a first-time feat for
the program.
Just how high are they?
Barnes Arico wouldn't ever say,
but expectations higher than a
20-win season imply a win total
in the low to mid-20s. And a
win total in the low or mid-20s
means an NCAA tournament
berth, and maybe even a spot in a
top-25 poll at some point.
The talent is there. The
experience is there. The
shooting and speed are there too,
and there's enough depth that
Michigan's talented backcourt
can rest, run the floor, then rest
again without jeopardizing the
on-court productivity.
The coaching ability is there
too - for all the flak Athletic
Director Dave Brandon is
taking for the Michigan
football program's recent
miscues, it certainly seems he
got this one right. Barnes Arico
will be in Ann Arbor as long as
she wants.
i This year coulbe.theyear
that Michigan fans take notice
of the oft-overlooked "other"
basketball team. It's about time
they do, just in time to watch the
Wolverines make a leap 40 years
in the making.
Facher can be reached at
facher@umich.edu and on
Twitter at @ievfacher.
For defense, Wolverines turn to Lohan
By JASON RUBINSTEIN
Daily Sports Writer
The players know it; the
coaching staff knows it: defense
is a major question mark heading
into the upcoming season.
But the question may not
be as large as the Michigan
hockey team NOTEBOOK
once thought,
thanks to the
emergence of a healthy Kevin
Lohan. After the sophomore
defenseman played just 16 games
in his freshman season due to
a right knee injury, he could be
poised to anchor the Wolverines'
top pairing. Despite the small
sample size, Michigan coach Red
Berenson believes Lohan can
develop into a top-line defender.
"I'm expecting him to be a
big, physical, defensive-minded
defenseman who we can really
trust in key situations, whether
it's on the penalty kill or against
another team's top line,"
Berenson said. "We saw glimpses
of that year, but we never saw
enough of it because he wasn't
healthy enough."
Lohan, who registered a plus-
7 rating last season, said he feels
100 percent healthy, something
Berenson said he never was last
season. And it's Lohan's health
that accounts for his optimism.
Perhaps Lohan's greatest
asset is his ability to block shots.
He blocked 23 last season, a
respectable number considering
his shortened season. Blocking
shots, though, comes with an
obvious price - gettinghurt.
"You do everything you can
to put yourself into a position to
eliminate yourself from getting
hurt, but (former defenseman)
Kevin Clare was one of the best
them slowing down.
INJURY WOES: Senior
defenseman Andrew Sinelli
remained sidelined from practice
on Monday, still recovering from
a cut on his hand from an accident
in the kitchen that became
infected and required stitches.
Berenson said Sinelli's status for
Saturday remains uncertain.
"He skated before the team did
and he's going to keep doing that,"
Berenson said. "I'd say right now
he's a big question mark heading
into the weekend. He missed all
last week with ahand injury. Right
now, he's skating on his own."
Michigan experienced a scare
during Monday's practice when
Copp went down on the ice with
what Berenson called a "stinger."
Copp was able to finish practice
and Berenson said Copp should
be good to go on Saturday.
DAY OF ATONEMENT: A
week ago at Big Ten media day,
Berenson wouldn't commit to a
starting goalie. He said he and
his staff didn't know how they
would allocate starts between
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily sophomore Zach Nagelvoort and
efensive pairing. junior Steve Racine.
Freshman of the Year and However, Yom Kippur,
Michigan point leader last the holiest Jewish holiday,
season, found success centeringa requires fasting for 25 hours,
line with Alex Guptill and Derek falls on Saturday and may make
DeBlois, both of whom no longer Berenson's decision for Saturday's
play for Michigan. Berenson season opener at Ferris State a
lauded Compher's ability to adapt tad easier as Racine is Jewish.
to any position and doesn't see Baseball Hall-of-lamer Sandy
a steep learning curve for the Koufax once famously missed his
talented sophomore. Game 1 start in the 1965 World
By putting Compher on the Series to observe Yom Kippur.
wing alongside junior Andrew So it won't come as a surprise
Copp, Berenson is creating one to see Nagelvoort starting
of the Big Ten's most lethal one- between the pipes on Saturday.
two punches. Copp and Compher Still, nothing is set in stone.
combined for 60 points last "I suppose," Berenson said
season, albeit, not always on the when asked if Yom Kippur will
same line, and no signs point to make his decision easier.
Sophomore defenseman Kevin Lohan has quit trying to make fetch happen and is instead poised to anchor Michigan's top d
shot blockers in the country last
year and I don't know if he missed
a game," Lohan said. "Obviously
you get some bumps and bruises,
but you tough it out."
Berenson and Lohan each
noted they'd like to see more
offense from the defense -
something that has been lacking
since now-Winnipeg Jet Jacob
Trouba left the team for the
National Hockey League before
last season.
Trouba tallied 12 goals in an
outstanding freshman campaign,
and Berenson isn't expecting
any of his current defensemen
to mirror Trouba's stats. But it
wouldn't shock the veteran coach
if Lohan created his own success.
"I think he can become that
player," Berenson said. "That
doesn't mean you're going to get
there in a day or a week, but that's
the type of player I think he'll
evolve into."
Added sophomore forward JT
Compher: "(Lohan) had a great
summer, and he is one of our best
defensemeninpracticerightnow."
Lohan's potential rise,
combined with astrongfreshman
class, has alleviated some of the
worries that were paired with
the defense. Berenson singled
out defenseman Zach Werenski's
I
shooting ability and defenseman
Sam Piazza's vision and skills
with the puck as his reason for
optimism, saying the defense
has all the ingredients it needs to
have success. Lohan agreed.
"We know that defense is
a question mark right now,"
Lohan said, "but I think we're all
confident we can get the job done
and looking forward to it."
WINGIN' IT: After playing
exclusively at center last season,
including some time on the top
line, Compher is penciled in to
start this season on the wing
according to Berenson.
Compher, the Big Ten
i