6A- Thursday, December 4, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 64H MEN'S BASKETBALL Finally, Chatman y Brady B rady Hoke's last words to the public as Michigan's gets comfortable football coach were an answer to whether he wished he By DANIEL FELDMAN one of Michigan's marquee non- had done anything differently Daily Sports Writer conference games, especially in during his the first half. four-year Even before last week's After shooting 36 percent from tenure. tournament, the Michigan men's the field and making just three "I don't basketball team knew it couldn't 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes think so," rely solely on its star players to of action, Michigan sought to get he said win games when competition was Chatman more looks from the immedi- getting bigger and better. elbow and used him to help facili- ately, then The Wolverines needed their tate kick-outs to 3-point shooters. paused ALEJANDRO young big men to not only step up "We wanted to drive more, and briefly. "I ZONIGA defensively against more veteran- that opened up the game," Doyle don't think laden teams, but also score, said. "Kam getting those shots so." The man to step up last week from the free-throw line, just It was was freshman forward Ricky getting in the middle of the zone, the afternoon of Nov. 29, min- Doyle, who continued his strong really opened it up to get those utes after the Wolverines had play against Syracuse by contrib- 3-point shots we wanted and dropped a season-ending con- uting12 points and six rebounds. dump-offs." test to Ohio State. Hoke hadn't Perhaps lost in the shuffle of As criticalas it was for Chatman been fired yet - that decision five double-digit scorers against to find open looks from the middle wouldn't come until Tuesday Syracuse was another freshman of the paint, his ability to play afternoon - but he had to have Brady Hoke is famous for his line, "Th forward, Kameron Chatman. beyond the arc and connect from known the decision was coming. But most of all, Hoke loved Posting a near double-double deep was just as crucial for the You can't go 20-18 over your Michigan, enough that, in his with 10 points and a team- Wolverines. last three years and expect to introductory press conference leading nine rebounds, Chatman With the Orange chipping keep your job - not at Michi- on Jan. 12, 2011, he discussed kept Michigan within striking away a 10-point Michigan lead gan. how there was "no doubt" he distance in the first half. late in the game, Chatman made But since it had to end, at wanted to stay in Ann Arbor "That would. have been an a triple from the left side of the least it did in the right way. forever. eight-point, 10-point game at court to break up a 6-0 spurt Hoke learned of the decision "This is, to me - and has half if it weren't for Kam," said from Syracuse. After missing in a meeting with interim Ath- been for a long time - the ulti- Michigan coach John Beilein. "He his previous two attempts from letic Director Jim Hackett, not mate place where I wanted to got rebounds, he saw out of the beyond the -arc, the corner three through a press release or a be as a football coach," he said post, made a couple 15-footers. ... showed off the confidence he has media leak. And before address- then. He's getting more comfortable been conjuring in practice. ing his players, he allowed them. He certainly didn't envision now with who he is and how he "It's huge," Doyle said. "Kam to vote for the 2014 team cap- the season of nightmares he fits in what we're doing." has been working hard. He's tains. endured, knowing that every After seeing his minutes always in the gym, shooting his Hoke put the team first, just as loss brought him closer to say- decrease against Villanova and jump shots. We all believe in him. he always did. He was virtually ing goodbye. But as he under- Oregon - playing 19 and 15, We always know what he can do, everything the Michigan foot- stood from the beginning, at respectively - the lone freshman and today he showed it" ball program thought it needed Michigan, 5-7 in year four was starter could have grown discour- While Chatman's performance from its 19th head coach. unacceptable. aged as Doyle's minutes increased against the Orange was He was a Michigan Man, You probably remember and Beilein relied on a two-point encouraging, Beilein said his one who had helped guide the Hoke's oft-repeated line from guard system. Instead, Chatman growth is still a work in progress. Wolverines to the 1997 national his introductory press confer- took advantage against Nicholls "He's still learning where, championship as an assistant ence, when he pounded the lec- State, taking a then-career-high you know, he's going to learn for coach. He played football the tern and delivered the message eight shots and adding a career- four years," Beilein said. "He's Wolverine way, ignoring the that became the mantra of the high 11 points and eight boards. still learning all the time where flashy spread offense for a sys- 2011 season. Though the Colonels weren't he fits in what we're trying to tem based on power running "This is an elite job and will the level of competition of the do. Sometimes it's good and and stingy defense. He hated continue to be an elite job. This Wildcats and Ducks, Chatman's sometimes it's, 'well, OK, let's Ohio State so much he refused is Michigan, for God's sakes," he play was important leading into watch the video and get better.' to call it by its name. said, proving from day one he FOOTB WITING In wake of Hoke's firing, recruits bail [o e was fired FILE PHOTO/Daily is is Michigan for God's sakes," but he didn't live up to his own expectations. understood the importance of coaching the Wolverines. Hoke followed by saying "shame on them" to people who believed Michigan was in a downward spiral. It was what Michigan fans needed to hear. But then Hoke led the Wolverines to a string of results he knew would be unac- ceptable from the get-go, when he gave himself lofty annual expectations. "Our goal is to win the Big Ten Championship," he said that January afternoon. "Multi- pally, consecutively. I made that word up, the first one." And he stood by that expecta- tion, even calling the 2011 sea- son a disappointment because the Wolverines failed to reach the Big Ten title game. When the expectation was set at "con- secutive" titles, Hoke knew a 12-12 Big Ten record over a three-year span wouldn't be tolerated. Hoke knew a 2-6 record against Ohio State and Michi- gan State wasn't acceptable, either. He understood that such poor performances would turn his "forever" job into atemporary one. Hoke loves Michigan. He did from that first day, when he spoke of how he "would've walked here from San Diego" to accept the job. Maybe that was part of the problem - he set expectations too high and deliv- ered too little. Michigan thought it needed Hoke, and the marriage seemed perfect from the start. Cer- tainly, the response to his firing from players demonstrates how Hoke's love for the program and everyone associated with it was genuine. But when it comes to ath- letics, passion for a school is always trumped by the necessity to win. Hoke knew that from the start. Zdfiga can be reached at azs@umich.edu and on Twitter @ByAZuniga. By BEN FIDELMAN Daily Sports Writer One aspect of a football program that changes drastically with a coaching change is the recruiting scene. And this trend isn't new to Michigan, which announced the firing of Brady Hoke on Tuesday afternoon. The lack of on-field success this season has led to coaching instability that had recruits fleeing for months. Recent de-commits include Chris Clark, the top-ranked tight end in the nation, and five-star in- state running back Mike Weber. Clark announced he had reopened his recruitment shortly after Jim Hackett's press conference Tuesday. The senior from Avon, Connecticut, hasn't been shy to share his opinions on "Due to the unfortunate change in coaching at Michigan and the unknown of who will take over the program, I am no longer committed to Michigan," Clark announced via Twitter. "I still am very interested in the program." He took an official visit to Southern California, and has planned visits to Texas, North Carolina and South Carolina by the end of January. Weber's decommitment added to the avalanche of attrition, and came at a comically fitting time. He announced via Twitter just as Maryland took a fourth-quarter lead against the Wolverines on Nov. 22. Weber also said he will announce his new commitment at the Army All-American Bowl on Jan. 4. Clark's decision marked of Michigan's 2015 recruiting class. Other notable names in that group include five-star running back Damien Harris, five-star wide receiver George Campbell, four-star linebacker Darren Kirkland Jr. and four-star defensive end Darian Roseboro. The class now has just six members, by far the least of any Power Sschool.Floridaisthe next lowest with nine - the Gators are also in the midst of a coaching change. For comparison, Michigan's 2014 recruiting class had 16 players enroll. Another oddity is many com- mits breached Hoke's proverbial "no official visit after commit- ting" rule. Multiple pledges took visits to major Division I schools, includingto rivals Ohio State and Michigan State. One of the biggest decommit- back Brian Cole. He holds offers from nine schools, including Michigan, Nebraska, Purdue, Wisconsin and Ohio State. Other players remaining in the class are four-star safety Tyree Kinnel, four-star offensive tackle Grant Newsome, four- star quarterback Alex Malzone, three-star offensive tackle Joe Runyan Jr. and two-star kicker Andrew David. Any of the coaches rumored to succeed Hoke at Michigan, from LSU's Les Miles to the San Francisco 49ers' Jim Harbaugh, will presumably draw recruits with them. The Wolverines have until Feb. 4, 2015, National Signing Day, to reload the class for the 2015 sea- son. Hackett refused to divulge his timetable for signing a new coach, meaning the Wolverines 207 E Liberty, Ann Arbor WOMEN'S BASKETBALL 'M' drops Wake Forest with ease By JACOB GASE felt on the defensive end,grabbing Daily sports Writer a career-high 10 rebounds to cap off the double-double. Facing an opposing lineup "My coaches have been on with three starters over six feet, me this offseason about my the Michigan women's basketball overall presence on the court," team was playing at its biggest Smith said. "My percentages size disadvantage of the season have definitely gone up, my to date. rebounding, just -my overall But instead of relying on long- game." range The Wolverines' offense may shooting WAKE FOREST 69 have blown the game open, to over- MICHIGAN 83 but it was the injury bug that come first derailed Wake Forest's the disparity as it has in the momentum. After jumping out past, Michigan used a fast-paced to a 7-2 lead, the Demon Deacons offense to attack the rim from the lost sophomore guard Jill Brunori get-go. Behind a relentless attack to an apparentleg injury. in the paint led by senior guard Following the injury timeout Shannon Smith's 26-points, the just three minutes into the Wolverines managed to cut Wake game, Michigan used a 2-3 zone Forest down to size, 83-69. defense that stymied Wake Smith gave the Wolverines Forest's offense. With the paint their first lead with a driving completely locked down, the layup between several defenders Demon Deacons were forced to make the score 10-9, setting to take several low-percentage the tone for an offense that never outside shots - including20 from trailed the rest beyond the arc, of the game. just seven of strength of "W e just took whhfe.zone our team is we a v n ge £ defense was a have the ability advantage0 fame-specific to shoot from theirdefense. decision - the outside t defe se. Barnes Arico as well as go had employed inside," said exclusively Michigan coach Kim Barnes man defense in the San Juan Arico. "Shannon was able to Shootout last week. But facing get out in transition and get a a player coming off a 40-point mid-range game going. We just performance in Hambry, the took advantage of their defense coaching staff made a change to overplaying us and it opened up catch Wake Forest off-guard. some lanes to thebasket." "I told my staff, 'I think I want Senior forward Cyesha Goree, to play zone,' "Barnes Arico said. Michigan's biggest threat down "'Go back and look and see what low, was the primary beneficiary they do against zone' And nobody of the onslaught in the first half. had played them zone this year. It With several plays seemingly played out in our favor." drawn up to get her the ball in the The Wolverines' long-range paint, Goree scored 13 first-half prowess still appeared in flashes points and wasn't fazed at all by - freshman guard Katelynn the presence of 6-foot-3 Demon Flaherty came off the bench Decon forward Dearica Hambry. with eight points and two treys The 5-foot-7 Smith showed in her first two minutes - but courage beyond her height, the game was won in the paint,. Q fearlessly driving into the lane where Michigan scored 34 points without ever taking a 3-point and outrebounded Wake Forest, shot. She also made her presence 35-34. Mon - Thurs:10-7, Fri & Sat:10 -8, Sun:11-6 (734)6638611 samsbasicclothes.com :!