Page 16 -The Michigan Daily, Friday, July 24, 1987
Rush Delivery
BY JEFF RUSh
The future of University of Michigan basketball has
been on display at the 1987 U.S. Olympic Festival,
and a friend whose basketball judgment I trust to no
end has been watching Wolverine newcomers Sean
Higgins, Terry Mills, and Rumeal Robinson with great
interest.
There are few people in the world I trust, fewer I
trust about sports in general, and fewer yet I trust about
Michigan sports in particular.
This always infuriated my mom (an avid fan
herself), who thought I never gave her credit for
knowing anything about sports. What was I supposed
to do? Imagine what the guys would have said if in the
middle of yet another heated discussion on sports I
blurted out, "Oh yeah? Well my mom said Magic
Johnson is not only better than Larry Bird in every
facet of the game, but that he also has a much better
smile."
The guys always agreed with her and wondered why
such a smart lady could have a sports writer for a son.
Anyway, this guy in North Carolina has been
checking out how Higgins, Mills, and Robinson have
been mixing it up with stars such as North Carolina's
J.R. Reid, and here's what he had to say:
MILLS IS READY for the Big Ten. He always
has been big, he's getting bigger, and he may be
capable of playing the same kind of ball this season for
Michigan that Reid played last season for North
Carolina. In Wednesday night's gold-medal game,
Mills and Reid played nearly even basketball, and
Mills' North team came out on top.
The last time I saw Mills play organized basketball
was in the 1986 Michigan Class A High School
Finals, when his Romulus Eagles defeated the unluc y
Detroit Southwesternteam.
. Mills was impressive in that game. Anyone who
stands 6-10 in high school is impressive. His shooting
ability lived up to its advance billing, and he obviously
knew how to rebound.
HAIR EXPRE1
HALF PRICE
Future 'M' stars on
display this summer
The only thing that scared me about Mills was his
lack of upper-body strength, and his seeming lack of T
desire to play in the paint. Players can get away with
that in conferences such as the Pac 10, but not in the
Big 10. The style of play simply is too rough for weak
players.
So I worried about Mills, and figured the
Proposition 48-forced year off from basketball would
not help matters. But he came up with lots of points in
the local Sandy Sanders' summer basketball league, and
rumors of his bulking up popped up.
A reporter in North Carolina asked him if he had
been doing much lifting this summer, and Mills said
yes.
"Weights or foods?" asked the reporter.
"Well, both," admitted Mills. "I like to eat."
So does Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers,
but you can bet not too many people say much to him
about it.
NOT SO BIG OF BODY is Higgins, who
seems two inches shorter than the 6-9 he has been
listed at, and who is not a power player. Higgins is not
afraid to pull the trigger on his shot, but the only shot
my friend saw him make was a three-pointer from
behind the international line (21 feet).
The guess here is that Higgins' will have a rough
time trying to live up to all the press he has received,
and may hear some of the same criticisms Joubert heard
during his time in Ann Arbor. Basketball fans love
instant gratification (where else is something so short .
lasting as the slam dunk so highly celebrated?), and any
early mistakes by Higgins are going to be remembered.
And first-year big men make lots of mistakes in the
Big Ten.
First-year little men don't always have that
problem. Remember Gary Grant's first year here? Grant Daily Photo by JOHN Mul
and Robinson may be the best backcourt in the nation University of Michigan big man Terry Mills returns from an impress
this year, and not just because Grant is one half of it. showing in the U.S. Olympic Festival to play in the local Sandy Sand
You heard it here first. League this weekend.
1 Miller resigns as Red's top
assistant after four years
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By DARREN JASEY his new job.
Assistant hockey coach Mark "I WASN'T excited about
Miller resigned earlier this week in leaving here," Miller said. "A better
order to pursue a "personal business opportunity for me and my family
opportunity in Detroit." arose and I decided to take advantage
Miller, 30, had held the position of it. It was a decision I had to bite
for the past four seasons, the final the bullet and make."
three under head coach Red Berenson. "It is a shock to me," Berenson
He said the move was not made said. "We're really going to miss
so that he would be available to him. He was a perfect assistant
move into a head coaching position, coach.
and he did not reveal the details of "He is one of those guys who has
___ ___ __ been able to go beyond the call of
duty. He is one of the best assistant
coaches in the country."
TO CHINA / ORIENT MILLER, AN Essex, Ont.
native, has been Berenson's main
TOKYO ..............$ 650 r.t. recruiter in their drive to make
SHANGHAI ........... $ 850 r.t. Michigan a winner. While teams
HONG KONG, TAIPEI ..... $ 755 r.t. like Michigan State and Bowling
Bangkok, SINGAPORE .... $ 955 r.t. Green send out two or three coaches
7 Days BANGKOK .... Fr. $1175 to recruit, Michigan relied mainly on
8 Super Days Hong KongFr. $1099 Miller to do a job that took him to
9 Days Bangkok/Hongkong. Fr. $1375 thefre as t seawestenMl helped
22 Day Tour & Cruise Berenson recruit what is believed to
of China ........... Fr. $2935 be the top class in the country. The
21 Days China & Japan Fr. $2835 class included Bryan Deasley, the top
GRAND VIEW TRAVEL U.S. college player drafted in last
313-583-7555 June's NHL entry draft, and U.S.
Olympic hopeful Todd Copeland.
1-800.462-1520 The addition of this year's class
combined with the improvement of
the previous classes is expected to
make Michigan a legitimate
challenger for the Central Collegiate
Hockey Association crown.
"I'M GOING to be gratified
when I see the team doing well,"
Miller said. "It will make the hard
work and sweat pay off for me and
my family."
"He has a good eye for hockey
talent as well as for recruiting good
people," Berenson said. "He recruits
not only good players but good
citizens.
"We're going to miss him. It's
going to be important that 'we can
hire someone that is going to keep
the ball rolling."
Miller's ties to the University go
back to 1976 when he started the
first of a four-year career as a
Michigan hockey player. In his first
year the Wolverines finished second
at the NCAA Tournament in
Detroit, losing 6-5 to Wisconsin in
overtime.
In his senior season he led the
team in scoring with 49 points. In
his career at Michigan he tallied 57
goals and 64 assists for 121 points.