Monday, June 6, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com to MEN S GOLF 'M' places 10th, Kim takes third at NCAAs Foote, Irons say OSU not alone By NEAL ROTHSCHILD Daily Sports Writer A day into the NCAA Champion- ships, the Michigan golf team didn't seemtohaveit. TheWolverinesshot a combined 307 through 18 holes and stood in 25th place out of the 30-team field. But then, led by senior Lion Kim, Michigan came charging back the next two days to grab the No.10 spot in the country. The 10th-place finish is the Wolverines' second-best per- formance since 1952. The 2009 team finished sixth overall. And Michigan was oh-so-close to putting itself into the next round of the NCAA Championships. The Wolverines' 892 three-day total was just three strokes off of Duke, which was the final qualifier for the eight-team match play tournament that followed Tuesday-Thursday's stroke play. "Obviously we are disappointed we did not advance," Michigan coach Andrew Sapp said through the athletic department. "We really fought the final two rounds to put ourselves in a position to sit on the final hole to see if we made it. It is painful to miss by a few shots rather than 20, but after being tied for 25th after the first day and to see us even have a chance to make match play, I could not be any more proud of this team. They have a lot of heart." Kim's 215 over the three days spurred Michigan's surge up the leaderboard in Stillwater, Okla. That score earned Kim third place in the individual competition. His 73 on Thursday marked the final round of his historic Michi- gan career - perhaps the best in Wolverine history. Kim earned his second All-American honor to put himself in the company of just four other Michigan golfers. And his trip to Augusta National earlier this spring marked the first time a Wol- verine competed in the Masters. "Lion has had an unbelievable career," Sapp said. "He was a tre- mendous player. He was a tremen- dous leader. He was a tremendous representative of this University. He gave all he had for four years and it was my honor to have been a part of his golfing career. "We will certainly miss him, but I know he has helped shape this pro- gram into what it is today. He will be remembered for a long time." But it wasn't just Kim doing the work to lift Michigan15 spots in two days. The other four Wolverines were crucial in leading the charge back up the leaderboard. "After the first round, we could have packed up our tents and gone home," Sapp said. "We did not do that. We fought tooth and nail for the last two days and really gave ourselves the best shot at advancing. For them to do that and not give up really shows the character of these young men. (Junior) Matt (Thomp- son) had a sensational final day with eight birdies and sophomore Jack (Schultz) made so many up and downs for par today to really help this team. "Even (freshman) Joey (Garber) and (sophomore) Rahul (Bakshi) really played with resiliency and fought back after slow starts today. I am just so proud of them." Thompson's 70 on Thursday put him in 20th place overall with 220 and Garber finished 56th highlight- ed by his 72 on Wednesday. Their emergence gives the team two key pieces for continuing their success into next year. Only senior Alexander Sitompul joins Kim in graduating this year. "With four of the five start- ers returning, they really gained some valuable experiences," Sapp said. "Hopefully, it builds a hunger inside of them to want to get back (to the NCAA Finals) next year and go even farther. I am just so proud of how hard this team worked and the effort they put in each and every day. We are looking forward to the future because it is bright." DscoL l BRBERS Supporting the UofM Community - --,.. -- % By TIM ROHAN pleted his ninth season in the NFL, Daily Sports Editor -Foote has spent all but one season of his career with the Steelers. For two former Michigan foot- In2001, Foote's Wolverines were ball players, the situation at Ohio upset by Ohio State in Tressel's first State that pushed Jim Tressel to season as head coach. Foote said the resign on May 30, wasn't all that 10-year stretch of losing to Tressel surprising. and Ohio State, when the Buckeyes According to Larry Foote and won nine out of 10 games against Jarrett Irons - two all-time Michi- the Wolverines, hurt his wallet gan football greats - it may be the when it came to friendly wagers best (or worst) kept secret in all of against teammates, like former college football: big-time players Buckeye Santonio Holmes. do receive some sort of payment or In that time, Foote has had compensation. plenty of contact with players from Albeit, the players at Ohio State other prominent college football allegedly didn't receive payment to schools and got a glimpse behind play, rather, they broke NCAA rules the scenes at other programs. by exchanging memorabilia for "Everyone I talk to, most of the improper benefits. time they went to big schools and "It's a lot bigger than Tressel," they got paid," Foote said. "I don't said Foote, who was the Big Ten's have no names and stuff like that Defensive Player oftheYear in2001. But it's just, Michigan, they pride "I've been telling people that. It's a ourselves - Lloyd Carr didn't play lot bigger. College atmospheres, big that." universities and athletic programs, Ohio State's starting quarter- they're dirty - a lot of them are back, Terrelle Pryor, as well as four dirty. And coaches, they've got to other key Buckeyes were suspend- take the fall." ed for the first five games of the Both Foote and Irons said that 2011season for receiving improper in each of their own unique experi- benefits involving allegedly trad- ences they have cometo understand ing team memorabilia for tattoos. it is common. Yet both denied any Another player had received a wrongdoing happening at Michi- smaller suspension, too. And in a gan. Sports Illustrated story released "When I was at Michigan," Foote early last week, a total of 28 play- continued, "that's one thing I pride ers were implicated as to being myself about Michigan, because involved in the same illicit behav- the stories I hear about other teams tor dating back to2002. with the money and the alumni At that time, Jarrett Irons was and the stuff like that, the stuff I'm just about done with his three or hearing- I mean it is brand new." so years he spent working for IMG. Foote played linebacker for Irons played linebacker at Michi- Michigan from 1998-2001 before gan from 1993-1996, and was an being selected in the fourth round All-American his senior year. by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the At IMG, he was shown the same 2002 NFL Draft. Having just com- new world Foote found. "Any of the stuff that went on at Ohio State, I wasn't shocked by it," Irons said. "I mean, you hear stuff happening like that at other schools all the time." Irons said it was "common" to hear stories about players being, paid when he was recruiting play- ers to sign with IMG. And Tressel's ignorance towards Pryor's new cars, which, accord- ing to ESPN, has become the new focus of the NCAA's probe on Ohio State, is hard to believe. "I think it's hard to imagine that he didn't know a lot of that stuff was going on, especially the car situation," Irons said. "Anybody who got a new car (at Michigan), from a compliance standpoint we always had to sub--- mit where we got the car, or this or that." The details emerging from Ohio State and even the situation surrounding quarterback Cam Newton at Auburn - in which Newton's father allegedly brokered deals with colleges to exchange his son's commitment for monetary rewards - are the norm for Irons. "Especially with some other schools, maybe in other conferenc- es, you talk to other guys - I mean, everybody was - you hear about guys getting paid," Irons said. The NCAA infamously gave Southern Methodist the "death penalty" in the late 1980s for pay- ing players under the table. The Mustangs were prohibited from playing football in 1987 and decid- ed, on its own, that it was unable to field ateam in 1988. "It's common," Irons said. "I've heard of people getting paid. It's not out of the ordinary." i a + a FREE Smoothie OR Coffee Blast16 ounce size only) No Purchase Necessary j Limit One offer per customer with coupon. Not valid with any other offers. Valid at the Ann Arbor Location ONLY Barry Bagels Westgate Shopping Center 2515 Jackson Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48103 (734)662-2435 www.barrybagels.com Expires: June 13, 2011 """"------ J