The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday - February 18, 1991 - Page 3 Moeller The coach reflects on the signing of some of the nation's finest recruits With his second recruiting sea- son over, Gary Moeller has si- lenced all reservations about a *possible recruiting slump without Bo Schembechler around. This year, after signing 13 of Super- Prep's top 100, most Prep experts ranked his class in the top two in the nation along with Penn St. After his success, Moeller held a small news conference with reporters, includ- ing Adam Lutz of the Daily. Reporter: How do you feel about the experts labelling your Mlass No. 1? Moeller: Everybody says, ;Well, Michigan is number one,' but heck, just because the media says you're number one doesn't mean you're going to finish num- ber one. I don't remember if Miami (Fla.) or Penn St. ever had the number one recruiting class, but I do know they won the national ti- tIes. It all depends on how they (athletes) come in and adapt to the situation....If they turn out like they should, then we can look at winning. When you compete with other schools and win, it helps the entire staff and players. It is a joy to go into these kids homes and to talk about the University of Michi- gan. R: What are your thoughts * about this class? M: Without commenting on certain individuals, I feel that it was a good class, but until they produce we just don't know. I think we had a good effort. Overall, he (Bob Chmiel) helped us recruit well. We got some name kids, but ones who we feel will fit in and be Michigan-type players. We try and measure attitude and how well they will adapt to college life and college football. We try and recruit 'good character' kids. A few of these players will' be given a chance in the fall to compete for the back-up positions....Some have the ability, but it depends on how fast they pick it (the playbook) up. They need to come in with excel- lent physical conditioning. R: Did you do anything differ- ent this year? M: We didn't have any real changes. We had better communi- cation between the staff and we worked harder on recruiting during the season....I credit Bob Chmiel with finding the talent and then making sure that they are the type HALL Continued from page 1 Ann Arbor. But while playing on an AAU team with Dianne, Michelle was "distracted" when Michigan State suddenly became interested in her sister, who was then attending Michigan-Dearborn as a part-time student. After Di- anne accepted that opportunity, Michigan State's interest in Michelle was revitalized. Now, she could play with Val who was going to be a senior, and with whom she had never played growing up - for one year at Michigan, or she could spend another four years with Dianne in East Lansing. "I was at the kitchen table," Michelle said, "and I had Michi- gan's scholarship on the right, Michigan State's od the left. Va- lerie was on the right, Dianne on the left. I'm not kidding you - it was like that." Michelle started leaning the other way, and became very seri- ous about becoming a Spartan. So serious, in fact, that "she had more or less made up her mind to go to Michigan State," her father said. "Michigan's always been tops with our family, but because of the sit- uation with Dianne ... And Michi- gan State offered her summer school, and things of that nature. It just seemed to be a better package than Michigan's." Michelle called Michigan coach Bud VanDeWege to let him know that she was swaying, and he called back, asking her to come * down for one Iast visit "Thev es- of athlete that we want to bring to Michigan. Last year and this year we were able to find good charac- ter kids that we would want at Michigan. backs, how do you convince all of them to come to one school? M: Probably what will happen in the spring is that Nate Holdren will be converted to play inside R: Were lineman the empha- sis? M: We concentrated on both sides of the ball, lineman in par- ticular. They will help us a little next year in certain situations. Someday they should be excell- ent... We were fortunate that this year there were lineman. Last year we couldn't find any. This year we needed more than normal. This year we wanted a tight end, but we could only find one that we even wanted to recruit. From year to year there are certain voids in po- sitions and you just have to take what is available. R: What about the running back prospects? M: Che Foster, Tyrone Wheat- ley and Eddie Davis will all even- tually contribute, but how soon I just cannot say. All have the po- tential to come in and contribute. There is no question that Wheatley was a gratifying recruit. He has excellent potential to develop with our help. He will definitely play the tailback position, as opposed to the other positions he played in high school. Che is a back that you can play at both positions. I would compare him to the Leroy Hoard type. SPUR I I N FMI I linebacker. That means that the players returning will be Elvis, Ken Sollom and Todd Collins. Since Ken is a senior, there would only be one player left after his departure next season to back up Elvis. Wherever the quarterbacks go they will be confronted with the obstacle of having players in front of them. I don't think that our posi- tion is that deep. The three fresh- men have all been successful and can be good players. R: What do you feel about the players who have yet to pass Prop. 48? M: For some guys it is hard for them to pass the test, because they just don't test well. We only re- cruit players who we believe will make it. If we don't feel that they will pass the test, then we don't recruit them. If they don't pass, then we will cover that bridge when we get to it. We've had that problem before and we will deal with the situation. R: How do you feel about the precedent that has been estab- lished with players leaving early? M: It depends on the kid, every situation is different. Jon Vaughn could have developed himself into being a better player. He would have been better prepared for the NFL. You cannot take your Mas- ters before you finish your under- graduate. You need to be the best prepared that you can be. When you decide to try for the NFL, you should have a education...I am tired of hearing and reading about players leaving early because of 'We got some name kids, but ones who we feel will fit in and be Michigan-type play- ers. We try and mea- sure attitude and how well they will adapt to college life and col- lege football. We try and recruit 'good character' kids.' the expected salary cap. It is not a good enough reason to leave col- lege. R: Are there any players not re- turning next season? M: There are some of the fifth- year seniors who won't be return- ing. We had some kids last year on scholarship who didn't play and it appears if that might happen again. I can't discuss any particular player now, because I have not spoken with most of them. I can say that freshman running back Juan Kemp will not be returning. There is no particular reason other than the idea of being closer to home. I don't believe that there was anything in particular that he disliked about Michigan except that he felt he would be better off in Texas. R: What do you think about the new NCAA Legislation proposals? M: It puts more of a work load on the coaches. I want to be able to evaluate the kids, and the pro- posal will make it harder. It is im- portant for me to see a kid play in another sport besides football. How does this guy perform in front of audience? What are his work habits? I like to find out as much as I can including evaluating their character. You want to bring the best kids to Michigan. Running with 95 players is a hard job. If you cut that number to 85, then you are going to take away from the qual- ity of play in what you see in col- lege football. Mike Gill Checking out the better headlines Here's a look at some past, present and future headlines and stories that have, are, or will appear in the paper. THE PAST: Lokar quits Seton Hall - and U.S. Sophomore guard Marco Lokar quit the Seton Hall basketball team and left the United States to return to his native Italy. It had nothing to do with expiring visas or graduation dates. Lokar refused to wear a U.S. flag on his uniform jersey to support troops in the Persian Gulf. Because of this, his pregnant wife received telephoned threats and Lokar was booed by fans in Madison Square Garden during the Pirates' 81-65 loss to St. John's on February 2. Lokar said he could not wear the flag because from a Christian standpoint he could not support any war, and in his mind, wearing the flag would indirectly, if not directly, support the war. Personally, I disagree with Lokar's decision. However, this is America and one is guaranteed freedom of expression. Lokar learned his decision somehow did not fit under this category - and his call subjected him to all types of ridicule. The Detroit Tigers could be facing the same situation. Lou Whitaker and Chet Lemon are both Jehovah's Witnesses. Because of this, when the national anthem is played, they do not stand at attention, but instead enter the dugout. This is pretty easy to disguise. If the Tigers elect to wear flags on their uniforms this season, and both Whitaker and Lemon refuse for religious beliefs to wear the flag, the decision will be quite noticeable each time they wear the ole English 'D.' Here's hoping a sad, sad, story does not repeat itself. THE PRESENT: Band makes trip to Joe Louis Arena Michigan's hockey team usually is not represented at Joe Louis by its pep band. When the team competes in the Great Lakes Invitational, the band is in a warmer locale with the football team for a bowl game. It was good to see the band lending its support to the hockey team this past weekend when the Wolverines faced the Spartans. However, the Michigan band was overshadowed by its Spartan counterpart. The Spartans had more selections of songs to play, and also played songs that could be heard throughout the arena. Michigan, on the other hand, played barely loud enough to be heard out of its section. Come on now, their sectional solos can barely can be heard in Yost. In the spacious Joe Louis Arena, it simply does not come through. Michigan also attempted to be polite - until late in Saturday's game. If the Spartan band began playing during a timeout, the Wolverines waited. However, if the Michigan band for a change started playing before the Spartans, it soon found competition. Finally, the Wolverines got a clue and figured out that anything is fair in times of war - which is exactly what this Michigan-Michigan State series turned out to be. At least the hockey pep band is what it claims to be - a pep band - unlike its basketball counterpart which thinks it's on some nightclub circuit. THE FUTURE: Berenson adds IM basketball star With the Michigan hockey team facing a depleted squad due to injuries and the suspension of six players from Saturday night's Fight Night at Joe Louis Arena, Michigan coach Red Berenson has had to search high and low to fill the hole. Berenson announced Tuesday that he has added Wolverine basketball player Freddie Hunter to his team to help fill the void. "Freddie walked onto a nationally prominent, or at least a one time nationally prominent, basketball team and started," Berenson said. "There is no question in my mind that he can pick up some of the scoring slack." Hunter said he had never skated before but added, "Hey, I couldn't dunk four years ago. I can now. I'm a quick learner. If Coach Berenson's willing to take a chance on me, I think I'm good for a goal a game. I just need to learn what icing means." Basketball coach Steve Fisher called it "a chance of a lifetime." R: You signed three quarter- terparts. He went on to describe how much the Michigan women's program would be superior to Michigan State's. Included among these promises was better crowd support, and full tuition for all four terms, if needed. So she signed to play with Michigan. But when she arrived here, Michelle discovered that Schembechler had not kept his word. "Basically, I was misin- formed," she said. But despite be- ing misled, she does not feel any bitterness toward the Tigers' presi- dent. "The only hard part about de- ciding to come here was I felt like I was turning my. back on Dianne, and it wasn't that way at all," she said. "It really hurt. I felt like I was telling her I didn't want to spend the next four years with her." Dianne did understand her sis- ter's decision, though, and in fact both she and Val did not look at it as a sister vs. sister, but as a school vs. school decision. "I was happy for her wherever she went," Dianne said. "I just missed the fact of how we could have been." The fate of Michelle's first year at Michigan had actually been cemented before her commitment. She was forced to sit out that sea- son as a medical redshirt, due to a broken foot which was first injured on the eve of 1989. What type of accident was she involved in? "It was New Year's Eve I hurt it. OK? That's self-explanatory," she laughed. Unfortunately, at that time, she was not aware of the extent of her have surgery. When the doctor went in, he discovered that her sezmoid bone was not only broken, but shattered. "You could tell (the injury) was very old, because it was all scar tissue, and you had to cut through a lot of stuff, and take out part of my tendon (to get all the pieces out)," Michelle said. So her season was over. Her dream of playing with Val had been so close, but now it was unattainable. However, she and Val still were able to spend time with each other. "I didn't want to interfere with (her first year) too much, because if she relied solely on me, she wouldn't have been developing new friends, and that wouldn't have been the right thing to do either," Val said. "I tried to give her her space, and I think it worked out well. We spent time together and did things, but not all of her free time, or all of my free time, did we spend together." Michelle's first basketball sea- son consisted mainly of rehabilitat- ing her injury - running and using the Stairmaster. She went to games to support the team, but it was difficult not being able to get on the court. "When my coach said I was go- ing to be redshirted, it hurt at first," she said. "I found myself so distant from the team, I didn't like it. I felt uncomfortable. I wanted to get back in with the team again so bad that I really couldn't wait for this year coming up." Hall started the '90-'91 season as a capable back up to Trish An- drew in the pivot. But when the Big Ten season began, Van- However, height alone does not make the basketball player. Hall has shown skills in all facets of the game this year, giving the crowd a tantalizing glimpse of what is yet to come. In fact, said Van- DeWege, she may be demonstrat- ing too much of her talent. "The problem with her, really - and it's not going to be a prob- lem in the future - is that she is really good facing the basket, too," he said. "Eventually, we'd like to see her be a power forward. She can handle the ball, she can shoot it outside, she's a great passer. "We think that she can be a tremendous player inside and out, but right now the team needs her inside, and she's got to understand that that's where she's got to es- tablish herself." When Hall sets up in the paint, it provides a perfect complement for Andrew, who is more of a fi- nesse player. Each helps open up the other's game. "She takes a lot of pressure off me," Andrew said. "She takes the beatings inside so that I can get myself open on the perimeter. And I also have an easier time posting up, because she gets the brun.t of the punishment inside." Hall's improvement has been steady this season, but her devel- opment is hindered by her "rollercoaster" effort, according to VanDeWege. "I've always had a lot of belief in her ability, it's just her mental attitude and approach to the game have to be a little bit more workman-like," he said. "I think once that happens, she'll im- Michigan rookie center Michelle Hall scores two points on a lay up against Illinois. Hall follows in the footsteps of older sister Val, who worked the middle spot for the Wolverines before graduating last year. r a" " time. "I have to be more consistent with my intensity, my aggressive- ness," she said. "It shows what I can do when I get out and do it. I just have to go out and do it more often. "I have a tendency when I get Association, a women's league played with 9-foot rims, could be* gin a new era for female athletes. Val already has been asked to play in the LBA's inaugural game, and Michelle may be only a few years: behind.