Men's Lacrosse vs. Albion Tonight, 8:30 p.m. Tartan Turf SPORT s Ice Hockey NCAA First Round vs. Cornell Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Yost Arena The Michigan Daily Wednesday, March 13, 1991 Page 9 NIT kicks off tonight at Calip finds magic *with Fisher's help Colorado by Theodore Cox Daily Basketball Writer Last January, an hour after suf- fering a tough loss to Ohio State, Michigan coach Steve Fisher grabbed the coat tail of Demetrius Calip as he was exiting Crisler ,rena. "Come here for a second," Fisher said, as he directed the senior guard through the crowd of media, fans, and relatives mingling about, into a quiet corner. "Don't worry about it. I want you to go back home and relax. You'll do better next time." All Calip did was look back, and that was enough. No one *understands Fisher better than Calip and vice-versa. It was just two years ago that Calip was an unknown back-up guard and Fisher was an unknown assistant coach. All of a sudden, Michigan coach Bill Frieder flees for a job at Arizona State, Fisher is thrown into the top spot, and the first major move he makes is giving Calip the ball. The 6-foot-1 Flint *native came up big in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament when the rest of the Wolverines were struggling. Calip's play helped enable Michigan to go on and take the 1989 title. As most of that team headed for the NBA this year, Fisher was forced to put much of the weight of this year's season on the shoulders *of Calip, his only senior. And Calip has delivered. He is one of only two players to start every game. He is the leading the team in assists and scoring, averaging over 20 points per game. During crunch time Calip has home through with three-pointers for overtime victories against Wisconsin and Minnesota on the toad. " But more importantly to Calip than numbers is how the team has done. Although some had predicted the Wolverines to finish as low as eighth in the Big Ten, Calip envis- ioned his team atop the conference at the beginning of the year. "Sometimes people say if you believe in magic, you'll live a magical life," Calip said. In the Big Ten, however, one needs talent as well as magic to win. Michigan finished at 14-14, 7- 11 in the Big Ten. Nothing outstanding, but it was respectable. For Calip, though, there is no reason not to have lofty goals. He has obtained the impossible many times by overcoming adversity. The first problem he struggled with was asthma. But his mother had a simple solution: "Keep play- ing until you overcome it." And while he was out trying to beat his asthma, he became a good basketball player. In high school, Calip was Mr. Everything: the star basketball player, a 4.0 GPA student, class president, chairperson of the home- coming committee, etc. But Mich- igan was a little bit tougher. Calip found himself playing behind the likes of Gary Grant and Rumeal Robinson (both now in the NBA). He also found the academic world a bit overwhelming. After one semester he was declared academ-ically ineligible for the winter term. "I got up here at Michigan and I had to work twice as hard to get a C, whereas it was an A in high school," Calip said. "I also was giving a lot on the basketball court and still not getting a chance to play - that became frustrating. I think that combination was the problem. It's something I can look back on, and I can appreciate it because it made me take books a little more serious." The following summer, Calip worked hard so that he might see action his sophomore year. But when he returned, Frieder showed little interest in him. "Do you see me playing here," Calip asked his coach one day. "Well, I really don't see you playing, so you might want to consider going somewhere else," Frieder answered. Calip was devastated, and he almost left for Eastern Michigan. But there was still Fisher. He knew the assistant coach still believed in him. Plus, leaving the team meant he would give up a Michigan education. So Calip stayed and let the magic happen. Academically, things turned around during his sophomore year as well. The communications and psychology major never has obtained his goal of getting a 4.0 at Michigan, but he has made a 3.8. And who knows, there's still a semester left. The next lofty goal on the horizon for Calip is the NBA. Most scouts say he will not be drafted, but he will get offers to try out. "I'll give the NBA a try and see what happens there," Calip said. "Right now, I just want to keep my options open." But first things first, and that means an NIT title. "I'm going to go out and have some fun, but I'm definitely going to try and get the players motivated to go out and try to win this thing." 'M' goes west to open NIT by Phil Green Daily Basketball Writer The Michigan men's basketball team begins its quest to become No. 65 tonight in Boulder. The Wolverines (7-11 in the Big Ten, 14-14 overall) face Colorado University in NIT first round action. It will be Michigan's first trip to the NIT since the Wolver- ines won it in 1984. "To be playing in a post-season tournament, at any level, it's kind of a consolation for playing all the tough games and losing," Michigan captain Demetrius Calip said. "Hopefully, we can go out there and make some noise." The Buffaloes (5-9,15-13) finished in a sixth- place tie with Oklahoma in the Big Eight, their first finish above eighth since 1985. "We're really excited. It's the first time in 22 years that the school's been in post-season action," first-year Colorado coach Joe Harrington said. "Michigan's really strong, and the Big Ten's great basketball." Senior 6-foot-10 center Shaun Vandiver paced Colorado with 20.6 points and a league-leading 10.5 rebounds per game during the season. Last year, he became the first player since Oklahoma's Wayman Tisdale to lead the conference in both categories. Tough interior players like Iowa State's Victor Alexander, Illinois' Deon Thomas, and Purdue's Craig Riley have given Michigan problems this sea- son. And at 240 lbs., Vandiver outweighs the Wolver- ines' Eric Riley by close to 30 lbs. "Shaun's been very consistent. It's what I ex- pected. He's an NBA prospect, probably going in the first round," Harrington said. "But Riley's a lot big- ger than Shaun in terms of height." Iowa State is the only opponent the teams have in common, and Cyclone coach Johnny Orr offered some unique insight to the match-up. "Colorado's got a good team, they started out hot and kind of faded out," he said. "Playing in Boulder, I would say they have a definite advantage. If the game were being played in Ann Arbor, Michigan would definitely win. "They're strong rebounders and they press all over the floor. Michigan's got to take advantage of their quickness because I think they're a lot quicker than Colorado." The Wolverines should be able to run on the Buf- faloes, who only go seven deep. Michigan's strength is the backcourt, while Colorado's guards, except for Wise, haven't done much this season. And Wise, an excellent pure shooter, can be exploited on the de- fensive end. If the Wolverines win, they won't know their next opponent or location until tomorrow evening. The NIT doesn't have brackets; it hand-picks each con- test once the winners of each round are known. Senior Demetrius Calip hopes tonight's game at Colorado will not be his last. Fans may get another chance to see Calip play at Crisler if the Wolverines are able to defeat the Buffaloes. WOLVERINE ADDS WEIGHT TO A FAMILY TRADITION: Rawls wrestles on his own terms Hopeful 'M' stickers search for first victory by Mitch Rubenstein Daily Sports Writer The Michigan men's lacrosse team is taking a deep roster and a positive attitude into tonight's home opener versus the Albion College Lacrosse Club. The Wolverines (0-1) are looking for the season's first win. Michigan is not short on talent or confidence in its quest to get into the win column. The team boasts a mix of 40 players that combines senior leadership with rookie firepower. 4 According to senior captain Marc Silbergeld, "The majority of the players on the lacrosse team used to Tome from out east, but now the sport of lacrosse has become more popular in the state of Michigan." The top players .in the state do not consider going to the University of Michigan with the intention of playing lacrosse because the sport is not played at the varsity level difference," team president and coach Dave Fitzpatrick said. "We would not have enough quality personnel to put up against other teams without them." The Michigan team plans to use all of its depth against Albion. The coach intends to use all of his 6 mid- field lines to secure what he thinks will be a sure victory. field lines to.secure what he thinks will be a sure victory. "We are expecting to beat them hard," said Fitzpatrick "We are plan- ning to use a lot of players." The team must keep working in order to perfect its chemistry. If the senior leaders of this team take charge and the rookies play as ex- pected, then good things should happen to the Wolverine team.. Michigan's increased depth should mean increased wins for this confident team. by Eric Sklar Daily Sports Writer In 1969, Michigan wrestler Jesse Rawls won the Big Ten Championship. He was also a two- time All-American. Now, Jesse's son, James, is following in his father's footsteps as a Wolverine wrestler. However, James Rawls feels no pressure to duplicate his father's accomplishments. "My father is his own self," he said. "As far as what he did, he did a lot of great things." And Jesse Rawls puts no pres- sure on his son. "Being a former wrestler, with my kids wrestling, I always say to them, 'If you want to be a wrestler, you can be one, but don't try to be as good as I was or try to compare with what I did,"' the elder Rawls said. "I think the pressure is probably self-induced, because he wants to do well," Michigan coach Dale Bahr said. "I think most of the pressure that James puts on him- self is the high expectations he wants and places on himself, just as an individual." "Pressure," the younger Rawls said, "is not being adequately pre- pared. "I set my own goals," he said. "The Big Tens, the NCAAs. As long as I set goals and try to achieve them, that's the only thing that I would try to do." When Rawls sets his own goals, he aims high. This year, he strove to win a Big Ten Champion- ship and to place in the top eight at the NCAA's. Last week, at the Big Ten Championships, Rawls fell short of his first objective, finishing fourth in the tournament. But, as he pre- pares for the NCAA Champion- ships this weekend, his second goal is not yet out of reach. "I think that he has the poten- tial to be a Big Ten champion and an All-American," Bahr said. "In fact, I would expect that." Rawls feels that by the time he's a senior, he could establish himself as one of the top wrestlers in his weight class in the country. "I've got to concentrate now," Rawls said. "I just want to steadily get better and impr6ve. Just keep getting stronger, tougher, meaner, and if I can do those things, every- thing will fall into place." Last season, Rawls was thrown onto the mat unexpectedly when the starting spot at the 142-pound weight class became vacant. The coaches' decision to start Rawls took him by surprise.. "I think that's the biggest thing from last year to this year," he said. "I knew that I would be in a position to start and I knew the team would be counting on me, so I prepared myself that way all summer." As his record attests, his change in attitude this year has been beneficial to his wrestling. But attitude alone doesn't make a good wrestler, and a great deal of Rawls' success this year has come from actual practice on the mat. Rawls also has benefitted from his wrestling partner, former Wolver- ine John Fisher, a four-time All- American and three-time Big Ten champion. "I wrestle with him the most," Rawls said. "They (the coaches) all help me, and tell me what I'm doing wrong, but then I really get to work it with Fisher." °Rawls' wrestling has also im- proved by competing with his teammates. "Just wrestling everybody on the team (helps)," he said. "There's so many people around my weight, like Joey (Gilbert), Sean (Bormet), and Brian Harper. "And everyone is intense." "Last year, I didn't expect to wrestle," he said, "I expected to redshirt. So, during the summer, I didn't even think about wrestling. I wasn't thinking about the season coming up, I was thinking about relaxing." But this year, the starting spot was his to lose, and Rawls was well aware of this. He went home last summer and began to work out and focus on his wrestling. Color Printing Color Printing Color Printing Color Printing * clinical * graduate school * personality * private practice * social * Psychology Students! Explore your options at the Psychology Career Fair!