Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Thursday, April 16, 2015 — 7A
Albrecht talks recovery process
By MAX BULTMAN
Daily Sports Editor
It’s still early, but so far, Spike
Albrecht’s recovery is well on
track.
After playing with a fractured
bone and torn labrum for most
of the season, Albrecht had
surgery last week on his right hip.
And as he hobbled into Crisler
Center for the Michigan men’s
basketball team’s annual awards
celebration, the junior guard
showed off a contraption that’s
keeping his hipbone properly
aligned while he rehabs.
But that’s not to say the process
has gone without a hiccup.
“The first two to three days
after surgery were terrible,”
Albrecht said. “Just with it being
my first surgery, I think with
the whole anesthesia and stuff.
But I’m feeling really good right
now. I’m able to get up on my
own, crutch around. I was in bed
forever, it felt like.”
Despite
doctors’
advice,
Albrecht couldn’t keep himself
from feeding his appetite after
surgery.
“With the anesthesia, I tried
eating too much, I think the first
or second day,” Albrecht said.
“The doctors told me, ‘you’re
gonna be hungry, but don’t eat.’
And I was like, ‘What does that
mean? If I’m hungry, I’m gonna
eat.’ And sure enough, I got sick
as a dog for the first couple days.
So that was brutal.”
But otherwise, he has been
able to get back into his routine,
albeit aided by crutches and the
thigh contraption.
And with crutches in tow, the
rising senior guard cleaned up at
the team’s award ceremony.
Albrecht split the Bill Buntin
Most Valuable Player award with
sophomore forward Zak Irvin.
He also won the Steve Grote
Hustle Award and Thad Garner
Leadership Award for himself.
He also took home the Gary
Grant Award, given to the
player with the most assists —
he finished the season with 121,
nearly four per game.
Whereas
other
award
recipients went
up
on
stage
to
pose
for
pictures
with
their plaques,
the
coaches
presenting
Albrecht’s
awards
implored him
to stay seated,
resting his legs
and letting the
hardware come to him.
With a recovery timetable that
he hopes will put him back on the
court in late September, he’ll have
to adjust to taking a step back
from the action.
“It stinks,” Albrecht said. “I’m
gonna miss probably the whole
summer, most of the offseason,
which is tough.”
His recovery plan could be
complicated a bit by an additional
procedure to his other hip, which
he also injured during the season.
The
surgery
he
already
underwent
involved
three
incisions: two to shave down his
hip bone and socket and another
to repair his
labrum.
If
he
has
the
second
surgery, which
would
occur
sometime
in
May,
he
expects
the
procedure
would
be
similar.
Whether
he gets it or not, Albrecht is
confident he will make a full
recovery, in part because he has
seen the effects of this type of
operation before.
Senior forward Max Bielfeldt
had hip surgery last spring,
and Albrecht has been using
his recovery process to gauge
whether he would.
“I’ve said this all season: Max
was the guinea pig,” Albrecht said.
“I wasn’t ready to go do it myself.
I wanted to see how he recovered
and all that. He was telling me
from … a few weeks out, he could
tell it was such a big difference.
You could tell last year.”
Bielfeldt rode his recovery to a
career year that saw him average
15 minutes per game and earn the
team’s Sixth Man Award.
And
from
a
surgeon’s
perspective, Albrecht was even
easier to operate on.
“(The doctor) said it went
really good,” Albrecht said. “I
think the fact that I’m smaller
helps, so he said my surgery was
easier than Max’s, cause Max’s
legs are like tree trunks trying to
move those things around.”
With one successful surgery
complete, and another potentially
on the way, Albrecht is laying low
right now. Fortunately for him,
his time away from the court
coincides with his roommate,
Caris LeVert, returning to good
health. LeVert got his walking
boot off Tuesday.
“I chauffeured him around
a lot,” Albrecht said. “He’s got
some payback.”
LeVert mulls
draft decision
Junior will ask for
a second evaluation
from Undergraduate
Advisory Committee
By DANIEL FELDMAN
Daily Sports Editor
Caris LeVert “probably will
have a decision pretty soon”
regarding his declaration for
the 2015 NBA Draft.
With the NBA Draft early
entry
eligibility
deadline
quickly approaching on April
26, the junior guard is still
deliberating and evaluating all
the available information he can
get before making up his mind.
After previously submitting
for an evaluation from the
NBA Undergraduate Advisory
Committee following the end
of the regular season, LeVert
and
Michigan
coach
John
Beilein recently resubmitted for
another assessment.
The
fact
that
37
underclassmen have declared
for the draft will most likely
sway
LeVert
toward
coming
back
for his senior
year,
but
other
factors
will certainly
contribute as
well.
For
one,
LeVert is still
recovering
from surgery
on his left foot. He just got his
boot off Tuesday, but there’s a
still long way to go before he is
up to full speed.
“But I still have a ways
before I can start running and
jumping,” LeVert said. “Going
out
there
tomorrow
would
probably be a stretch. … But
I don’t have to do that. The
combine isn’t tomorrow. I still
have a couple more weeks to go.
Hopefully in a couple weeks I’ll
feel a little bit better.”
Additionally,
LeVert
admitted Wednesday night that
if the second evaluation reveals
he would likely be a second-
round pick, he would most
likely come back to school.
“I don’t think it really makes
sense to go early and be drafted
in the second round,” he said.
When
the
NBA
Undergraduate
Advisory
Committee lets Beilein and
LeVert know how many players
are ranked ahead of LeVert,
forming an analysis off such a
projection is pretty simple.
And while projections will
certainly be a factor in LeVert’s
ultimate decision, there’s still
plenty of pros and cons that will
play into his final choice.
“Another thing is, I love
playing here,” LeVert said. “So
that would definitely be tough
to walk away from, if that’s the
decision I decide to make. But
like you said, going out on a high
note would be really good, too.”
With Wednesday marking
the final day of the NBA regular
season, the rest of the team’s
draft order outside of the lottery
will be known. Because of that,
Beilein will know what teams
will pick in the latter end of the
first round and which scouting
directors and general managers
he can talk to on LeVert’s behalf.
The process of whether to
enter has been long for LeVert.
But because the issue is “a good
problem to have,” he hasn’t
found it to be very distracting.
LeVert
figures
he’s
done
enough
to
prove
his
capability
in
the NBA from
his sophomore
year and the
beginning
of his junior
campaign.
But
at
the
same time, he
knows the foot
injury is still a
lingering issue.
With
the
NBA
Draft
Combine taking place from
May 12 to May 17 and resulting
individual workouts to follow,
it’s
still
unclear
whether
LeVert will be back to full
health to take part in both or
either activity.
“I would definitely want to
(be back at 100 percent), but I
don’t know if I’ll be able to (by
then),” LeVert said.
In
the
meantime,
he’ll
continue to go to class, stay low
and play the waiting game. He’s
not going to allow the decision
to stress him out.
“I can’t really make a bad
decision.”
Same process,
different day
for Christner
By KEVIN SANTO
Daily Sports Writer
EAST LANSING — In the
top of the fourth inning, the
Michigan softball team was
firmly in the drivers’ seat of
its
in-state
rivalry
matchup
with Michigan State, boasting
a six-run lead. It appeared the
Wolverines (11-2 Big Ten, 38-6
overall) were already capable of
simply coasting to a victory.
But sophomore left fielder
Kelly Christner stepped up to the
plate with other ideas. Maybe she
wanted to get back to Ann Arbor
early.
The
bases
were
loaded.
She
patiently
drew
a
full
count, waiting
for her pitch.
And she got it.
Christner
put the nail in the coffin of a
dominant 10-0 run-rule victory
over the Spartans (1-12, 16-26),
roping a ball over the right-field
fence for her second home run
of the game and leaving no doubt
on the diamond of who was the
superior team Wednesday.
Despite the fans’ tendency
to exaggerate the importance
of a rivalry victory, Christner
was quick to acknowledge it as a
normal game.
“It’s just great to keep working
towards our goal,” Christner
said. “But as a specific game,
it’s not any more special than
another one.”
Christner’s first home run
came in the top of the fourth
inning when she sent a ball
soaring to right field out of
Secchia Stadium.
Things could have been even
more lopsided in the Wolverines’
favor if Christner had some
luck to go with her talented
performance. In the top of the
first inning, Christner nearly had
a two-run homer to put Michigan
on the board almost immediately,
but it was robbed by the right
fielder at the wall.
Though Christner put on a
display of eye-popping power
hitting, that wasn’t necessarily
the Wolverines’ strategy entering
the game on Wednesday.
“We scouted them, and their
outfielders play right up against
the wall,” Christner said. “So our
game plan was to try to hit line
drives and gappers to drop into
the outfield.”
“I guess I failed at that,” she
added with a
smile.
Christner
clearly
established
herself
as
the
contest’s
offensive
juggernaut,
going 2-for-3 with five RBI, three
runs and a walk. She was a part
of a lineup that forced three
pitching changes and drew seven
walks.
So far this season, Christner
has more than quadrupled her
home run total from last year.
She has already surpassed her hit
total from the 2014 campaign.
And the sophomore has shown
no signs of slowing down lately.
In the past five games, Christner
has posted 14 RBI.
“She’s just really doing a
great job of seeing the ball,” said
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins.
“When you see the ball (well),
obviously your chances of hitting
it goes up. And I think she’s
confident.”
Added junior second baseman
Sierra Romero: “Same thing,
different day for her. She’s
doing awesome right now. I’m
really proud of her in that three
spot right now because she’s
absolutely killing it.”
SOFTBALL
‘M’ dominates
Michigan State
By TED JANES
Daily Sports Writer
EAST
LANSING
—
Two
scoreless
innings
served
as
warning signs early on for the
Michigan
softball
team.
But
the
Wolverines quickly turned the
game around behind sophomore
right-handed
pitcher
Megan
Betsa’s hot hand and sophomore
outfielder
Kelly
Christner’s
powerful bat.
Wednesday,
after
two
scoreless innings in which they
stranded three batters, it seemed
like the Wolverines would have
a slow day in the batter’s box.
That lasted until a five-run third
inning put Michigan (11-2 Big
Ten, 38-6 overall) on track for a
10-0 mercy-rule victory over the
Spartans (1-12, 16-26) at Secchia
Stadium.
Junior centerfielder Sierra
Lawrence knocked a steady
pitch into shallow left field to
start the contest, and the next
three batters hit rockets deep
to the outfield, but all were all
caught, leaving Lawrence out to
dry in scoring position.
The second inning was much
of the same. Despite a few walks,
shallow pop-ups and base hits,
the Wolverines could not bring
anyone home. And then the
inning changed one more time.
In the top of the third, while
junior
Sierra
Romero
was
stealing second, the catcher’s
throw sailed over the shortstop’s
glove,
allowing
Romero
to
advance to third. After walking
sophomore
Kelly
Christner,
Michigan State pulled starting
left-handed pitcher Bridgette
Rainey.
The newcomer, right-hander
Dani Goranson, sent her first
pitch well over the catcher’s
head, and Romero stole home,
chalking the first run of the day.
The rest poured on from
there.
Goranson returned to the
circle in the fourth inning,
but her outing didn’t last long.
Christner crushed a 1-2 delivery
over the right-field wall for the
solo homer and the sixth run of
the day. When Goranson walked
the next batter, the Spartans
changed pitchers again. Valerie
Kaff entered the circle and
forced a pop-up and strikeout
to rescue the Spartans from any
more damage.
While
pitching
was
a
hindrance for Michigan State, it
was the opposite for its in-state
rival. In the circle, Betsa threw a
five-inning no-hitter, posting six
strikeouts and just one walk.
“She stayed in her moment,”
said
Michigan
coach
Carol
Hutchins. “When she didn’t
have some good pitches, she
came back and stayed with
the process. The game is not
over until it’s over, and if it’s a
no-hitter, great. When you stay
in the process, the outcomes
happen. If you focus on a
no-hitter, chances are you won’t
have it.”
Added Betsa: “I was just
coming out to here to do my part
and put the fewest amount of
runs on the board. Getting ahead
of hitters and cutting down on
walks was also nice to see.”
In the top of the fifth,
Michigan State’s pitcher loaded
the bases with no outs for
Christner. She stepped up to the
plate again, and just like her last
appearance, launched a grand
slam over the right-field wall.
Now 10 runs ahead, Michigan
needed just a three-out inning
from Betsa to reel in the road
victory.
Christner’s
two
homers
brought in five batters total,
good for half of Michigan’s runs.
After a groundout and infield
pop-up, there was one out left
for the struggling Spartans.
With a 1-2 count, Betsa fired in
the final pitch as catcher Ellie
Stoffer struck out swinging,
bringing the game to a close.
SOFTBALL
MICH. STATE
MICHIGAN
0
10
MEN’S BASKETBALL
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Spike Albrecht, who played most of this season with a hip injury, will have to recover from two surgeries this off-season.
“She’s absolutely
killing it.”
“I still have a
ways before I can
start running
and jumping.”
For continuing updates
Check MichiganDaily.com
throughout the week
“I’m going to
miss probably
the whole
summer.”