8 —Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

An unfitting end to the Fresh Five era

N

early four years ago, 
Michigan basketball 
coach John Beilein 

welcomed 
five freshmen 
to his 
program: 
Mitch 
McGary, Nik 
Stauskas, 
Glenn 
Robinson 
III, Spike 
Albrecht and 
Caris LeVert.

The 

group was quickly dubbed the 
“Fresh Five” — an homage to 
the infamous “Fab Five” of the 
early 1990s, arguably the best 
recruiting class of all time. Four 
players in that group reached the 
NBA, and the Wolverines reached 
the NCAA championship game 
in 1991 and 1992 before a pay-for-
play scandal forced the program 
to vacate those wins.

Unlike the Fab Five, the 

Fresh Five were never a cultural 
phenomenon, and they were 
never the center of massive 
controversy. They joined a team 
already stocked with established 
stars and NBA prospects in Tim 
Hardaway Jr. and Trey Burke, and 
while the Fab Five arrived in Ann 
Arbor two years after Michigan’s 
national championship in 
1989, the Fresh Five arrived 
unburdened by the trophies of 
seasons past.

The Fresh Five, dealing with 

less hype and less pressure, 
quickly made a name for 
themselves anyway. Stauskas 
quickly earned a reputation as one 
of the nation’s best pure shooters. 
Robinson proved himself to be an 
elite athlete. McGary’s freshman-
year NCAA Tournament play 
sparked a run all the way to the 
2013 national championship 
game.

Everybody remembers what 

happened next. Albrecht scored 
17 points in the first half of that 
game to give Michigan a 12-point 

lead over Louisville, and though 
the Wolverines couldn’t hold their 
lead, a legend was born. 

After an Elite Eight run the 

following season, the trio of 
Stauskas, McGary and Robinson 
were gone. Their early NBA 
Draft entries left just LeVert 
and Albrecht in Ann Arbor for 
the second half of their college 
careers.

That was never the 

expectation.

“That year, we were recruiting 

guys to be here for four years,” 
Beilein said in October. “Mitch 
was the only one that we felt 
probably wasn’t a four-year player 
at the time. I underestimated 
their DNA.”

Having lost three players to the 

NBA, Beilein and Michigan’s fan 
base recalibrated its vision for the 
future to center instead on LeVert 
and Albrecht. Once again, those 
expectations were shattered.

Expected to carry the team 

in their final season, LeVert and 
Albrecht have instead fallen 
victim to injuries, appearing in 
a combined one game in 2016. In 
LeVert’s 11-minute appearance 
Feb. 13 against Purdue, he 
suffered what Beilein called 
a “temporary setback” in his 
recovery from a mysterious 
injury to his lower left leg that 
the program has long refused to 
detail.

LeVert hasn’t seen game action 

since, and with just four regular-
season contests remaining, time is 
running out.

Relative to Albrecht, LeVert 

is lucky. Albrecht’s time ran out 
months ago, as he announced 
in December that his attempt to 
return from a pair of offseason 
hip surgeries was unsuccessful 
and that he was ending his career 
at Michigan.

“I never, in a million years, 

would have envisioned it going 
like this,” Albrecht said then. “To 
see my playing days at Michigan 
come to an end like this — that 
definitely wasn’t part of the plan.”

LeVert wears sweatpants to 

games and doesn’t emerge from 
Michigan’s locker room until 
pregame warm-ups are done. 
Albrecht joins his teammates on 
the court before games, but with 
the prospect of playing long since 
eliminated, he’s left to focus on 
his outfit instead of his jump shot 
— sometimes an eye-catching 
combination featuring red pants 
or a pink shirt.

Neither seems likely to play 

substantive minutes again for the 
Wolverines. Michigan has four 
regular-season games remaining, 
and in the unlikely event LeVert 
plays Wednesday against 
Northwestern, his minutes will be 
limited. It’s tough to imagine him 
returning in time to reintegrate 
himself into Michigan’s offense 
and return to his early-season 
form before the Big Ten 
Tournament, or the NCAA 
Tournament, if the Wolverines 
survive that long.

In the seniors’ absence, 

Michigan has shown infrequent 
glimpses of its post-Fresh Five 
identity. The Wolverines have 
lived and died by the 3-point shot 
and have been bullied inside by 
Big Ten front lines, often falling 
victim to game-ending scoring 
runs against elite opponents.

The 3-point shots haven’t fallen 

lately, and the results generally 
haven’t been pretty, save for a 
pair of home-court upsets against 
Maryland and Purdue.

It’s hard to imagine Indiana 

going on a 25-0 run at Crisler 
Center with Albrecht or LeVert 
on the floor, and it’s tough to 
imagine Michigan State jumping 
out to a 16-point halftime lead 
four days later. It’s a senior’s job 
to be a run-stopper and a rivalry-
game rally starter. But Michigan 
is a team without seniors and, 
consequently, a team that still has 
missing pieces.

LeVert has been one of the 

missing pieces before, and has 
plenty of experience rehabbing 
from long-term injuries. He 

underwent surgery in May 2014 to 
repair a stress fracture in his left 
foot, then injured the same foot 
the following January, causing 
him to miss the remainder of his 
junior year. In light of the injury, 
LeVert elected to forego the NBA 
Draft for another year and return 
for his senior season.

“He understands the process,” 

Beilein said of LeVert in October. 
“He understands God’s will. He 
is just working like crazy to do 
everything he can to take care 
of each day, and everything will 
work itself out.”

Much to the chagrin of 

Beilein, LeVert and Michigan 
fans everywhere, everything 
hasn’t worked itself out, or come 
particularly close.

LeVert and Albrecht were 

supposed to spend their final 
weeks at Michigan on the court, 

leading a team back to the NCAA 
Tournament after a 16-16 finish 
last season that came in no small 
part due to LeVert’s injury. 

The pair, who saw floor time 

together as freshmen during the 
2013 Final Four, instead seem 
destined to spend their final 
weeks at Michigan on the bench, 
sitting and watching.

“Am I happy he came back?” 

Albrecht said in October. “Heck 
yeah, I am. I didn’t want to be the 
lone senior, be the old man in the 
group by myself. … I’d be lying if I 
said I didn’t think about that, but 
at the same time, I told him, just 
know that whatever you do, I’m 
here for you and I’ll be rooting for 
you regardless.”

The plan, of course, was for 

LeVert and Albrecht to root for 
one another on the court. Instead, 
they’re keeping each other 

company on the bench, watching 
their senior years play out without 
any seniors playing.

In a twisted way, it makes sense. 

The Fresh Five were unpredictable 
from the moment they set foot 
on campus, and this four-year 
period could have ended any 
number of ways that defied belief, 
like Michigan’s 16-0 start their 
freshman season or Albrecht’s 
17-point national championship 
outburst the same year.

This ending is certainly 

unexpected, and it seems 
destined to defy belief, though in 
exactly the wrong way. Barring 
a miracle, however, this much is 
certain: The Fresh Five era wasn’t 
supposed to end like this. 

Facher can be reached by 

e-mail at lfacher@umich.edu 

and on Twitter @levfacher

GRANT HARDY/Daily

Caris LeVert and Spike Albrecht didn’t expect to spend most of their senior seasons on the Michigan bench.

LEV
FACHER

Quick Hits: Joe Cecconi on 
Netflix, roomies and Lysol

By JASON RUBINSTEIN 

Daily Sports Writer

It may come as a surprise, 

but freshman defenseman Joe 
Cecconi’s plus-17 plus-minus rating 
leads all of his fellow defensemen 
in that statistical category.

For that reason, Cecconi joined 

the Daily for this week’s edition of 
Quick Hits.

The Michigan Daily: You lead 

all defensemen on this team in 
plus-minus. Do you rub that in 
their faces?

Cecconi: (Laughs) No, I don’t 

rub it in. I take pride in that.

TMD: 
(Junior 
defenseman 

Michael) Downing said we should 
ask about not having a goal.

Cecconi: Well, it’s coming. 

Hopefully, it’s coming. He teases 
me that there is something I can 
do to break the slump, but that’s a 
secret. I might have to pull it off.

TMD: We won’t ask what that 

is (laughs). Well what was it like 
rooming with (freshman forward) 
Cooper Marody while he had 
mono? Was he always asleep?

Cecconi: He actually went 

home. He lives 20 minutes away 
and he went home for three weeks, 
so I didn’t have to worry about 
anything.

TMD: Did you clean up his 

area? Disinfect it?

Cecconi: Yeah, lots of Lysol. A 

lot of cleaning. It’s still a mess.

TMD: Who is messier, you or 

Cooper?

Cecconi: Cooper. I always 

clean up. His side of the room is 
disgusting. He’s got all his guitars 
and his amps and all that crap 
everywhere.

TMD: Is it annoying living with 

somebody who makes so much 
noise making music?

Cecconi: He actually goes 

downstairs, 
to 
be 
honest. 

Sometimes 
he’ll 
give 
me 
a 

performance, and I’ll be tired and 
it helps me fall asleep, so it’s good.

TMD: 
Why 
weren’t 
you 

featured in his recent song?

Cecconi: I don’t know. I got to 

talk to him about that. I’m not too 
happy.

TMD: What were your thoughts 

about that song?

Cecconi: I think I heard the 

first 10 seconds; I didn’t really 
listen to it (laughs). I’ll look at it 
tonight.

TMD: What did you think 

of (sophomore) Cutler Martin 
(playing) 
forward 
(this 
past 

weekend)?

Cecconi: I liked that. Big body 

up front that can hit. He brings a 
lot of energy to the line.

TMD: Have you ever made 

(coach) Red Berenson laugh?

Cecconi: Me, personally? I 

don’t think so. I think I’ve gotten 
a couple of grins or smirks. I’m not 
sure if I got a laugh.

TMD: Cooper told us to ask 

what you said to your grandpa 
about eating the free dining hall 
food.

Cecconi: So, everyone knows 

about the virus going around 

and I really didn’t want to 
eat that food and get sick. My 
grandpa and I have a really good 
relationship, and I say some 
funny things to him from time 
to time, so I told him that you 
can’t put regular fuel in a Ferrari 
and he loved it. He actually put 
money on my card to go eat 
somewhere else.

TMD: (Laughs) That’s just 

practical. I mean, you can’t get sick.

Cecconi: We got a big weekend 

ahead of us.

TMD: Were you happy to get 

out of Muskegon? (Cecconi played 
for the Muskegon Lumberjacks in 
the United States Hockey League 
prior to Michigan.)

Cecconi: I was happy to move 

on to be on my own. I had a billet 
family there, but now I just have 
Cooper. So there are no parents 
who tell me I can’t stay up late.

TMD: Cooper doesn’t tell you 

not to stay up late?

Cecconi: He’s the one who stays 

up all the time watching Netflix.

TMD: He told us that you 

needed to watch a show, “Chuck,” 
and you were against it and then 
watched the whole thing.

Cecconi: He told me to watch 

“Chuck” and I looked at it and it 
looked stupid. And I got bored 
one day and turned it on. The first 
episode was all right, the second 
episode was good and then it was 
just unreal, so I crushed it all in 
two weeks.

TMD: You don’t give him the 

satisfaction of telling him that?

Cecconi: No (laughs). Now he 

tells me to watch “The Office,” but 
I’m already watching something 
good. So I kind of just blow him off.

TMD: We saw a sheet in 

Madison that had the roommate 
pairings. Why did you have your 
own hotel room in Wisconsin?

Cecconi: According to it, I had 

my own room. But I opened the 
door and Cutler Martin was laying 
in the other bed (laughs).

JAMES COLLER/Daily

Freshman defenseman Joseph Cecconi leads all Wolverine defenseman with a plus-minus rating of plus-17.

‘M’ looks to keep 
up recent success

By TED JANES

Daily Sports Writer

The 
Michigan 
women’s 

basketball team has two games 
left to prove itself and climb 
the 
Big 
Ten 

standings.

After 
a 

bumpy start to 
the conference 
schedule, 
the 

Wolverines 
(8-8 Big Ten, 
16-11 
overall) 

have won four 
of their last five 
games, 
which 

has them tied 
with 
Purdue 

and 
Nebraska 

at the No. 6 
spot in the Big 
Ten.

Coming off a 79-73 win 

against Penn State last weekend, 
Michigan heads to Northwestern 
(4-12, 15-13) on Tuesday.

“(Beating Penn State) was 

good,” 
sophomore 
guard 

Katelynn Flaherty said after 
the Wolverines’ win Saturday. 
“It just gives us confidence. 
It’s a big win today. They just 
beat Northwestern. They beat 
Michigan State. It’s going to give 
us momentum going into the last 
two games.”

Michigan will meet forward 

Nia Coffey against the Wildcats 
— a 2014 second-team All-Big 
Ten selection.

Coffey averages a double-

double with 19.6 points and 10.3 
rebounds per game.

She 
is 
by 
no 
means 

Northwestern’s 
only 
option, 

though. Five Wildcats average 
double digits — guard Maggie 
Lyon is the next highest with 
17.0 points, and guard Christen 
Inman follows her with 14.4. 
Forward 
Pallas 
Kunaiyi-

Akpanah 
and 
guard 
Ashley 

Deary also average 13.0 and 12.6, 
respectively.

Under the basket, Coffey will 

be met by Michigan freshman 

Hallie Thome. While Thome will 
have the height advantage — she 
is 6-foot-5 — there have been 
times this season when more 
experienced, 
veteran 
players 

have outmuscled the Wolverine 
freshman.

Coffey could pose a similar 

threat in the post.

Out on the wings, Michigan 

will likely have the advantage. 
The Wolverines’ offense is led by 
Flaherty, whose 22.5 points per 
game is the seventh highest in the 
nation and third highest in the 
Big Ten. Flaherty, senior guard 
Madison Ristovski and junior 
guard Siera Thompson have 
combined to shoot 39.2 percent on 
3-pointers this year — 7-percent 
higher 
than 
Northwestern’s 

three starting guards. But the 
Wolverines’ backcourt does more 
than just drain 3-pointers.

While 
Flaherty 
leads 
the 

offense, Thompson captains the 
defensive efforts with a team-
high 37 steals.

Northwestern has taken top 

Big Ten opponents to the wire 
this year, beating No. 5 Ohio 
State by four points the first 
time they met, and losing by just 
six in the second meeting.

While 
the 
frontloaded 

schedule put Michigan in a 
rut through most of January, 
the 
Wolverines 
have 
taken 

advantage 
of 
their 
weaker 

opponents to earn a higher Big 
Ten Tournament seed.

Moving up in the standings 

won’t be easy, though, as the 
five middle teams in the Big 
Ten — Iowa, Rutgers, Purdue, 
Michigan and Nebraska — are 
jammed into a race for seedings. 
Both the Hawkeyes and Scarlet 
Knights have 7-9 conference 
records, putting them both only 
a game behind the three-way tie 
in the No. 6 spot.

Tuesday’s 
game 
against 

the Wildcats, Michigan’s only 
scheduled meeting with them 
this season, gives the Wolverines 
the chance to move above .500 in 
conference play for the first time.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Michigan at 

Northwestern

Matchup: 
Michigan 16-11; 
Northwestern 
15-13

When: 
Tuesday 
6:30 P.M.

Where: 
Welsh-Ryan 
Arena

TV/Radio: 
BTN

