10

Thursday, June 29, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS

ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily

Michigan men’s basketball coach John Beilein will have to replace two assistant coaches after Billy Donlon’s departure.

Nielsen named next
women’s lacrosse coach

A week after former Maryland

assistant Kevin Conry was hired
as the Michigan men’s lacrosse
coach, the women’s
program filled that
same opening.

Athletic

director
Warde

Manuel announced
Monday
that

Hannah
Nielsen,

a member of the
Australia women’s
national team and
assistant
coach

at
Northwestern,

will be the next coach of the
Wolverines.

“I am thrilled to welcome

one of the most accomplished
women’s lacrosse players of
all-time to lead our program,”
Manuel said in a statement.
“Hannah
has
proven
her

ability to translate her skills
and knowledge of the game
into a successful
coaching career.
She has been a
winner at every
level, and I am
confident
she

is
prepared

to
lead
our

women’s lacrosse
program.”

Nielsen
is

one of the most
accomplished
players in the history of the
sport.
As
a
midfielder
at

Northwestern from 2006 to
2009, she won four national
championships,
three
All-

American
honors
and
two

Teewaraton Awards — which
are given to the nation’s top
college lacrosse player — in
2008 and 2009.

She is also the Wildcats’ all-

time leader in both points and
assists, as well as the NCAA
all-time leader in assists, single-
season assists and assists in a
single game.

In international play, Nielsen

is just as decorated. She was a
part of Australia’s gold-medal
winning
team
at
the
2005

Women’s Lacrosse World Cup,
and was named an All-Star at
the 2009 and 2013 tournaments

as
Australia

finished
second

and
third,

respectively.
She is currently
training with the
national
team

as it prepares to
compete in the
2017 World Cup
in England next
month.

Nielsen’s

coaching career began in 2009
at Penn State, and she has also
coached at Towson, Colorado
and most recently Northwestern,
where she helped guide the
Wildcats into the second round
of the NCAA Tournament last
season.

“I
am
extremely
excited

and honored to be named the

new head coach
of the women’s
lacrosse
program
at

the
University

of
Michigan,”

Nielsen said in a
statement. “I am
excited to take
the
next
step

in my coaching
career
in

becoming a head

coach, and could not think of a
better place to start this new
chapter.

“I would like to thank Warde

Manuel and Bitsy Ritt for this
incredible
opportunity
and

for their support so far. I am
also grateful to Kelly Amonte
Hiller, the Northwestern staff
and athletic department for
their ongoing support, and to
my previous coaching mentors
who have helped me get to this
position. I am so excited to get
started and for the future of
this program.”

LACROSSE

The Australia national team member
was formerly an assistant at Northwestern

JACOB SHAMES

Summer Managing Sports Editor

“I am confident
she is prepared

to lead our
program”

“I could not

think of a better
place to start this

new chapter”

Donlon joins staff at Northwestern

In the span of just five days,

the Michigan men’s basketball
team is down to one assistant
coach.

Scout.com’s
Brian
Snow

reported Sunday afternoon that
assistant coach Billy Donlon
has accepted a similar position
at
Northwestern.
Donlon,

the
former
head
coach
at

Wright State, was hired by the
Wolverines just last May.

The Chicago Tribune reported

Friday
that
Wildcats
head

coach Chris Collins was trying
to lure Donlon away from the
Wolverines, due to Donlon’s
deep ties to the Northwestern
program. Donlon is a native
of nearby Northbrook, Ill. and
longtime friend of Collins, and
his father spent seven years as an
assistant coach of the Wildcats.

And as it turns out, Collins

was successful.

“We
are
obviously

disappointed to be losing Billy,
however, we are happy he has the
opportunity to be closer to his
family, home and still coach in
the Big Ten,” said
Michigan
coach

John Beilein in
a press release.
“He is one heck
of a coach who
has been a great
asset
to
our

program over this
past year. Over
many years, Billy
has
sacrificed

his
family
for

coaching basketball. This time
he chose his family first and no
one can fault him for that.

“We have had very talented

coaching staff’s during my time
here. That will not change. We
have always embraced sudden
change and have gotten better
from it. I am excited to have this
opportunity to bring in two new

assistants who will bring us even
more success in the future. The
Team, The Team, The Team. Go
Blue!”

Donlon’s
departure
comes

after
assistant

coach Jeff Meyer
announced
Tuesday
he

was
leaving

Michigan to join
the
coaching

staff
at
Butler.

Unlike
Donlon,

Meyer had nine
years
with
the

Wolverines prior
to his departure.

With Northwestern’s hiring of

Donlon, Beilein will now have to
fill two vacancies on his coaching
staff for a second offseason in
a row. Saddi Washington, who
joined the staff along with
Donlon last summer after being
hired from Oakland, is the sole
returning
assistant
for
next

season.

An assistant coach at Michigan for one season, Donlon was
targeted by the Wildcats due to his strong ties to the program

JACOB SHAMES

Summer Managing Sports Editor

“He chose his
family first and
no one can fault
him for that.”