12
Thursday, July 20, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS
Harbaugh
supportive
of
Malone-Hatcher’s decision
The Wolverines experienced
a recent — and unexpected —
departure from the team when
freshman defensive end Corey
Malone-Hatcher
announced July 4
that he would be
medically retiring
from football.
In a statement
posted to Twitter,
Malone-Hatcher
cited an arduous
and
longer-
than-expected
recovery from an
Achilles
injury
suffered during high school as
the reason for taking a medical
exemption. It was a decision
that
was
made
with
input
from Michigan’s training staff
and
doctors,
and
Harbaugh
expressed his support for the
decision Monday afternoon.
“I
support
it
from
the
standpoint
of
being
very
supportive
of
what
Corey
and the doctors thought was
best,” Harbaugh said. “... It’s a
disappointment for his family,
for him, for us coaches, for
everybody concerned in terms of
football, there (were) high hopes
there.
“But as he said — and I
thought he said
it very well — you
can still get a
great education,
can
still
be
a
great
Michigan
man and be able
to participate as
a
student-intern
if he so chooses,
so there’s other
ways that he can
contribute.”
Malone-Hatcher, ranked as
a four-star recruit according
to 247Sports, enrolled early
in January and took part in
spring practices. He was not
expected
to
contribute
this
year, though he would’ve had
an opportunity to provide depth
along a relatively young and
inexperienced defensive line.
FOOTBALL
From Page 11
Michigan’s non-conference schedule released for 2017 season
The Michigan basketball team
released its 2017 non-conference
schedule Monday, a 13-game slate
which features a trip to Hawaii
for the Maui Invitational as well
as a showdown with defending
national
champion
North
Carolina.
Just as they did last season,
the Wolverines will play only
one exhibition game, on Nov.
3, against Division II opponent
Grand Valley State. Michigan
took on Armstrong State in an
exhibition matchup in 2016.
The
Wolverines
normally
begin the regular season with less
challenging competition: They
took on mid-major opponents
Howard and IUPUI last season,
and faced Northern Michigan
and Elon two years ago. Michigan
will continue that trend this
season, as it opens regular-season
play against North Florida (Nov.
11), Central Michigan (Nov. 16)
and Southern Mississippi (Nov.
19) — teams that combined to go
40-57 last season.
Up next for the Wolverines is
the Maui Invitational. The eight-
team tournament, which includes
Michigan, California, Louisiana
State, Marquette, Notre Dame,
Virginia
Commonwealth
and
Wichita State, as well as hosts
Chaminade, will take place Nov.
20-22 at the Lahaina Civic Center.
Michigan will play three games
at the invitational, starting with
a matchup against LSU.
The Wolverines last competed
in the Maui Invitational in 2011,
placing third. Michigan has made
the trip to Hawaii five previous
times, and won the tournament
in 1985 and 1988.
This year’s Maui Invitational
field
includes
five
teams
—
Michigan,
Marquette,
Notre
Dame, Virginia Commonwealth
and Wichita State — that qualified
for the NCAA Tournament last
season.
“The
Maui
Invitational
is
going to give us an early season
challenge,” said Michigan coach
John Beilein in a statement.
“The trip will not only serve as
a great bonding experience, but
three games in three days against
quality opponents will only serve
us well preparing for the Big Ten
and postseason.”
Perhaps the biggest test for
the Wolverines will be the ACC/
Big Ten Challenge on Nov. 29.
Michigan will travel to Chapel
Hill, N.C. to take on defending
national
champion
North
Carolina. The Wolverines have
a 2-3 all-time record against the
Tar Heels.
On Dec. 9, Michigan will play
host to UCLA, who defeated the
Wolverines in Los Angeles last
December in the first game of
the home-and-home series. The
Bruins, who went 31-5 last season
and bring in the No. 4 recruiting
class in the country according
to ESPN, should be another
formidable test.
Michigan’s toughest remaining
non-conference
game
will
likely come at Texas on Dec. 12,
which is also the second half of
a home-and-home series. The
Longhorns struggled last season
and finished just 11-22. However,
their recruiting class — which
includes five-star power forward
Mo Bamba, who chose Texas over
Michigan, Kentucky and Duke —
is ranked fifth in the nation by
ESPN.
The Wolverines’ other non-
conference games are against
UC Riverside (Nov. 26), Detroit
Mercy (Dec. 16), Alabama A&M
(Dec. 21) and Jacksonville (Dec.
30). The neutral-site showdown
with the Titans might be the most
meaningful: The Titans are led by
former Michigan assistant coach
Bacari Alexander, who is going
into his second season as head
coach, and the game will be the
first college basketball game ever
played at Little Caesar’s Arena,
the newly built home of the NBA’s
Detroit Pistons and the NHL’s
Detroit Red Wings.
Overall, the Wolverines’ non-
conference
schedule
strength
stacks up favorably to its 2016 slate.
Including potential opponents in
the Maui Invitational, Michigan’s
opponents
had
an
average
KenPom rating — an advanced
metric that measures a team’s
strength — of 155, compared to 171
last season. The Wolverines are
also likely to face at least three
Top 25 teams in non-conference
play, compared to just one such
team last season.
“We have always tried to
schedule and play a competitive
non-conference
schedule,”
Beilein said in a statement.
“This season continues to live
up to those expectations. We
are really looking forward to the
challenge.”
The
2017-2018
schedule
comes with a few other changes
compared to last season. The Big
Ten Tournament will be held
from Feb. 28-March 4 at Madison
Square Garden in New York City
— a week earlier than last season.
As a result, Michigan will have a
home and an away Big Ten game
sometime between Dec. 1-Dec. 5.
The Big Ten basketball schedules
have not yet been released.
These changes mean that the
Wolverines
will
have
played
15 games before New Year’s
Day, a date by which they
have usually played just 13 in
years
past.
However,
should
Michigan qualify for the NCAA
Tournament, it will have an extra
week of rest, as the tournament
does not begin until March 13.
While
the
Wolverines’
schedule features its share of
“cupcake” opponents, perennial
powers such as North Carolina,
Texas and UCLA and the Maui
Invitational should bolster their
strength-of-schedule and give
them crucial experience against
tough competition leading up to
Big Ten play.
“In terms of
football, there
(were) high
hopes there.”
ORION SANG/Daily
Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan football team participated in soccer and football related activities with soccer club AS Roma.
BASKETBALL
JACOB SHAMES
Summer Managing Sports Editor