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

