June 19, 2016
May 25, 2017
March 5, 2018
A basketball game was played
Sunday. Some guys shot baskets
— some went in, others didn’t.
The team wearing maize jerseys
scored more points than the guys
donning scarlet and left Crisler
Center significantly more pleased.
But for Austin Hatch and
John Beilein, Sunday — Senior
Day — was about so much more
than
basketball.
Sunday
was
emblematic of the true meaning
of sports, a foundation that
supersedes a few baskets here
and there, a few wins, a few
championships.
The
story
of
Austin Hatch is a story about the
impact sports can have in their
purest form.
And when Hatch walked on
the court to a roaring ovation
with his grandparents and fiance,
former Michigan volleyball player
Abby Cole, on his side, the impact
was clear. After all that he’s been
through, it was the end of one
era for Hatch, and the start of a
blindingly bright next.
“Life’s
good
man,”
Hatch
told a group of reporters Friday
afternoon. “It’s coming together.”
By now, you probably know the
story of Austin Hatch. It has been
well-documented, and for good
reason.
It’s a story of remarkable
tragedy, of unthinkable sadness.
But Sunday was a reminder that
it’s also a story of unparalleled
perseverance. It’s a love story
between
a
young
man
and
a
university,
a
player-coach
relationship
that
reaches
far
beyond the bounds of basketball.
When he was eight years old,
Hatch was involved in a plane
crash that killed his mother,
brother and sister. Hatch, seated
in the front passenger seat,
survived alongside his father, who
was piloting the plane. When he
was a sophomore in Fort Wayne,
Ind. Beilein offered Hatch — a
promising scorer and knockdown
shooter — a scholarship to play for
the Wolverines. Eight days later,
he was in another plane crash, this
time killing his father and family
dog. Hatch was left in a coma for
eight weeks, having to regain the
ability to walk and speak. Still,
Beilein honored his scholarship
offer, and Hatch enrolled his
freshman year.
“The ultimate measure of a
coach — obviously a good coach
wins basketball games, you can
see the results that way and the
impact he has on his team — but the
impact he has on developing his
players, these young men,” Hatch
said. “I’ve definitely learned a lot,
grown as a young man. I definitely
will take the lessons I’ve learned
from him with me the rest of my
life, in my marriage, with my
family and working. It’s a special
bond, and it’s definitely not going
to end in April.”
Saturday, four years after first
enrolling at Michigan, 15 years
after the first plane crash, seven
years after the second, Hatch
was honored on Senior Day. He
was announced with the starters,
embracing
each
player
as
they
lined
up
for
introductions. As
he
approached
freshman
guard
Jordan
Poole,
Poole gave him
a hug. After he
was honored at
midcourt,
the
players
mobbed
him lovingly.
Beilein told his players Hatch’s
story before the game one more
time. For freshmen like Poole, the
details of Hatch’s experience were
fresh.
“Just told them, ‘I want you to
put yourself as an eight-year-old,”
Beilein said, fighting back tears.
“I want you to put yourself as one
of the best sixteen-year-olds in
the country, and lose your mom
and dad after you already lost
your brother and your sister and
your mom — you watched them
basically die.’ ”
Hatch finished his career with
one point — a free throw he made
in December 2014 against Coppin
State. But the impact he had on his
teammates can’t be measured.
“I try not to think about it too
much because it’s sad, everything
he’s been through,” said senior
guard
Muhammad-Ali
Abdur-
Rahkman. “How positive he is is
truly inspiring. That’s all you can
ask for.”
In two months, Hatch will
graduate
with
a
degree
in
Organizational
Studies.
Soon
after, he will get married to Cole.
In July, he will be going to work
full time in real estate acquisition
at Domino’s.
“It’s crazy,” Hatch said. “Life’s
happening, you know?”
And for Beilein, the day was a
way to reflect. Reflect on where
this relationship started. Reflect
on where it’s come. Reflect on
what Hatch means to him. Reflect
on life.
“I was ready to cry. Somehow,
I choked it off, but I was ready to
cry,” Beilein said on seeing Hatch
walk out of the tunnel Sunday.
“When the NCAA allowed me to
go see him when he was finally
out of the coma, and see — the last
time I saw him
he was one of the
best sophomores
in
the
country,
without question.
He reminded me
of a young Wally
Sczerbiak.
He
was tremendous.
He’d just played
a great team and
dominated them.
Now I see him
and doesn’t weigh 210 now, now he
weighs about 140. He can’t eat the
sandwich because — he can hardly
walk — he can move like six inches
at a time when he walks. And when
you see that and then you see this
and his family and his fiance Abby,
it makes your heart warm.
“If we’ve been a small part of
his life, he’s been a huge part of my
life and this team’s life.”
2B — Monday, February 19, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
An unconventional senior class
T
here are certain occasions
that all athletes look for-
ward to in their careers.
Senior Day is
near the top
of the list.
The celebra-
tory affair — fit
with framed
jerseys, card-
board cutouts
and individual
plaudits —
represents the
exclamation
mark at the end of a long chapter.
But in a sport known for its one-
and-done culture, it can be a rare
experience to be a senior in college
basketball.
Even for Michigan, a top-tier
program that isn’t often associ-
ated with lottery picks, only one of
its past six first-round NBA Draft
picks played a senior year as a Wol-
verine. And if it weren’t for a string
of injuries, now-Brooklyn Nets
forward Caris LeVert likely would
have left early as well.
That’s why Michigan coach John
Beilein makes sure that Senior Day
is memorable for those who reach
it.
“What’s sad is they think this
goes on forever, and I know that
some of the guys I’ve seen only once
since then and that’s it,” he said.
“The rest of their lives, the next 80
years of their lives, you may only
see them one time. So it’s really
important that we embrace one of
these last opportunities to play a
home game.”
More often than not, the play-
ers that stay for four years aren’t
the stars. They don’t come into the
program as highly-touted recruits
expected to make a flashy entrance
and then a speedy exit. They are the
players who work day in and day
out to lay the building blocks for the
foundation of the program.
That is especially true of
Beilein’s senior class this season,
even if theirs are more unconven-
tional stories.
An underrated starter, a reliable
sixth man, a graduate transfer and
a living miracle made up the four-
player contingent honored Sunday
in front of a sold-out crowd at
Crisler Center as No. 22 Michigan
earned a 74-62 win over No. 8 Ohio
State.
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rah-
kman, Duncan Robinson, Jaaron
Simmons and Austin Hatch didn’t
come in together four years ago, but
they all have left their mark in Ann
Arbor.
In 2014-15, it was Hatch who
made his mark. He had to reclas-
sify after surviving a plane crash
that took the lives of his father and
stepmother and ultimately cut his
playing career short. Once one of
the best high school sophomores in
the nation — having just received a
scholarship offer from Beilein — he
could only play in five collegiate
games, but he served as a source of
inspiration for the team.
In 2015-16, it was Robinson, who
became the first player in NCAA
history to receive a scholarship
after transferring from Division III
to Division I. He became a regular
starter as a redshirt sophomore and
ranked second in the Big Ten and
ninth in the nation as a 45-percent
3-point shooter.
In 2016-17, it was Abdur-
Rahkman, who turned his quiet
beginnings as a two-star recruit
into a starring role as a starter. He
played a pivotal role in the Big Ten
Tournament title run last March,
averaging nine points and four
rebounds per game in those four
games, including a season-high 17
points in the first contest.
In 2017-18, it has been Simmons,
who joined the Wolverines for one
final year after transferring from
Ohio University. While he hasn’t
become the regular contributor he
was expected to be, he has pushed
sophomore guard Zavier Simpson
into becoming a well-rounded
starter after the departure of now-
Miami Heat guard Derrick Walton
Jr.
Each of the four, as players and
as people, beat the odds and turned
themselves into invaluable pieces
of Michigan. In a season that had
the potential to be a rebuilding year
after the loss of five seniors and an
NBA draft pick, these four have
helped lead the Wolverines to an
11-5 Big Ten and 22-7 overall record.
After knocking off the Buckeyes,
there seems to be much left in store
for Michigan this season.
The same can’t be said for these
seniors, whose playing careers
are expected to end whenever the
Wolverines’ season does. Though
none of them are expected to make
the jump to the next level, Beilein
doesn’t see anything wrong with
that. He used Abdur-Rahkman to
illustrate his point.
“You see this in college bas-
ketball all the time. The guy who
comes in and gets who he is and
isn’t about, ‘Get me to the pros’ and
all these things,” he said. “He’s just
about, ‘Coach, make me better. I’m
gonna give you everything I have
every minute. I’m not gonna be a
holler guy, but I still love the team
and my teammates.’ ”
He may have been directly
referring to Abdur-Rahkman, but
the description is apt for all four.
Sunday, each of the seniors had his
tip-of-the-cap moment.
Hatch, who has served as a stu-
dent assistant since taking a medi-
cal scholarship in 2015, dressed for
the game and warmed up with his
teammates. Though he couldn’t
play due to NCAA rule, Beilein pro-
vided a nice touch by announcing
him along with the starting five.
Simmons pushed Michigan out
to a nine-point lead — its largest
of the game midway through the
second half — finishing a fast-break
layup to rousing applause.
Abdur-Rahkman nailed a three-
pointer with just three minutes
remaining to open up a 65-53 lead,
strutting backward with the look of
a man who had sealed victory.
Robinson finished it off with 1:16
left on the clock, drawing an offen-
sive foul to top off his impressive
defensive display against Ohio State
forward Keita Bates-Diop, the Big
Ten’s leading scorer. As the whistle
blew, Robinson let out a roar
toward the crowd. It had ‘game
over’ written all over it.
They already had their framed
jerseys from the pregame ceremo-
ny. They had just earned the rivalry
win. But they had one last piece
of business to attend to after the
game. The four seniors — upon the
beckoning of Beilein, who called
them “four of the greatest young
men we’ve ever had” — took the
microphone to address the crowd.
Hatch acknowledged that he
“wouldn’t change anything about
my four years here.” Simmons said
“it’s been a great ride.” Robinson
called it “one of the best decisions
I’ve ever made in my life.” And
Abdur-Rahkman considered him-
self “lucky to wear Michigan across
my chest.”
The consistent message from all
four was captured best by Abdur-
Rahkman as he claimed that the
Wolverines are “not done yet.”
The declaration comes with a
caveat, though, as whatever comes
next for Michigan will happen
away from Crisler Center. That’s
why, when Beilein asked him to
lead the arena in “The Victors,”
Abdur-Rahkman asked if the team
could sing it with the Maize Rage.
So they walked into the student
section and sang the fight song after
the final home game of their Wol-
verine careers.
It was an unconventional move,
to be sure. But with this senior
class, it couldn’t have been any
other way.
Ashame can be reached at
ashabete@umich.edu or on
Twitter @betelhem_ashame.
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
The Michigan men’s basketball team honored its senior class at Sunday’s Senior Day before the Wolverines’ 74-62 win over No. 8 Ohio State.
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Austin Hatch (left) recovered from injuries sustained in a 2011 plane crash to attend Michigan and join the basketball team and will graduate this spring.
Austin Hatch among seniors honored in emotional day
BETELHEM
ASHAME
MAX MARCOVITCH
Daily Sports Editor
“Somehow, I
choked it off,
but I was ready
to cry.”