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Thursday, May 3, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS

Patterson given immediate eligibility

By MAX MARCOVITCH

Daily Sports Editor

The wait is over — and 
it’s just the news Michigan 
has been waiting for.
Quarterback Shea Pat-
terson will be eligible to suit 
up right away, providing a 
sizeable boost to the Wol-
verines’ quarterback depth 
chart. He will have two 
more years of eligibility, 
after spending two seasons 
at Ole Miss.
The 
NCAA 
granted 
the 
redshirt 
sophomore 
immediate eligibility after 
reviewing 
his 
waiver, 
which detailed misguid-
ance from the previous 
Rebels staff about impend-
ing NCAA sanctions dur-
ing Patterson’s recruitment. 
In December 2017, Ole 
Miss was hit with a host 
of restrictions, including a 
two-year bowl ban. In that 
18-page decision, the NCAA 
wrote, “Ole Miss lacked 
institutional control and 
fostered an unconstrained 
culture of booster involve-
ment in football recruiting.”
Patterson announced in 
December he would trans-
fer from Ole Miss to Michi-
gan, with the question of his 
eligibility still in the air. 
He 
and 
his 
lawyer 
appealed to waive the nor-
mally-mandated 
redshirt 
season for a transfer, on the 
grounds that he was misled 
by the Ole Miss coaching 
staff — a claim the Rebels 
initially objected to. The 
Wolverines 
announced 
Friday afternoon the two 
schools worked together 

in the “last several days” to 
put forth a joint waiver for 
Patterson’s eligibility. As a 
result, Michigan withdrew 
its previous waiver and sub-
mitted the new one.
Friday, 
the 
NCAA 
approved 
that 
waiver, 
granting 
Patterson 
the 
immediate eligibility he — 
and the Wolverines — cov-
eted.
“That new application 
was submitted this week 
by the University of Michi-
gan and supported by both 
schools,” 
the 
statement 
reads. “The University of 
Michigan has withdrawn 
its previous waiver appli-
cation and all associated 
materials in favor of this 
new, cooperative approach 
based on facts which all 
parties agree to. The waiver 
has now been approved by 
the NCAA and thus foot-
ball student-athlete Shea 
Patterson will be eligible to 
compete in the 2018-19 aca-
demic year.
“Both schools are ready 
to move forward and appre-
ciate the assistance of the 
NCAA staff in bringing 
this matter to a resolu-
tion. While the process has 
been complex at times, the 
solution was simple - two 
flagship universities and 
the NCAA staff working 
together with a focus on 
student-athlete well-being.”
Patterson’s abilities, and 
his wealth of accolades, 
have been well document-
ed. He brings a five-star 
pedigree — and a year of 
SEC experience — to the 
Wolverines’ 
quarterback 

room. In seven games as 
the starter last season, 
Patterson completed over 
63 percent of his passes, 
throwing for 2,259 yards 
and 19 touchdowns. All 
three of Michigan’s start-
ing quarterbacks combined 
for just 2,226 yards and nine 
touchdowns in 13 games 
last season.
“Everybody gets excited 
when he’s out there,” assis-
tant coach Pep Hamilton 
told reporters last week. 
“If he makes a special play 
you can feel the energy 
throughout our team, you 
can just feel it… and he is a 
playmaker.”
Patterson will walk in 
the favorite to start Septem-
ber 1 at Notre Dame, though 
it’s too soon to annoint him 
just yet.
Hamilton went on to say 
all four quarterbacks — Pat-
terson, redshirt sophomore 
Brandon Peters, redshirt 
freshman Dylan McCaffery 
and freshman Joe Milton — 
were splitting reps evenly, 
both in terms of sheer num-
bers and with the first team. 
When 
asked 
when 
he’d like a frontrunner to 
emerge, Hamilton promply 
replied, “Yesterday.”
All of that is to say, Pat-
terson won’t merely waltz 
to the top of the depth 
chart. He will have to beat 
out Peters and McCaffery, 
fairly and squarely.
Peters, to his credit, has 
a year of experience in the 
system — one that produced 
freshman-esque ups and 
downs a season ago. His 
six starts showed signs of a 

potential long-term starter 
at times, and causes for con-
cerns at others. And McCaf-
fery has done nothing but 
impress since he stepped 
foot on campus, claiming 
the offensive scout team 
player of the year in his red-
shirt season a year ago.
But these are good prob-
lems to have. Patterson’s 
presence alone provides a 
significant boon to a posi-
tion group that has expe-
rienced its fair share of 
inconsistency over recent 
years. 
Either way, in 121 days 
Michigan will walk out on 
the field at Notre Dame sta-
dium to take on the Fight-
ing Irish. And the Shea 
Patterson era will begin.
“There are a lot of people 
who worked really hard 
to help make this transfer 
process a success. I want 
to thank Coach Harbaugh, 
the University of Michigan 
and the NCAA for allowing 
me to continue my educa-
tion and football career at 
one of the best universities 
in the country,” Patterson 
wrote in a statement Fri-
day afternoon. “A special 
thanks to Michigan’s Com-
pliance Staff and to (Patter-
son’s lawyer) Tom Mars for 
his personal guidance for 
me and my family during 
this time. With this deci-
sion behind us, my family 
and I are fully focused on 
the upcoming season. My 
teammates and I are always 
committed to competing at 
the highest level and win-
ning championships. Go 
Blue!”

SOFTBALL

‘M’ has timely hitting 
against Spartans in win

EAST LANSING — It was the 
top of the fourth inning, and 
another opportunity was about 
to slip away.
Leading off the inning in 
a scoreless tie, junior center 
fielder 
Natalie 
Peters 
had 
singled just past the shortstop. 
Then, a hard line drive off the 
bat of senior first baseman Tera 
Blanco dropped just inside the 
foul line for a double. The No. 
14 Michigan softball team (16-2 
Big Ten, 41-9 overall) was in 
business.
But 
a 
walk 
by 
junior 
catcher Katie Alexander was 
sandwiched by a popout and a 
strikeout, and suddenly there 
were two outs and still no runs 
and one last chance to make 
something out of the inning.
Sophomore left fielder Haley 
Hoogenraad took the first pitch 
she saw into right field for a 
single. Two runs scored, and 
instead of a wasted chance, 
the Wolverines had a rally. 
What had been a pitcher’s 
duel became a one-sided affair 
halted only by the run rule, as 
Michigan defeated Michigan 
State (7-11, 21-25), 8-0, in five 
innings.
Through 
the 
first 
three 
innings, the Wolverines and 
Spartans 
traded 
outs 
back 
and forth. At-bat after at-bat 
for Michigan resulted in a 
groundout. 
Michigan 
State 
struggled 
to 
muster 
even 
that — freshman left-hander 
Meghan 
Beaubien 
struck 
out four Spartans in the first 
three innings, and the lone 
baserunner she allowed was 
gunned down trying to steal 
second.
“(Beaubien) 
was 
efficient. 
She got ahead,” said Michigan 
coach Carol Hutchins. “ … She 
did a good job with managing 
the zone.”
With 
Beaubien 
keeping 
Michigan State locked down, 
all the Wolverines needed was a 
little offense. But timely hitting 
was something Michigan had 

struggled at times to find, and 
when second and third with no 
outs turned into bases loaded 
with two outs, it seemed it 
would escape the Wolverines 
once again.
Then Hoogenraad broke the 
stalemate.
“Haley really is kind of our 
silent assassin in a way,” Blanco 
said. “She always gets a clutch 
hit.”
And 
once 
Hoogenraad 
broke through, it didn’t take 
her teammates long to break 
the 
stalemate. 
Sophomore 
designated 
player 
Thais 
Gonzalez tacked on another run 
on an infield single to make the 
score 3-0.
After Beaubien set down 
the 
next 
three 
batters 
in 
order, Michigan kept riding 
its momentum. Junior second 
baseman Faith Canfield, Peters 
and Blanco loaded the bases 
on two singles and a walk. 
Sophomore 
third 
baseman 
Madison Uden singled Canfield 
and Peters home. Alexander 
lined a triple into the right 
field corner — scoring Blanco 
and Uden — and scored herself 
when the throw went into the 
dugout. By then, the score was 
8-0.
“We basically attacked more, 
hit the first good one, and that 
really helped,” Blanco said. “ … 
And once one person gets a hit, 
and two hits in a row, it’s kind of 
contagious in that way.”
What had a mere two innings 
earlier been a tie game was now 
a blowout, and all Beaubien had 
to do was throw a scoreless 
bottom of the fifth to end the 
game and secure a run-rule 
victory.
The 
first 
two 
Spartans 
reached base, but Beaubien was 
unfazed. Two strikeouts and a 
fielder’s choice later, she sealed 
the deal.
“We started swinging better 
and making (the pitcher) put it in 
the zone and we connected and 
then we got going,” Hutchins 
said. “Once one connects, it 
kind of inspires — it takes the 
pressure off everybody.”

AMELIA CACCHIONE / DAILY

By ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer

