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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Michigan has withdrawn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