8 — Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Harbaugh doubles down about pre-game antics

The 
controversy 
around 
Saturday’s pre-game rituals didn’t 
end before the game Saturday. Nor 
did it end after. 
Apparently, it’s still not over.
Monday 
afternoon, 
during 
his 
weekly 
media 
availability, 
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh 
doubled down on his claim that 
Michigan State and its head coach 
Mark Dantonio orchestrated the 
events that transpired.
“That that was bush league,” 
Harbaugh said, repeating a phrase 
he used after the game. “That 
it has all the evidence of being 
orchestrated.”
What were those events, exactly? 
Depends who you ask.
It centers around the Spartans’ 
pre-game walk, a tradition in the 
program of walking the length 
of the field with arms linked. 
Harbaugh says Michigan requested 
information ahead of time about the 
timing of that walk, in order to stay 
off the field until it was over.
According to him, the response 
was vague.
“We contacted them because 
they send us a book, pregame 
operations, that was the most 
detailed, finest I’ve ever seen,” 
Harbaugh said. “Has everything in 
it, in writing. But (the walk) is not (in 
it) — so we called them and asked, 
‘What time are you guys doing your 
walk? Because we don’t want to put 
our players out to warmup until 
after you guys do your traditional 
walk.”
First, Harbaugh said, they were 
told it would be at 9:45. Then they 
were told 9:55. Then, according 
to 
Harbaugh, 
Michigan 
State 
responded that it might not even 
happen.
“That walk happened another 10 
minutes after that,” Harbaugh said, 
“and at no point was there any kind 
of heads up or, ‘Hey, could you guys 
please leave the field?”
Wolverines players remained 
on the field warming up as the 
Michigan 
State 
players 
lined 
up to do the walk shortly after 

10am. That’s when the altercation 
transpired, with fifth-year senior 
defensive 
lineman 
Lawrence 
Marshall getting “clotheslined” 
and junior cornerback Lavert Hill 
getting his headphones ripped off 
his head, according to Michigan.
This led to junior linebacker 
Devin Bush scraping up the 
Spartans’ midfield logo with his 
cleats before the game, and the 
Wolverines proceeding to celebrate 
on the logo after the 21-7 win.
Michigan State players claimed 
the timing of the walk was ordinary 
practice, that no team had ever 
remained on the field while the 
Spartans were walking. Dantonio 
addressed the ordeal at a press 
conference Sunday. His comments 
hinted at a desire to move forward.
“The whole thing to me was 
sort of juvenile,” Dantonio told 
reporters. “Things are going to 
happen in rivalry games. So, I stand 
by what I said yesterday.”
Harbaugh clearly didn’t take 
kindly to that.
“Using the word ‘juvenile,’ I 
think that’s kind of brushing it 
under the carpet. Their strength 
coaches were out there leading it. 
Their assistant coaches were out 
there. Coach Dantonio was right 

behind,” Harbaugh said. “That had 
all the ear-markings and evidence 
of an orchestrated, storm-trooper 
march.”
After the game on Saturday, 
shortly after Harbaugh said the 
move was “bush league,” Dantonio 
denied the claim.
“That’s B.S.”
Repeat?
“You heard me. That’s B.S.”
Monday, 
Harbaugh 
clapped 
back.
“As I said, it’s the opposite of 
B.S. Coach (Dantonio) said it was 
B.S., that’s not B.S., that’s fact,” 
Harbaugh said. … “I’ll go one step 
further and use Coach Dantonio’s 
words from a few years back: ‘It’s 
not a product of a team, but their 
program.’ ”
Harbaugh called on the athletic 
directors to discuss the incident, 
saying, “I think that’s something 
(Michigan 
Athletic 
Director) 
Warde (Manuel) will address.”
Late Monday evening, Michigan 
State issued a statement once again 
disputing Harbaugh’s accusation. It 
reads as follows:
“Regarding 
last 
Saturday’s 
pregame timeline, both teams were 
distributed pregame timing sheets 
and were in communication earlier 

in the week about Michigan State’s 
pregame 
tradition 
of 
walking 
the field upon arrival to Spartan 
Stadium. There has never been an 
on-field issue with this tradition in 
the 12 years under head coach Mark 
Dantonio. The timing of Saturday’s 
pregame tradition did not change 
from previous games, nor did the 
communication change between 
both schools. MSU was scheduled to 
leave the Kellogg Center for its walk 
to the stadium at 9:45 a.m. and left at 
9:47 a.m. The team was scheduled 
to arrive at Spartan Stadium at 
approximately 10 a.m. and walked 
the field at approximately 10:02 
a.m. As a courtesy, Michigan was 
granted field access before MSU’s 
arrival with the understanding 
from both sides that the U of M 
student-athletes would leave the 
field during this tradition. Michigan 
was on the field prior to 10 a.m. as 
previously agreed upon, but when 
multiple MSU staff members asked 
both U of M student-athletes and 
staff members to please move off 
the field for the pregame field walk, 
this did not occur.”
On a related note, Michigan and 
Michigan State square off again in 
390 days. Might want to mark that 
one on your calendar.

EVAN AARON/Daily
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh believes Michigan State’s pre-game walk was an “orchestrated, storm-trooper march.”

MAX MARCOVITCH
Daily Sports Editor

Offensive lineman set to 
transfer from Michigan

James Hudson is leaving 
the Michigan football team, 
U-M spokesperson Dave Ablauf 
confirmed to multiple sources 
on Monday night. The redshirt 
freshman offensive tackle saw 
action in three games this 
season.
After 
switching 
from 
defensive line, Hudson seemed 
like a potential replacement 
for fifth-year senior Juwann 
Bushell-Beatty as a starter 
along the Wolverines’ offensive 
line in 2019. But when Bushell-
Beatty left Saturday’s game 
against Michigan State with 
a left leg injury, sophomore 
Andrew Stueber — not Hudson 
— substituted in.
Harbaugh, during his weekly 
press conference, explained his 
decision Monday.
“(Stueber) has done a good 
job,” Harbaugh said. “He’s 
progressing well. He went a 
little bit ahead (on the depth 
chart). James had dislocated a 
finger in a previous ball game, 
Andrew had more reps and 
went ahead on the depth chart 
this week.”
Hudson is the Wolverines’ 
second 
departure 
of 
the 

past week. Last Wednesday, 
redshirt freshman linebacker 
Drew Singleton announced his 
intentions to transfer, joining 
defensive 
lineman 
Deron 
Irving-Bey, tight end Tyrone 
Wheatley 
Jr. 
and 
receiver 
Eddie McDoom as previous 
exits in 2018.
The Toledo, Ohio, native 
was a heavily-hyped prospect 
“in the ballpark” of a starting 
role according to Harbaugh. 
Offensive 
line 
coach 
Ed 
Warriner 
echoed 
Hudson’s 
improvement on Sept. 12.
“His 
growth 
over 
the 
summer and then this fall has 
been tremendous,” Warriner 
said. “He’s fully invested now 
as an offensive lineman. In 
the spring he was putting a 
toe in the water to see what 
he thought. He gave us a good 
effort and showed some talent, 
but there were times it was 
frustrating for him because it 
was just so new. To go against 
our defensive ends every day, 
it’s 
challenging. 
He’s 
way 
beyond 
that. 
He’s 
gained 
confidence in himself and his 
ability to do the job, knowing 
what to do when he’s out there.”
Hudson 
will 
have 
three 
years of eligibility remaining 
once he chooses a new school. 

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Redshirt freshman offensive lineman James Hudson is transferring.

MARK CALCAGNO
Daily Sports Editor

Poole adapting to fill Abdur-Rahkman’s role

Spend any time with sophomore 
guard 
Jordan 
Poole 
and 
Muhammad-Ali 
Abdur-Rahkman 
and the difference between the two 
personalities is instantly apparent.
Abdur-Rahkman, now graduated 
and playing in the NBA’s G League, 
was perpetually calm and collected. 
On the other end of the spectrum, 
Poole is among the most colorful 
players in college basketball. Even 
before his now-iconic buzzer beater 
against Houston in the NCAA 
tournament, he had become a cult 
figure 
among 
Michigan 
men’s 
basketball fans despite averaging 
just 12.5 minutes per game in his 
freshman season.
While they are polar opposites 
off the court, Poole now has to step 
into Abdur-Rahkman’s role as the 
Wolverines’ starting shooting guard.
“Jordan has to have a bigger role 
now,” said assistant coach DeAndre 
Haynes on Monday. “And I think he’s 
accepted that role. And we told him 
last year, losing Muhammad, we’re 
gonna have to dial you up a little bit 

more.”
After a year of working with Poole, 
Michigan’s coaching staff knows 
that he will never replicate Abdur-
Rahkman’s composure. But on the 
court, they need him to replace 
Abdur-Rahkman’s 
trademark 
reliability.
Poole’s primary role in the 
Wolverines’ offense will be as its 
go-to three-point shooter after they 
lost their top three deep-ball threats 
from last season.
Three-point shooting, though, 
has never been a challenge for Poole. 
Coach John Beilein estimates that 
he has done 30 to 40 shooting tests 
in preseason without failing a single 
one.
“For the most part, he’s really had 
this good feel for, ‘what’s a good shot 
for me and what’s a good play for me?’ 
” Beilein said. “ ‘I’m not gonna turn 
the ball over, I’m gonna take a quality 
shot.’ ”
Where Poole will have to adapt to 
his new role is by limiting turnovers. 
That — along with defense — was 
the main issue that kept him off the 
floor for large swaths of his freshman 
season. He posted 25 turnovers to 

just 20 assists, a stark contrast to 
Abdur-Rahkman’s 132-to-30 assist-
to-turnover ratio.
Since Michigan’s August trip to 
Spain, though, Poole has developed 
a newfound ability to protect the ball. 
In the Wolverines’ 17 practices thus 
far, he and junior point guard Zavier 
Simpson have combined for the same 
assist-to-turnover ratio as Simpson 
and Abdur-Rahkman did last season.
“I think he learned a lot from 
Muhammad,” Beilein said. “You 
don’t need to be all out there like 
that to be really good, you just need 
to have substance to your game. The 
assist-to-turnover ratio is really the 
biggest thing.”
Poole’s defensive progress has 
also bolstered the coaching staff’s 
confidence in him. Simpson and 
redshirt junior Charles Matthews 
took the accolades on that end of the 
floor, but Abdur-Rahkman was the 
same reliable presence defensively as 
he was on offense.
While Beilein cites Poole’s lack 
of turnovers as most significant 
improvement, Haynes calls his 
defense “the biggest thing” he’s 
changed over the offseason.

“These last couple practices, he’s 
been terrific on the floor defensively,” 
Haynes said. “Cause we told him last 
year, ‘Man, you gotta play both ends 
of the floor.’ And now, he’s starting to 
do it, and he’s starting to realize that 
‘Hey, if I do these things, I can stay on 
the floor but I can also help my team 
win.’
“And I think Muhammad is 
another guy that he shows you what 
it took, and I think (Poole is) doing it 
as well, he’s starting to step up and 
say, ‘I gotta be a better defender this 
week.’ ”
Unlike Abdur-Rahkman, Poole 
will never be muted in his on-court 
emotion, nor will he slip under the 
radar as a hidden star. But after a year 
of learning from Abdur-Rahkman, 
he is prepared to fill his void on 
the court. That, coupled with his 
signature confidence, is exactly what 
the Wolverines need.
“I always feel like I was built 
for this stage,” Poole said. “… Me 
and (Abdur-Rahkman) are two 
completely different players, but 
coach 
(Beilein) 
wouldn’t 
have 
recruited me if he didn’t have faith in 
me to step into that role.”

THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Writer

Boka filling leadership 
role for the Wolverines

When a team has just three 
seniors and ten freshmen, such as 
the No. 12 Michigan hockey team, 
each senior has to step up and 
take on a solid leadership role.
But that isn’t an issue for senior 
defenseman Nick Boka, who has 
been acting as a leader since he 
was a junior.
“I had comments last year, 
even as a junior, about him 
reaching out,” said Michigan 
coach Mel Pearson. “I think he’s 
got a nice way about him with the 
players away from the rink, too, 
especially with the young guys. 
I think that’s important, to make 
them feel included.”
Boka downplays his role with 
the Wolverines’ freshmen, but 
it’s clear that helping out the 
younger players is something 
that’s important to him. His 
freshman 
year, 
the 
2015-16 
season, Michigan also had just 
three seniors on the team — 
forwards Justin Selman and 
Cristoval Nieves and goaltender 
Steve Racine. 
The three made an impression 
on a young Boka, and he tries to 
follow their example today.
“I remember coming in as a 
freshman, we only had three 
seniors that year, and just how 
amazing those guys were to us 
and all the freshmen,” Boka said. 
“The way they played, they left it 
all out there and I think that, for 
me, is definitely something I try 
to do.”
Perhaps correlated with Boka’s 
leadership role is a newfound 
maturity on the ice. Controlling 
his emotions has always been 
an issue, but it’s something he’s 
started to take more seriously in 
the latter half of his career as a 
Wolverine.
After an incident in January, 
when he yelled a curse word so 
loudly that it reverberated inside 
Notre Dame’s Compton Family 
Ice Arena, Boka has appeared to 
have much better control over 
his mental game. He’s still an 
aggressive, 
emotional 
player, 

but it doesn’t go to extremes 
anymore.
“We need Nick on the ice,” 
Pearson said. “He’s more valuable 
to us on the ice than in the penalty 
box. … We told him, ‘Sometimes, 
it’s tougher to take a bad hit and 
not retaliate,’ and I think that’s 
what he’s done this year. He’s 
shown he can do that.”
Working 
on 
your 
mental 
toughness and emotional control 
isn’t easy, especially for a player 
like Boka. But with the help of 
famed motivational speaker and 
life coach Greg Harden — who 
has worked with players like 
Tom Brady — Boka is figuring out 
how to keep his emotions from 
affecting his play.
“I 
can’t 
thank 
(Harden) 
enough for what he’s done for 
me,” Boka said. “I continue to 
go see him probably every other 
week and just talk. Talk about 
life. He’s helped me a ton.” 
And it seems that the work on 
his mental game is paying off. 
Boka has played some of his best 
hockey at Michigan since that 
game against the Fighting Irish 
in January.
The improvement that Pearson 
saw in the second half of last 
season has carried through the 
offseason and into the beginning 
of this season, with Boka out to 
one of the best starts of his career 
after notching two assists in 
three games.
Boka still prides himself on 
being a shutdown blueliner first 
and sees any offensive success 
he has as a bonus. His on-ice role 
has expanded this year, with his 
skating ability allowing him to 
earn playing time on the power 
play.
Pearson says he can play in any 
situation, but it seems that his 
biggest role expansion has come 
off the ice — not on it.
“I think (being one of three 
seniors) is a huge responsibility,” 
Boka said. “I think little things, 
giving guys rides or hanging 
out away from the rink, I think 
all that goes a long way. That’s 
something I took away from those 
three seniors my freshman year.”

BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Writer

ICE HOCKEY

EVAN AARON/Daily
Sophomore guard Jordan Poole has improved his defense and assist-to-turnover ratio to help fill the void left by Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman’s graduation.

