The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, November 14, 2018 — 7A

Pearson addressing faceoff struggles

Some people get a thrill out of 
the chase — whatever that chase 
entails.
That 
is, 
unless 
you’re 
Michigan hockey coach Mel 
Pearson and what you’re chasing 
is the puck.
Despite 
having 
won 
52 
percent of its draws this season, 
the No. 16 Michigan hockey 
team (5-4-0 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) 
has lost the faceoff battle in each 
of its previous three games. 
And it’s no coincidence that 
the Wolverines’ two top faceoff 
winners, sophomore forward 
Josh Norris and junior forward 
Nick Pastujov, both struggled 
this past weekend against Notre 
Dame.
Norris — who was nursing a 
minor hand injury last weekend 
— won just 13 of 39 faceoffs over 

the weekend, while Pastujov 
took seven of 22 puck drops in 
the circle. The two forwards 
have taken 54 percent of the 
draws thus far for Michigan, so 
in many senses, the team goes as 
they go.
“When you’re not playing 
with the puck, you’re chasing,” 
Pearson said after Tuesday’s 
practice. “You have to try and 
get it back instead of having 
possession, so you’re chasing 
the puck a little bit. And part 
of that is intensity too. Just the 
preparation and being ready to 
play.”
Pearson made it clear that the 
blame cannot always be placed 
solely on whoever is taking the 
faceoff. The team that retains 
possession after the draw is 
recorded with the faceoff win. 
So, in instances where there is 
a 50-50 puck, the team to gain 
control records the win. This is 

where the overall intensity that 
Pearson addressed comes into 
play — another issue that the 
Wolverines have struggled with 
early on this season.
Perhaps overshadowed by the 
team’s recent faceoff woes is the 
performance of junior forward 
Adam Winborg. While Michigan 
has won 85 of 190 draws in its 
last three games, Winborg has 
quietly won 18 of 26 draws over 
that same stretch — the only 
games in which he has seen 
significant ice time this season.
“It’s one of those things that 
will help keep him in the lineup 
when you’re winning faceoffs 
like that,” Pearson said. “It gives 
me a lot of confidence to play him 
against anybody — especially 
in draws in our zone because 
I know he has more than a 50 
percent chance to win those 
faceoffs.”
Winborg played in all but one 

regular season game last year, so 
his lack of ice time thus far may 
come as a bit of a surprise. But 
given his success in the faceoff 
circle, particularly in light of the 
Wolverines’ recent struggles, 
Winborg is a silver lining and 
figures to continue receiving ice 
time moving forward.
Though Michigan has won 
two of its last three games, 
faceoffs are an area of play that 
need to see improvement. As a 
result, Pearson stated that one 
of their big focuses in practice 
recently has been the faceoff: 
taking more of them, addressing 
strategy on draws and ensuring 
that skaters “are dialed in and 
ready for the drop of the puck.”
This is especially important 
with its upcoming matchup 
against No. 5 Penn State this 
weekend — which leads the Big 
Ten with a 62 percent faceoff-
win percentage this season.

Freshmen class ready 
to make impact for ‘M’

Coming into this season, 
the 
biggest 
questions 
for 
the 
Michigan 
women’s 
basketball team were how 
to replace the program’s all-
time leading scorer, guard 
Katelynn Flaherty, and how 
to maintain the team’s recent 
success. 
The 
Wolverines’ 
answer 
is 
twofold: 
the 
improvement 
of 
returning 
players and the evolution of 
freshmen. 
Prior 
to 
this 
season, 
Michigan 
welcomed 
its 
highest-ranked 
recruiting 
class since the program’s 
creation. 
Highlighted 
by 
guard Amy Dilk and forward 
Naz 
Hillmon, 
coach 
Kim 
Barnes 
Arico’s 
freshman 
class consists of four former 
ESPNW 
100 
recruits, 
including 
forward 
Emily 
Kiser 
and 
guard 
Ariel 
Young, 
with 
guard 
Danielle Rauch 
rounding 
out 
the group.
“They’re 
definitely 
a 
special group of freshmen,” 
said 
senior 
center 
Hallie 
Thome. “They’re going to 
make an everlasting impact 
on this program for sure.” 
For a team that has as 
many freshmen as it does 
upperclassmen, the younger 
players will play a pivotal 
role 
for 
the 
team 
going 
forward, with their collective 
successes 
telling 
of 
the 
Wolverines’ overall success.
In order to get there, 
though, the freshmen will 
need the guidance of the 
older players to help them 
improve 
their 
skills 
and 
better adjust to college ball.
“I think that if you’re on 
a team that’s just something 
that 
you 
expect,” 
said 
sophomore 
forward Hailey 
Brown on the 
older 
players’ 
mentorship 
role. 
“… 
This team is 
very 
unique 
because we can 
all learn from 
each other. It’s 
not necessarily 
that 
I’m 
someone’s mentor, it’s like, 
‘What can I teach you, but 
what can you teach me as 
well?’ I think it’s a very cool 
role to have but it also works 
the other way, too.”
Due in large part to the 
skill level of every player 
on 
the 
Michigan 
roster, 
the freshmen have already 
noticed a vast improvement 
in their game. 
For Hillmon specifically, 
the competition she faces in 
practice on a daily basis is 
far more competitive than 
what she faced in high school 
games, let alone in high 
school practices. 

“In my high school, I 
was the only big, so I didn’t 
really have anyone pushing 
me 
every 
day,” 
Hillmon 
said. “But … (now) I have a 
lot of people to push me in 
practice and make me want 
to be better. The competition 
day-in and day-out is very 
different from high school.”
In addition to the change 
in 
basketball 
competition 
for the freshmen, they have 
also experienced the same 
transition to college life that 
every 
university 
student 
experiences at some point in 
their life.
Going about that transition 
can be hard for anybody, so it 
has been especially helpful 
for Hillmon and the other 
freshmen to not only have 
each other, but also have the 
older players guide them.
“It’s 
been 
awesome 
having 
someone 
to 
go along this 
journey with,” 
Hillmon 
said. 
“I 
would 
probably 
be 
terrified if I 
was the only 
freshmen, 
so (it’s nice) 
being able to talk to them and 
really vent when something 
isn’t going our way because 
it’s so different from high 
school. 
Having 
somebody 
there to encourage us — they 
know exactly what’s going 
on through my mind — so 
them being there to help me 
through it, just to talk to 
somebody or go and get food.
“But 
the 
upperclassmen 
are very helpful in that way, 
too, because they’ve been 
through it and they try to 
grab our hands and take us 
there with them, so that’s 
been very helpful as well.”
Barnes Arico has loved 
watching the bonds form 
between 
her 
older 
and 
younger players, and looks 
forward 
to 
watching 
the 
freshmen 
continue 
to 
grow 
as 
the 
season unfolds.
“I 
think 
we all are so 
excited 
about 
(the freshmen) 
class,” Barnes 
Arico 
said 
after an 88-40 
win over Mount St. Mary’s 
on Friday night. “They’re a 
special group, led by Amy 
Dilk, starting at the point 
guard position for us. … But 
the rest of the freshmen 
really stepped up and were 
outstanding tonight as well. 
They’re a great group and 
they’re just gonna continue 
to improve as the season goes 
on.”
While this freshmen group 
may still be adjusting to the 
college life, once they are 
fully settled in and find their 
footing, they’ve got a chance 
at making a big impact in the 
Big Ten.

In Villanova trip, Eli Brooks returns to his past

The first thing to understand 
about Spring Grove, Penn. is that 
it’s a small town’s small town.
According to the 2010 Census, 
it houses a population of 2,167. 
It’s known for a paper mill, 
and the smell wafting from it. 
Spring Grove Area High School 
graduates roughly 200-250 kids 
a year and exceedingly few go 
on to play any type of sport at a 
higher level.
This is also the place that 
produced Eli Brooks.
The sophomore guard stood 
in the Crisler Center media 
room last Friday, in the lead-
up to the No. 18 Michigan 
men’s basketball team’s contest 
against Villanova, fielding the 
type of questions you’d expect 
for a homecoming. Jon Teske 
and Jordan Poole are giving up 
their allotted tickets for Brooks, 
but that’s still not enough. 
Brooks thinks eight people are 
getting tickets on their own in 
addition to the 12 or so he can 
get for friends and family.

There’s also the matter of 
his recruitment — one that, at 
a time, seemed a lock for the 
Wildcats. Brooks was on-record 
calling Villanova his dream 
school and when Jay Wright 
extended an offer, it felt like a 
commitment was a formality.
Wright himself said as much 
at the Final Four, the last time 
these two teams met.
“They do have a freshman 
on the team right now that I 
thought we were going to get 
from 
Pennsylvania,” 
Wright 
said then. “And probably not 
allowed to say who I really felt 
we were getting and John beat 
us for him. And he’s going to be 
a really good player for them.”
Reflecting on it last week, 
Brooks 
called 
it 
a 
“tough 
decision,” saying a visit to 
Michigan swayed him at the 
time. Two years removed from 
his commitment, it’s not too 
dissimilar from the language he 
used then.
Brooks’ 2017-18 season was 
somewhat antithetical to the 
Wolverines’. He broke into the 
rotation early, and was the first 

freshman to earn a starting spot, 
unseating Zavier Simpson two 
weeks into the season. He kept 
that job until January. Then he 
didn’t.
The rest of the way, Brooks 
averaged 4.3 minutes per game. 
Simpson 
lapped 
him, 
then 
Jaaron Simmons passed him in 
the depth chart. Brooks was, in 
all but name, out of the picture.
“I think that it happens to the 
seniors, who come to college as 
freshmen,” said Michigan coach 
John Beilein. “They basically 
don’t have days where — they’ll 
have a day or two and then they 
get back to it. They don’t have 
Zavier Simpson guarding them 
every day in practice. Or sit on 
the bench, and then go in two 
minutes and do something good. 
So, you lose all your confidence.”
This year, Brooks’ role is 
already more defined. He has 
played over 20 minutes in both 
of Michigan’s first two games, 
knocking down two 3-pointers 
in the opener to go with four 
assists. As the Wolverines look 
for ways to score, it’s Brooks 
who could reap rewards.

But back to Spring Grove.
The first inkling that Eli 
Brooks might have a future in 
basketball came when he was 
11. His dad’s men’s league was 
down a player, so they asked 
Eli to step in. He dropped six 
points, holding his own against 
a bunch of bigger, better dudes.
“They tried to block my last 
shot,” Brooks said, “then it went 
in. So it was pretty fun.”
By the time Brooks was a 
junior in high school, he was the 
best player the town had seen, 
maybe ever.
“I’ve never seen anyone who 
can create an atmosphere like 
Eli did,” said Greg Wagner, 
Spring Grove’s athletic director. 
“We would travel ... and people 
would come to see Eli. Not just 
the game, but to meet Eli. And 
after games, there would be 
mobs on the court of people 
who wanted to meet Eli, get a 
picture taken with Eli, have Eli 
sign their shirts and things like 
that.”
The stories start to flow like 
beer from a tap. There was the 
time a guidance counselor from 
another school emailed Wagner, 
prompting an internal freakout, 
only to have it be a picture 
of Brooks in the stands with 
a youth basketball program. 
There were all the road games 
that Spring Grove’s fans drove to 
so they could get a glimpse.
There was the first league 
championship since 1971, and 
then there were the crowds. In 
a town of 2,167, there would be 
crowds between 1,800-2,000 
packed into Spring Grove’s gym, 
standing room only, the air thick 
with humidity.
There’s one other athlete to 
come out of Spring Grove in 
recent years: Hali Flickinger, 
a 2016 Olympian who placed 
seventh 
in 
the 
200-meter 
butterfly. When she competed 
in Rio, the town held viewing 
parties in the park. The thing 
about small towns — they’re 
proud of their exports.
When 
Brooks 
eschewed 
Villanova, 
he 
became 
just 
that, an export. It’s games 
like 
Wednesday’s 
that 
will 
determine just how successful 
of one he’ll be.

ETHAN SEARS
Daily Sports Writer

RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily
Junior forward Adam Winborg has been one of Michigan’s top players during the faceoff, winning 18 of 26 draws over the past three games for the Wolverines.

MIKE ZLONKEVICZ/Daily
Freshman forward Naz Hillmon is adjusting to collegiate-level basketball.

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Sophomore guard Eli Brooks will return to his home state of Pennsylvania on Wednesday to face Villanova.

JORGE CAZARES
Daily Sports Writer

“They’re 
definitely a 
special group of 
freshmen.”

BENNETT BRAMSON
Daily Sports Writer

“... (now) I have 
 
a lot of people 
to push me in 
practice ...”

