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Thursday, May 16, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS

Michigan to host NCAA Tournament regional round at home

Two weeks ago, it seemed out 
of the cards. But after a pair of 
massive dominoes fell into place, 
the Michigan softball team was 
selected as one of the 16 host sites 
for the four-team regional round 
of the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
Heading 
into 
the 
final 
weekend of conference play, the 
Wolverines found themselves one 
game behind Northwestern in 
the Big Ten standings. With the 
help of third-place Minnesota’s 
series win over the Wildcats, 
Michigan 
used 
a 
sweep 
of 
Maryland to clinch the outright 
regular season conference title.
On 
Saturday, 
the 
team 
captured 
its 
10th 
Big 
Ten 
Tournament 
championship 
in 
program 
history 
with 
a 
thrilling win over the three-time 

defending 
champion 
Golden 
Gophers to sweep the Big Ten 
titles.
“(Hosting a regional) is the 
goal,” said coach Carol Hutchins 
on Apr. 28. “To be honest, it’s the 
number one goal of all the goals 
we have. Don’t get me wrong, 
championships are great, but to 
host the regional and be a seeded 
team would be a tribute to this 
senior class … It would be really 
special.”
On Sunday night, Hutchins 
and the 15th-seeded Wolverines 
achieved their goal. Following 
two 
weeks 
of 
uncertainty, 
Michigan seniors Faith Canfield 
(.418 batting average), Natalie 
Peters 
(.358), 
Alex 
Sobczak 
(.336), Mackenzie Nemitz (.288) 
and Katie Alexander (.280) will 
in fact have their “tribute,” as 
Hutchins put it. Each senior is 
a member of the team’s starting 
lineup.

The Wolverines will welcome 
St. Francis (PA), James Madison 
and DePaul to Alumni Field this 
coming weekend. On Friday, 
Michigan will take on St. Francis 
while James Madison squares off 
against DePaul in the first leg of 
the double-elimination round. 
The winner of the Ann Arbor 
regional will face the winner of 
the Los Angeles regional, hosted 
by No. 2 seed UCLA, in next 
weekend’s super regional.
If the Wolverines and the 
Dukes both advance, Saturday 
will 
present 
an 
opportunity 
for Michigan to avenge one of 
its five non-conference losses 
against ranked opponents. On 
March 7, then-No. 21 James 
Madison downed the Wolverines 
in nine innings at the Arizona 
State Invitational.
Now, Michigan will host 
the regional round for the 
first 
time 
since 
2016. 

That 
year, 
the 
momentum 
of 
sweeping 
the 
regional 
propelled 
the 
program 
to 
the Women’s College World 
Series.

If 
Hutchins 
and 
the 
Wolverines are searching for 
one more tribute, there wouldn’t 
be anything more fitting than 
returning to Oklahoma City.

DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer

ALEC COHEN/Daily
The Michigan softball team won the Big Ten Tournament and will host a regional.

Warde Manuel has been here 
before.
In 2012, as athletic director at 
Connecticut, 
he 
oversaw 
the 
men’s 
basketball 
program’s 
transition from 
retiring Hall of 
Fame coach Jim 
Calhoun to the 
hiring of Kevin 
Ollie. And just 
two years ago, 
as 
Michigan’s 
athletic director, Manuel appointed 
Mel Pearson to assume reigns of the 
Michigan hockey team, succeeding 
legendary coach Red Berenson.

John Beilein’s announcement 
Monday morning to leave the 
Michigan men’s basketball program 
and coach the NBA’s Cleveland 
Cavaliers means Manuel is faced 
with a similar task once again. 
But this will by far be the biggest 
decision during his tenure in Ann 
Arbor — and possibly his career.
“My priority now is to commence 
a full national search for our next 
basketball coach,” Manuel said in a 
statement.
How does one replace the all-
time winningest and greatest men’s 
basketball coach in school history?
At Monday’s Big Ten meetings, 
Manuel acknowledged he prepared 
for this moment since Beilein was 
in talks with the Detroit Pistons 

last year. Knowing the coach’s 
possibility to ascend to the pro 
ranks despite a virtual lifetime 
contract signed last summer, a 
shortlist of candidates has been at 
the ready.
It’s what Manuel does with this 
shortlist, and the results which 
stem from the impending decision, 
that will define his career at 
Michigan.
Coaching changes are never 
easy, but Manuel’s track record 
demonstrates nothing but smooth 
transitions — and fast success. 
Two years after Ollie arrived, 
the 
Huskies 
won 
a 
national 
championship. Their first season 
under Pearson, the Wolverines 
advanced to the Frozen Four.
But this one is different. This 
is a change from a coach with no 
connection to any semblance of 
foul play or scandal, a coach who 
excelled in player development and 
a coach who, over the past 12 years, 
redefined 
Michigan 
basketball 
and made it, once again, a top-tier 
program nationally.
This decision is unlike the others 
where 
quick 
accomplishments 
represent the greatest litmus test 
for a positive replacement. This 
outlines the future of the program, 
one that can enter an era of 
rebuilding or continue to produce 
winning seasons year in and year 
out with Sweet Sixteen appearances 

essentially the norm. This is one 
that needs to steady a ship that has 
now entered unchartered waters, 
its captain gone from the helm.
“The way he’s carried himself 
with class and dignity and doing 
things the right way, I’m just so 
proud to work with him and to 
have him at Michigan,” Manuel 
said minutes after the Wolverines 
clinched their sixth Final Four 
berth in 2018. “John is the stability 
of what we’ve been doing in 
basketball for the last decade and 
we didn’t have this kind of success 
consistently until John came.
“For me, I couldn’t ask for a 
better person.”
Now begins the search for a 
successor, one who can fill Beilein’s 
enormous shoes and maintain a 
high level of excellence expected 
by the athletic department and fan 
base alike.
Should Michigan hire from 
within or look outside the program? 
How will this affect current players 
potentially transferring or assistant 
coaches possibly departing? Will 
this hurt recruiting in the long run?
The announcement is still fresh, 
but questions have already been 
raised and will continue to be 
obsessed as Manuel contemplates 
the choice in front of him. The 
rumor mill of potential Beilein 
replacements has already been at 
work with Butler’s LaVall Jordan, 

Texas Tech’s Chris Beard and 
Miami Heat assistant and Fab Five 
member Juwan Howard thrown 
into the mix. On top of that, Manuel 
said Monday he has received 
multiple calls from those with 
interest in the coveted vacancy.
The timeframe for the decision?
“The timeline is I want to get 
it right,” Manuel said Monday. 
“While I’d like it to be done ASAP, 
I’m also going to take the time to 
make sure that we find the right 
person for Michigan.”
In the following weeks, Manuel, 
along with Turnkey Search, will 
conduct interviews and eventually 
name the 17th head coach of the 
Michigan men’s basketball team. 
The so-called “culture driver” in 
Beilein has left for Cleveland and 
it’s up to Manuel, in his biggest 
move yet, to get to vetting and 
selecting a replacement who will 
also leave an indelible mark in Ann 
Arbor.
Warde Manuel has been here 
before. But unlike with Ollie 
and Pearson and any other past 
appointments, this move changes 
the trajectory of an elite Michigan 
basketball program for years to 
come — and cements Manuel’s 
legacy as athletic director, for 
better or worse.
Katz 
can 
be 
reached 
at 
benjkatz@umich.edu or on Twitter 
@benkatz27.
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel is tasked to find a new basketball coach.

Warde Manuel’s career-defining decision 

BENJAMIN
KATZ

