That’s when Nick turned to
football, which doubled as both a
coping mechanism and a tribute. It
was always Cassandra’s dream for
Nick to make it big in football, even
while, at the time, his focus largely
centered around basketball. Nick
dove into football head-on.
There
were
no
guarantees,
but his large frame and athletic
gift made the transition a smooth
one. He was a late-bloomer in
recruiting, but as is often the case,
word spread quickly once schools
took notice. Alabama, Auburn
and Florida all took interest. All
Eubanks really wanted, though,
was a sense of belonging and trust.
At Michigan, he found both, and he
knew it right away. To the public,
the commitment mere days before
National Signing Day came as a
shock.
As he was leaving Ann Arbor,
Nick called Clayton to break the
news that he was committing.
“That was kinda quick,” Clayton
said.
“Yeah, man,” Nick replied. “It felt
right at home.”
Morsels of Cassandra’s ethos
constantly linger with Nick, both
physical and metaphysical. Often
they emerge in times of distress — a
need to summon strength when his
own is put to the test. Sometimes
he’ll talk to her when he’s all alone,
repeating things she used to say to
him or do for him. Anything to push
forward.
After he broke his forearm
against Purdue early in the 2017
season, ending a potential breakout
season in September, Eubanks’
frustration quickly morphed into
dread. He’d caught two passes,
including a 41-yard catch down the
seam, in the season-opener against
Florida. That existent dread soon
turned to self-reflection, then angst.
He started asking himself if
he still wanted to play. Recalling
that time, perhaps the most trying
in his career, Eubanks conveys
sincerity in his desire to quit. He
spoke to friends and family about
the possibility. He spoke with Tarik
Black and Jake Butt, both of whom
are close confidants and understand
his background, about his concerns.
“I
kinda
thought,
‘This
is
something I don’t want to do
anymore,’ ” Eubanks recalled. “I
kind of had a thought of myself, like,
‘This is not you talking. This is not
the Nick you were before she left.’ I
kinda got myself back with that.
“ ‘You don’t quit,’ that’s something
she told me. You don’t just sit down.
There’s obstacles in life that’s gonna
beat you down to the point you
don’t want to do it anymore or you
think you can’t do it anymore. I just
always had that message saying,
‘You got this, man.’ ”
As Eubanks speaks, his voice
remains
steadfast,
cracking
occasionally to collect his emotions.
This is not a tale he tells liberally.
He makes clear that he does not
intend to engender sympathy or
pity. He has never told his coaches,
Jim Harbaugh included, about his
mother and he doesn’t know what
they do or don’t know.
He and Harbaugh often sit
together upstairs in Schembechler
Hall, exchanging small talk over
dinner. Harbaugh will ask about
school or life. Sometimes he’ll
tell Eubanks stories of previous
tight ends he’s coached. Eubanks
says it’s helped him grow as a
player. Though Nick has never told
Harbaugh directly, Clayton tipped
him off to the family’s background
early on — those conversations, in
that context, doubling as a check-in.
Harbaugh often swaps texts
with Clayton, spanning from check-
ins on his son to well-wishes for
the team. The two have struck up
an unusual kinship, “to the point
where
they’re
becoming
best
friends,” Nick said.
The loss of Cassandra struck
Clayton in a uniquely crushing way,
and it’s evident in the way he speaks.
He often refers to his children as
“good kids” and that he did “the
best that I could.” Cassandra, by all
accounts, was the family’s unifier.
When she passed, the book lost its
spine.
“Nick, he’s a strong kid, man,”
Clayton said. “They loved their
mom. And she loved them. She
loved them to death; they knew it.
And they wanted to finish what
they started, and I admire that. That
kid came a long way. And I did the
best that I could with him. I had to
be Mom and Dad. We came through
it together, really.”
But then, just as you seem to
understand Clayton Eubanks, a
flashbulb memory comes firing
from the recesses of his past. He
recounts, in excruciating detail,
getting called into the office in 10th
grade; being told his mother had
passed away; running home, not
waiting for a ride; walking up to the
house, and being told cancer had
taken her.
Suddenly, the scale of his grief
takes on new meaning. Suddenly,
the ripple effects shower down —
and the tragedies hold new weight.
It was all for nothing… like I said,
it was all for nothing.
The totality of those losses, and
the succession of the two, cannot
possibly be quantified in Clayton’s
or Nick’s lives. How does a father
possibly handle raising his kids
under the exact same pain he
experienced? How can he look Nick
in the eyes, and sincerely tell him it
was going to be alright?
That is, of course, not something
Nick — at age 14 or 22 — can
properly contextualize. Neither he,
nor Clayton, can properly put into
words the impact those experiences
had on his upbringing, nor the rest
of his siblings.
“It kinda sent me spiraling,
really,” Clayton said. “I got out of
control for a minute. Once I got past
that, I met his mom. And eventually,
we started having kids. Kids are
nice.”
Eubanks chooses not to dwell on
those complexities. He’s focused,
for the time being, on making the
most of his last season at Michigan,
continually improving. To start the
year, he’s shown hints of being an
integral part of the new offense.
Flashing a smile, he says he’s even
hoping to get his dad up for a game
from Florida, circling the Ohio State
game as a distinct possibility.
“I carry her spirit with me,” he
said, “just having a good spirit. Just
having her in my ear, in my corner,
being that person that’s here with
me, even though she’s not.”
Then he flashes the inside of his
left forearm, pointing to a tattoo
bearing her name. He often looks
down when he’s going through
something. Maybe it’s after a rough
practice. Perhaps another injury
arises. The understanding is clear.
“She’s here with me.”
EUBANKS
From Page 1B
ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Nick Eubanks looks at the tattoo on his left forearm bearing his mother, Cassandra’s, name, when going through adversity.
Wolverines add depth with grad transfers Jacob Hayhurst, Shane Switzer
When Josh Norris decided
to leave for the NHL, Michigan
coach Mel Pearson knew he was
facing an uphill battle to find a
replacement.
The
recruiting
cycle
in
hockey runs far in advance of
when players actually show up
on campus. Typically, players
commit while still in high school,
then go play at least two years of
junior hockey before enrolling.
When a player like Norris, who
was drafted in the first round of
the 2017 NHL Draft, makes his
decision to leave in May, finding
a replacement is challenging.
“A lot of time your recruiting
is so far ahead in college hockey
now, that there’s not going to
be a player out there if Norris
finally tells you he’s leaving,
bang, you can just find a guy,”
Pearson said Wednesday. “It’s
usually very picked over by that
point. Then you start looking
like, ‘Well, OK, maybe there’s
a (graduate) transfer who has
decided later on (to leave).’ ”
As soon as Pearson knew
Norris
was
leaning
toward
leaving Michigan, he and his
coaching staff started checking
the
transfer
portal on a daily
basis.
Graduate
transfers
have
only
recently
become
prominent
in
college
hockey,
and
Pearson
credits the portal
with
making
transferring more
accessible on both
sides.
“This
year,
(the
transfer
portal)
really
ramped
up,”
Pearson said. “This past winter
and spring it really took off. ...
That really became a big deal.
Obviously, we see a lot of grad
transfers
in
college
hockey
now, more than we did the year
before. There were a few the
first year, and then this year it
just seems like it’s taken off.”
In April, when Pearson knew
Norris might be leaving, the
transfer portal was the first
place he checked to find a new
addition. And 600 miles away,
a prominent player had just
entered his name in the portal
— Jacob Hayhurst, Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute’s leading
scorer from the 2018-19 season.
After three years at RPI,
Hayhurst
decided
his
best
chance at playing for a national
title laid elsewhere. Michigan
was one of the first teams to
reach out to Hayhurst, and his
decision to join the Wolverines
came shortly after.
“At RPI things weren’t going
as planned, and we continuously
didn’t put a team on the ice that
had the best opportunity to
win,” Hayhurst said. “I think
here at Michigan, each and
every year, they create a team
that has an opportunity to win
a national championship, and I
want to be a part of one, so that’s
why I’m here.
“When
they
called,
I
answered right away and could
not have been happier.”
Pearson often says that they
can’t replace Norris with just
one player. But when looking for
a player to fill the gap, Hayhurst
was at the top of Pearson’s list
because
of
his
combination
of
offensive
output,
speed
and
game
experience.
“When you’re
unsure if you’re
gonna
lose
a
kid
like
Josh
Norris,
right
away you’re just
trying to see if
there’s someone
there that can
come in,” Pearson said. “It’s less
of a hit than maybe bringing in a
young freshman who’s got a lot
to learn still. You bring in a guy
like Hayhurst, a senior, or a guy
who’s played three years and
has one year left and can come
into your program, it’s more
seamless. He can just come in
and sort of hit it running.”
In addition to losing Norris
up front, Michigan lost three
experienced blueliners in Quinn
Hughes, Joseph Cecconi and
Nick Boka. Pearson once again
turned to the transfer portal
in hopes of filling the void.
There he found former Boston
University defenseman Shane
Switzer. After four years at BU,
Switzer was looking for a school
with more ice time available
than he had with the Terriers.
“His name came up to us
through the former coach there,
David Quinn,” Pearson said.
“We know David really well and
he’s with the New York Rangers
now. He had Switzer (at BU) so
we had some conversations. He
really liked Shane and it just —
new coaches went into BU and it
just wasn’t a good fit for Shane
at that point. Brought in some
really high-profile players, and
he just sort of got squeezed out
there. He’s a Michigan kid, was
going to graduate early, a year
early, so it’s just a good fit.”
Both Switzer and Hayhurst
have
seemingly
settled
in
seamlessly with the Wolverines.
After the team’s first practice,
Pearson praised both for their
on-ice abilities. And off the ice,
the two new additions were
quick to voice appreciation for
their new teammates’ efforts in
helping them get settled.
“It’s really easy, honestly,”
Switzer said. “It’s a tight-
knit group in there, but they
welcomed me with open arms
and
my
roommates
have
been really helpful with the
transition.”
Added
Hayhurst:
“It’s
been great. The guys have
been
really
helpful,
caring,
respectful and kind of showing
me the ropes and everything,
because it’s obviously different
here than RPI, being at such
a
bigger
school.
Especially
my roommates, they’ve really
helped
me
out
in
getting
prepared for classes and set up
in that aspect.”
Replacing
Norris
and
a
veteran core on the blueline
isn’t easy, but with Hayhurst’s
offensive
track
record
and
Switzer’s
ability
as
a
defenseman, the two graduate
transfers have the potential to
fill in just fine.
BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Writer
ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Michigan coach Mel Pearson recruited Jacob Hayhurst and Shane Switzer to the Wolverines as graduate transfers ahead of the upcoming season.
When they
called, I
answered right
away.
2B — September 16, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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