9,673 miles. 
That’s the distance from Ann 

Arbor to Wagga Wagga, Australia, 
the rural hometown of Charlie 
Pilon. Pilon, now entering his senior 
season on the Michigan men’s golf 
team, found his love for the sport 
at a young age, a passion that would 
eventually take him across an ocean 
to compete against some of the best 
golfers in the world.

“When I was four or five, my dad 

got me a little plastic set of clubs, 
and I would whack plastic balls 
around the house,” Pilon said. “I 
started traveling for events at the 
age of seven or eight, driving five 
hours both ways to Sydney with my 
family.”

Pilon quickly built up a reputation 

as one of the best amateur golfers 
in Australia, ranking third in the 
Australian Boys Ranking and 117th 
in the men’s rankings. He competed 
in multiple events as an amateur 
in Australia and won back-to-back 
16-17 age division titles, becoming 
the first to do so since former world 
number one Jason Day. His success 
garnered interest from various 
universities in the United States, but 
Pilon eventually chose Michigan 
for its strong golf program and 

prestigious academics.

“I moved to Queensland for 

boarding school when I was 14, so I 
was good at being by myself for long 
periods of time,” Pilon said. “The 
transition to America on the other 
side of the world for college wasn’t 
too bad.”

The golf team has always had 

foreign athletes, ranging from 
Australia to Italy. As a freshman, 
Pilon found his niche on the team 
with the help of the athletes around 
him. Now, in his senior year, he 
looks to replicate that leadership.

“The guys we’ve had come in 

as freshmen are a great bunch of 
guys,” Pilon said. “They’ve really 
molded really well with the team.” 

The prominence of golf in the U.S. 

played a big part in Pilon’s decision 
to come to the U.S for college. Since 
joining the Wolverines. He has 
built off the success he experienced 
in Australia, being named to the 
All-Big Ten Tournament Team in 
2019. Pilon has also found more 
opportunities to compete in big 
tournaments 
against 
quality 

competition in the U.S.

“A lot of guys on the tour right 

now came through the college 
system, so it was a great opportunity 
to compete with some of the best 
amateurs in the world and get a 
degree at the same time,” Pilon said. 
“There’s great events all around the 

country all the time. We definitely 
have a handful of great events in 
Australia, but America just has a 
ton of them, so you’ve always got 
something to play.”

With the upcoming season still 

an unknown due to the COVID-
19 pandemic, the team continues 
to prepare while following new 
guidelines. While in team facilities, 
golfers must wear masks, in addition 
to 
participating 
in 
mandatory 

weekly testing. Even with these 
new restrictions, the team practices 
with the intent that they will be 
playing a full season in the spring.

The team aspect of college golf, 

which is a rather individual sport, is 
something that Pilon values highly. 

“Team golf is really cool,” said 

Pilon. “That was one of the things 
that kind of attracted me to play 
college golf. Golf is a bit of a lonely 
sport, but being on a team makes it 
more enjoyable everyday.”

Now, as Pilon looks to the season 

ahead and his career beyond college 
golf, he hopes to follow the path 
of many top collegiate golfers by 
joining the professional tour.

“I’m hoping to stay in the states 

and turn pro to try and make a 
living out of it,” Pilon said. “I’ll go 
back to Australia and train a little 
there. Then I’ll try and go to the 
Asian circuit and onward to either 
America or Europe.”

Charlie Pilon’s journey from 

Australia to Ann Arbor isn’t done yet

FILE PHOTO/Daily

Building on his success golfing in Australia, Charlie Pilon took his experience to Ann Arbor for college, citing the 
team culture and U.S. golf opportunities as reasons for making the move to the U.S.

JIMMY MALONE

For The Daily

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, October 21, 2020 — 17

For 
the 
Michigan 
men’s 

basketball team, the COVID-
19 pandemic and everything 
that’s accompanied it from an 
athletic perspective — namely, 
the cancellation of postseason 
tournaments, long periods of 
self-isolation, 
the 
inability 

to practice or workout as a 
team, frequent testing and the 
uncertainty surrounding the 
start of a new season — has 
been inconvenient at best and 
at times, incredibly daunting. 

As Michigan’s sophomore 

forward 
Franz 
Wagner 

summed it up: “It was really 
weird. I didn’t see a lot of 
people. ... Just seeing the three, 
four people every day. I love my 
family, but I think everybody 
agrees, you gotta see somebody 
else. 
It 
was 
definitely 
a 

frustrating transition with the 
season cut short.”

The past few months have 

been unlike any other. It’s 
been different. The next few 
months will be different. The 
only thing that’s certain is 
uncertainty.

“It’s been a lot of unknowns,” 

Michigan 
coach 
Juwan 

Howard said. “It’s been a lot 
of learning throughout the 
process, learning what the 
‘new’ is gonna look like. At the 
end of the day, you still try to 
keep forging ahead.”

The unprecedented nature 

of the pandemic has been a 
common refrain. It’s forced 
all facets of society to change, 
pause and in some cases stop 
altogether — college athletics 
being one of them. 

But, 
as 
much 
as 
the 

pandemic has taken away from 
sports, and specifically from 
college basketball programs 
like Michigan, the Wolverines 
have also found a silver lining 
through it all. 

“I think it’s been a time of 

reflection and an opportunity 
for a reset,” assistant coach 
Saddi 
Washington 
said. 
“I 

say that both personally and 
professionally because I think 
what it’s allowed everybody to 
do is realign their priorities 
and perspective in life based 
on what we’ve had to go 
through and what we’ve had 
to go without that we thought 
was important. We’ve learned 

to be much more efficient 
with our time. I think it’s also 
been an opportunity to reset 
some things in life or in our 
program.”

From a basketball standpoint, 

it was difficult at first for 
some players to sharpen their 
game during quarantine. The 
resources and situation of a 
player’s hometown determined 
the extent to which they could 
play. Senior walk-on guard 
Rico Ozuna-Harrison had to 
revert to running and boxing 
in order to stay in shape since 
his native city, Detroit, closed 
all outdoor parks and removed 
the basketball rims from the 
courts. 
Others, 
like 
senior 

guard Eli Brooks, at least had 
access to a friend’s gym and 
could shoot around. 

According to Washington, 

though, 
the 
imperfect 

conditions may have been a 
blessing in disguise. 

“I think also that once 

something is taken away or 
paused for a while, that’s 
when you get this new love for 
the game again,” he said. “It 
challenged our guys to really 
re-evaluate, you know, ‘How 
much do I really love this game? 

Because right now, I can’t even 
get in the gym, so I gotta find 
a park outside somewhere, or I 
have to do ball-handling, push-
ups and sit-ups and a lot of stuff 
at home.’

“The message to our guys, 

though, was, ‘Hard work is 
never wasted work.’ It’s still on 
us to remain diligent in terms 
of working out and staying 
ready. … Those are all things 
we can control.”

When many of the players 

returned to campus in June, 
they still had to abide by 
Michigan 
state 
regulations 

limiting the size of group 
activities. This meant working 
out 
in 
small 
groups 
and 

focusing on their conditioning 
and skill development. 

“That’s at the core of who we 

are, we’re a skill-developing 
program and we always have 
been,” Washington said. “It 
allowed us to really focus in 
and hone in on specific parts 
of guys’ games and really grow 
those areas.” 

Added 
Brooks: 
“We’re 

pushing 
harder 
than 
we 

ever had before, like with 
conditioning and that aspect of 
getting people in shape quicker. 

It’s been good to be able to slow 
down and do the development 
stage instead of rushing into 
plays and stuff — being able to 
really see the bigger picture.”

As much as the Wolverines 

are 
looking 
forward 
to 

organized, team-wide practices 
commencing this week, the 
unique 
and 
individualized 

workouts had their advantages. 

“There’s gonna be a lot more 

five on five (with practice 
starting),” 
senior 
forward 

Isaiah 
Livers 
said. 
“Other 

than that, I feel like a lot of 
guys, 
especially 
the 
young 

ones, are more locked in than I 
thought they were. … I feel like 
everybody’s adjusting very well 
and I hope it trends that way.”

As Washington suggested, 

quarantine also gave the team 
a chance to focus on their well-
being off the court as well. Amid 
the pandemic and the ongoing 
occurrences of racial injustice, 
Howard and the coaching staff 
encouraged their players to 
speak their minds during team 
meetings. As a result, Michigan 
established its culture and 
incorporated 
new 
additions 

earlier than ever before — even 
if it was over Zoom. 

“This summer opened up 

some space for us to really have 
some 
honest 
conversations 

about what’s really going on in 
the world that normally, within 
our athletic bubbles, may go off 
of our radar,” Washington said. 
“Our team really dialed into 
the issues, took it to heart and 
allowed it to bring us closer 
together. Through adversity 
you really get to see who are 
the people in your corner and 
I feel like our guys understand 
that at a higher level now.”

The events of the last few 

months 
have 
upended 
our 

sense of normalcy as a nation. 
For Michigan’s players and 
coaches, this meant an abrupt 
ending to last season and time 
spent away from the game they 
love. 

But these hard times may not 

have been for nothing. 

“I’m just excited, and I think 

our guys are just excited to 
play again,” Washington said. 
“Whatever it’s gonna look like, 
it will look like, but to have 
that abrupt end to last season 
without any closure really gives 
us a newfound motivation to go 
out there and take nothing for 
granted.”

Wolverines finding silver lining in lengthy offseason

ALEC COHEN/Daily

Michigan assistant Saddi Washington says the events of the past few months brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have given the men’s basketball team an opportunity to reflect and reset prior to the new season starting.

CONNOR BRENNAN

Daily Sports Writer

Remember the yellow pom-

poms that they used to give 
away at home football games?

The things that were part of 

so many unforgettable nights 
at the Big House?

When 
the 
athletic 

department shifted its focus to 
zero-waste game days back in 
2017, the pom-poms — which 
produced a lot of waste — were 
placed on the chopping block 
in favor of rally towels.

“There was a little bit of 

pushback early on in zero 
waste, because we weren’t 
gonna 
offer 
pom 
poms,” 

associate 
athletic 
director 

in facility operations Paul 
Dunlop said. “So we did rally 
towels instead, because we did 
find that most people would 
take them home, and most 
people do.”

The rally towel has proven to 

be a more environmentally and 
waste-conscious way to spice 
up game days in Ann Arbor. 
Even when the rally towels are 
left in the stadium after games, 
Big House staff picks them 
up. Instead of throwing them 
away, the athletic department 

uses them as rags or shop 
towels in their workshops 
around the department.

The rally towels are just one 

instance of the University’s 
shift toward sustainability as a 
whole over the last few years.

“Waste 
reduction 
and 

recycling 
have 
almost 

become part of our everyday 
operations,” 
Dunlop 
said. 

“Back in (2013) it was kinda 
newer back then, where we did 
not necessarily have recycling 
in every building. But walk 
through our buildings today 
there’s 
recycling 
in 
every 

corridor, a lot have regular 
compost collection. It’s like 
night and day.”

Waste 
reduction 
doesn’t 

only 
mean 
physical 
waste 

though. It’s also about energy 
conservation and the reduction 
of the University’s carbon 
footprint, which has been a 
big priority of the athletic 
department of late.

They have started to shift 

their lighting schedules to 
be as tight as possible, so as 
to not burn any unnecessary 
electricity. 

Accoring 
to 
a 
Freedom 

of Information Act request 
filed by the The Daily, the 
University 
spent 
$50,333 

powering the Big House in the 
month of April, and $31,959 as 
well as $25,056 in the months 
May and June respectively.

“(We 
really 
focus) 
that 

we 
are 
not 
wasting 
any 

unnecessary utilities,” Dunlop 
said. “We have a lot of big 
buildings like the Big House, 
and Crisler, and Yost. And, 
in order to keep those places 
running, we need a lot of 
electricity. So it’s a big focus 
for multiple reasons.”

In 
this 
coming 
football 

season, 
composting 
will 

be off the table for a wide 
variety of reasons, one of 
which is obvious — no fans. 
The University is unsure of 
the nature of their contract 
with the janitorial company 
that runs gameday operations 
regarding waste and cleanup 
— one of the many trade-offs 
the COVID-affected football 
season has brought with it.

It’s clear though, even if true 

zero-waste game days have yet 
to be achieved, that the athletic 
department is moving with 
the times and making strides 
towards energy conservation 
and waste management.

The Maize and Blue has got 

a bit more of a green tint than 
it used to.

Through zero waste initiatives, 

Michigan is improving its sustainability

FILE PHOTO/Daily

Since 2017, the grass has been greener for the University of Michigan athletic department because of its zero-
waste policy.

SPENCER RAINES

Daily Sports Writer