For its most important series 

yet this season, the Michigan 
hockey team will be without 
five of its key players against 
Minnesota next week.

Monday 
afternoon, 

USA 
Hockey 
released 
its 

preliminary roster for the 
2021 
IIHF 
World 
Junior 

Championship. 
It 
includes 

three 
Wolverine 
freshman 

forwards — Matty Beniers, 
Thomas 
Bordeleau, 
and 

Brendan Brisson — as well as 
sophomore forward Johnny 
Beecher 
and 
sophomore 

defenseman Cam York. All 
five will be unavailable for 
Michigan’s Dec. 8 and 9 home 
series 
against 
Minnesota, 

which will be missing three of 
its own players. 

The tournament will take 

place from Dec. 25 through Jan. 
5 in Edmonton. Though teams 
were initially told that players 
would not have to report until 
Dec. 13 — a factor that played 
into 
the 
Wolverines’ 
and 

Gophers’ decision to compete 
on the preceding Tuesday 
and Wednesday, according to 
Michigan coach Mel Pearson 
— 
USA 
Hockey 
recently 

mandated that players enter 
its bubble in Plymouth on Dec. 
6 to comply with IIHF rules. 
The decision coincided with a 
pair of positive tests at Team 
Canada’s selection camp in 
Red Deer, Alberta. 

Without its key players, who 

have combined for 21 points 
in six games this season, 
Michigan 
will 
need 
more 

production 
from 
elsewhere 

on the team. Much of that 
production should come from 
players already in the lineup — 
players like freshman forward 
Kent Johnson, who leads the 
team with eight points. 

Johnson 
might 
have 
to 

step up even more, but there’s 

plenty of room for others in 
the lineup to make their mark 
as well. Sophomore forward 
Eric 
Ciccolini 
has 
shown 

flashes in four appearances, 
scoring two goals and earning 
a plus-minus of +3. The series 
against the Gophers will be an 
opportunity for him to prove 
he deserves more time on the 
ice. 

“There’s 
some 
guys 
in 

the lineup that you’re just 

expecting to do more,” Pearson 
said. “Eric Ciccolini has been 
in and out. He’s proven he’s 
ready to have a really good 
sophomore season. We expect 
more out of him on a daily 
basis.”

But 
with 
five 
players 

missing, the Wolverines will 
need to dig deeper into the 
roster and rely on players who 
haven’t yet seen much of the 
ice. In Michigan’s loss to Notre 
Dame on Saturday, sophomore 
defenseman 
Jay 
Keranen 

appeared in his second game 
this season after not playing 
his freshman year. There’s a 
good chance he’ll fill in for 
York in the Minnesota series. 

Things 
will 
be 
even 

thinner at forward, where 
the Wolverines will lose four 
players to World Juniors. And 

with just 16 forwards on the 
roster, Michigan will have to 
rely on every player at that 
position. As of now, only two 
— freshmen Josh Groll and 
Philippe Lapointe — have yet 
to see ice time this year. Groll 
tallied 42 points in 41 games 
with the USHL Lincoln Stars 
last season, while Lapointe 
notched 55 points in 36 games 
with the BCHL Trail Smoke 
Eaters. 

“(Groll) has looked really 

good in practice,” Pearson 
said. “He had a bit of a setback 
(a couple of weeks ago), that’s 
why he hasn’t played at this 
point … but he’s ready. Phil 
Lapointe’s 
an 
outstanding 

player. He’s gonna be a really 
good player for us here. We’ll 
look for him to come in the 
lineup.”

In any situation, depth is a 

necessity for a hockey team 
to be successful. It’s normal 
to lose a few players to injury 
throughout the season. Teams 
can plan around that. 

Less predictable is losing 

five players at the same time. 
The Wolverines have a deep 
roster; such a deep hit in a 
series against the No. 5 team in 
the country will put that depth 
to the test.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, December 2, 2020 — 15

Turnovers plague Michigan in narrow 

win over Oakland

With just over seven minutes 

remaining in the first half, the 
Michigan men’s basketball team 
held an eight-point lead over 
winless Oakland. Just two-
and-a-half minutes later, the 
Wolverines’ advantage had been 
cut to just two points, leading 
to arguments on Michigan’s 
sideline and enthusiastic cheers 
from 
the 
Golden 
Grizzlies’ 

bench. 

During that span, senior 

guard Chaundee Brown missed 
a 3-pointer — one of nine missed 
threes from the Wake Forest 
transfer on the day — and the 
Wolverines committed three 
turnovers 
on 
consecutive 

possessions. 

What had been billed as 

an easy, early-season win for 
Michigan was quickly turning 
into anything but. Oakland led 
by two going into halftime, in 
large part due to the Wolverines’ 
15 first-half turnovers — five 
more than they had in the entire 
Bowling Green game. 

“Oakland 
(was) 
active 

defensively, being active with 
their hands, playing in passing 
lanes and getting deflections,” 
Michigan coach Juwan Howard 
said afterwards. “I’m not gonna 
just sit here and say, ‘Hey, we 
didn’t do well because of’ — We 
made mistakes on our own.

“There were plays where 

we were catching it in the 
two blocks or in the paint and 
putting it down on the floor. 
That’s something you can’t do 
when we’re playing against a 
smaller group with active hands. 
What they did was they got 
deflections or got steals.” 

The Golden Grizzlies’ tallest 

starter 
was 
6-foot-7 
Daniel 

Oladapo. To compensate for 
its lack of size, Oakland came 
out in a 1-3-1 matchup zone, 
which 
stumped 
Michigan’s 

ball-handlers early on. The 
Wolverines tried to penetrate 
the defense — with either passes 
to the high post or on drives off 
the dribble — but the Golden 
Grizzlies flocked to the ball, 
stripping it or picking off cross-
court looks. 

“We watched film on their 

zone and from watching film we 
didn’t see it as that aggressive,” 
senior 
wing 
Isaiah 
Livers 

said. 
“… 
Everybody 
makes 

adjustments and they came out 
and made adjustments to their 
zone. We weren’t ready at first 
and even for part of the second 
half.” 

Michigan 
fared 
slightly 

better holding onto the ball in 
the second half, only turning 
it over five times. Instead, it 
was the Wolverines’ inability 
to make shots on the perimeter 
that kept the Golden Grizzlies 
in 
the 
game. 
Either 
way, 

Oakland’s 
unconventional 

scheme was making Michigan 
uncomfortable offensively. 

Without 
Zavier 
Simpson 

leading 
the 
offense, 
point 

guard responsibilities fall on 
graduate student Mike Smith 
and senior guard Eli Brooks. 
After combining for just two 
turnovers in the season opener, 

the duo accounted for eight on 
Sunday night. Whether their 
performances were indicative 
of Smith and Brooks settling 
into a new offense and a new 
role respectively or it was an 
aberration, the Wolverines need 
a steady hand at that position.

Thanks to a dominant display 

in overtime, Michigan overcame 
its 
turnover 
problems 
and 

narrowly avoided a catastrophic 
loss. Early in the season though, 
a win is a win.

“1,000 
percent 
just 
the 

zone, outlier,” Livers said. “We 
actually, all preseason, we take 
care of the ball. We get after 
each other in practice. Our scout 
team does a great job of getting 
into us as well. When we’re 
scrimmaging, we don’t allow 
easy catches, we make it tough 
for the guy handling the ball as 
well so I think it was just a good 
learning curve.

“Everybody was watching 

that game and say ‘Oh, they 
can’t play great against a 1-3-1 
matchup zone or anything like 
that.’ I’m glad it happened now. 
Chaundee made a comment, 
‘Rather now than the Final Four 
or Sweet 16,’ so that’s what I’m 
happy about and we can learn 
from it.”

CONNOR BRENNAN

Daily Sports Writer

With five players leaving for World Juniors, 

Wolverines need depth players to step up

BRENDAN ROOSE

Daily Sports Editor

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily

Michigan coach Mel Pearson allowed five of his top players to join the US 
World Juniors team.

‘Disability is not inability’: Michigan’s Adaptive Sports and

Fitness Program strives to assert itself

Cathryn 
Gray 
isn’t 
used 

to being around people like 
her. She’s a 4.0 student, an 
internationally 
decorated 

athlete, the first female member 
of Michigan’s Adaptive Sports 
and Fitness Program — and she 
has Cerebral Palsy.

Cerebral Palsy is a mobility 

disorder caused by abnormal 
brain development or damage to 
the developing brain. Often, it 
imparts a very distinct gait.

So when Gray saw Maddy 

Gustafson walking through her 
residence hall on move-in day, 
she immediately knew that she 
had found someone like her. 

“I knew right away that she 

probably 
had 
CP 
(Cerebral 

Palsy) too,” Gray said. 

Trying not to be too intrusive, 

Gray 
introduced 
herself 
to 

Gustafson and confirmed their 
similarities. 
In 
the 
course 

of 
their 
conversation, 
Gray 

revealed to Gustafson that she 
was at Michigan on an Adaptive 
Track and Field scholarship. 

Gustafson had no idea these 

sorts of opportunities existed 
at Michigan. The absence of 
attention 
to 
disability 
paid 

by her hometown community 
had meant that for Gustafson, 
the expectation that she could 
participate 
in 
sports 
had 

evaporated. Despite her love 
of running, Gustafson had last 
been able to be as active as 
she’d hoped to be during her 
middle school years. Eagerly, 
Gustafson 
accepted 
Gray’s 

invitation to accompany her to 
the next adaptive Track and 
Field practice.

Fast forward four months, 

Gustafson and Gray are best 
friends and teammates, looking 
forward to competing alongside 
one another for the first time 
once it’s safe. 

“I 
know 
from 
my 
own 

experience how isolating CP can 

be,” Gray said. “Being a woman 
with a disability, it can be really 
hard to find other people like 
you. I don’t think anyone would 
turn down the opportunity 
to be a part of a community. It 
changed my life, so I’m going to 
take any opportunity I can to 
help the program grow.”

 Sadly, Gustafson’s example 

is 
a 
common 
one. 
Most 

communities are woefully far 
from 
recognizing 
adaptive 

sports as a necessary facet of 
the sporting experience. In 
place of making the necessary 
accommodations 
so 
that 

individuals with disability can 
participate in sports alongside 
those with able bodies, many 
schools instead elect to offer 
individuals 
with 
disability 

special 
positions 
like 
team 

manager, or token gestures like 
two minutes of playing time 
during the last game of the 
season.

This 
lackluster 
effort 
at 

inclusivity 
is 
exactly 
what 

the University of Michigan’s 
Adaptive Sports and Fitness 

program 
aims 
to 
address. 

During a time in which public 
health 
measures 
necessarily 

disincentivize 
neighborliness, 

Gray’s efforts to befriend and 
include Gustafson embody the 
vision of the program according 
to its founder and director, 
Dr. Oluwaferanmi Okanlami, 
affectionately known around 
campus as “Dr. O.”

“We have to create equal 

access to physical and emotional 
health 
and 
wellness 
for 

students 
with 
disabilities,” 

Okanlami said. “As a physician, 
recognizing the importance of 
physical fitness for everyone, let 
alone those with disabilities, is 
something that we’re trying to 
close the disparity gap on and 
make sure that marginalized, 
underrepresented 
minority 

groups like individuals with 
disabilities 
have 
access 
to 

physical fitness and therefore a 
more healthy life.”

When 
individuals 
with 

physical 
disabilities 
aren’t 

physically active, their muscles 
often begin to atrophy, or 

degenerate. 
As 
a 
result, 
it 

becomes increasingly difficult 
to move around. Thus, as both 
Okanlami and Gray underscore, 
ready access to adaptive sports 
for individuals with disabilities 
is crucial. 

Importantly, 
however, 

Okanlami stresses that this 
access should take shape in the 
form of a program which both 
individuals with and without 
disabilities can participate in.

“This 
is 
diversity, 
equity 

and inclusion,” Okanlami said. 
“If we have a way that we can 
create the parameters to allow 
everyone to participate while 
not limiting the opportunities 
for 
the 
individuals 
with 

disabilities, we’re going to do 
that.” 

Establishing and growing this 

program hasn’t come without 
obstacles, Okanlami explained.

“Major hurdle number one 

is awareness,” Okanlami said. 
“We’re trying to get people 
to recognize that disability is 
not inability – that disability 
does not make them any less 

of an athlete and that it does 
not lessen their desire, drive, 
or need for physical activity in 
sport.”

Gray 
echoed 
Okanlami’s 

sentiment. “I don’t see a lot of 
people with disabilities in the 
media, so sometimes having a 
disability like CP can be a little 
bit lonely.”

For Okanlami, the Michigan 

community has a long way to 
go in order to catch up to other 
established programs around 
the nation.

“If we want to be the leaders 

and the best in this arena, we 
could be,” Okanlami said. “But 
we have to acknowledge that 
right now, not only are we not 
the best, we are not leading, 
and we are not even in the 
conversation.”

Okanlami 
laid 
out 
how 

schools like Alabama, which has 
a $10 million facility dedicated 
exclusively 
to 
adaptive 

athletics, and Illinois, a widely-
recognized 
powerhouse 
in 

wheelchair racing, are “blowing 
Michigan out of the water.”

He stressed that in addition 

to expanding programs like this 
one, introducing adaptive sports 
to younger people is even more 
important. As such, one of the 
program’s main objectives is to 
integrate adaptive sports into 
the state of Michigan’s K-12 
curriculum. 

“We’re 
trying 
to 
change 

that 
misperception, 
that 

stigma,” Okanlami said, “and 
we’re 
starting 
that 
around 

the elementary school level so 
that kids don’t see disability as 
a negative, they just see it as 
another aspect of the things that 
make us different.”

Okanlami 
spoke 
of 
this 

process 
of 
“mainstreaming” 

adaptive sports as a sort of 
Gestalt switch. Wheelchairs, 
traditionally 
seen 
as 

impediments 
to 
sports 
like 

basketball or tennis, should 
instead be seen as necessary 
equipment 
for 
playing 

wheelchair 
basketball 
or 

wheelchair tennis, just as ice-
skates are seen as necessary for 
playing ice hockey.

“This doesn’t mean you have 

to use a chair in your real life, but 
when you’re playing (wheelchair 
basketball), that’s how you play 
this sport,” Okanlami said.

Currently, 
the 
Adaptive 

Sports and Fitness program 
houses 
wheelchair 
tennis, 

wheelchair basketball, and track 
and field, and is incorporating 
para-equestrian activities. In 
the future, Okanlami would like 
to see the program expand into 
other sports, such as golf and 
wheelchair racing. 

Gray, among others, seeks 

to expand the influence of the 
program in other ways. 

“What I really want to do is 

to use competing as a vehicle for 
positive change,” Gray said. “I 
want to grow the program and 
speak about disability issues 
like my mom did for me growing 
up. I want to do that for other 
people.”

GRAYSON BUNING

For The Daily

PHOTO COURTESY OF GRAYSON BUNING

The University of Michigan’s Adaptive Sports and Fitness Program strives to be an elite program for athletes with disabilities.

ALEC COHEN/Daily

Michigan’s turnovers nearly let a win out of its grasp against Oakland.

