Michigan

Michigan basketball keeps perspective as historically bad season nears end

Published

2 years ago

March 10, 2024

Press Room

Michigan basketball keeps perspective as historically bad season nears end

Nobody in or around the Michigan basketball program has experienced anything like this.

The losing streaks. The disappointment. The frustration; it all continued Sunday, a day meant for celebration.

Michigan fell to Nebraska on senior day at Crisler Center, 85-70, to wrap up its regular season. At 8-23 overall, no team in 107 years of history has lost more games in a single season. Michigan hadn’t had a five-game losing streak in more than a decade, then had three separate such stretches in the past three months.

The Wolverines dropped 18 of the final 20 games; their KenPom defensive efficiency rating (107.1) wasn’t just the program’s worst since the stat started in 1999, but is the league’s worst mark since 2018 Iowa (108.2).

Or perhaps the most damning, U-M never had consecutive wins over high major teams all year long.

While head coach Juwan Howard insisted after the game that the season isn’t over and said his team will now turn its attention to the Big Ten Tournament — U-M will be the No. 14 seed for the first time in its history after finishing in last place in the league for the first time since 1966-67 — senior Terrance Williams II was willing to reflect on what’s transpired.

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Technically he has a year of eligibility left, but he didn’t sound like someone with plans to return.

“That 8-23, it won’t ever sit right with me,” Williams said, reflecting on what might be his last year in maize and blue. “I didn’t have that vision my senior season. But it happens. Adversity … we’re all going through adversity. It’s making us the young men that we are.

“l can’t be mad at it. I can be mad at that record, but what we’re going through, I feel like we’ll get through it. I made brothers this year, I’m happy about that. I’m playing basketball, can’t be mad about that. So you know, my 10-year-old self would be happy with where I’m at right now.”

‘That’s false information’

During the preseason it was captain Oliver Nkamhoua who downplayed a media poll which pegged the Wolverines to finish No. 11 in the conference.

“Those teams are going to have to prove on the court they’re better than us,” he said at the time.

The Wolverines had a shorthanded roster from the start, and went the entire summer without their head coach. The team practiced without Howard for months, before and after he underwent open heart surgery in September, and now with the benefit of hindsight, those in the program appeared to underestimate just how much that would throw a wrench in the season.

“It’s been a strange year in a very strange season,” Howard said Sunday. “I didn’t get an opportunity to be myself and on the floor, teaching (in the summer). Each and every day, thinking about when you have an aneurysm, what day is it going to burst? … Then you have surgery, go through that … learning how to walk again.

“I’m going to keep forging ahead because I know my team and my staff needs me. I’m not going to quit on them because that’s not how I operate. I’ve never quit anything in life. We have a season to play, so I’m going to give everything I can to this university, this team and this staff, because these are the people I love.”

[ MUST LISTEN: Make “Hail Yes!” your go-to Michigan Wolverines podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) ]

Things started well: Michigan was 3-0 at one point, then later 6-5, when the year went sideways just before league play began.

Howard got in a verbal altercation with former strength & conditioning coach Jon Sanderson, point guard Dug McDaniel got suspended, the flu ripped through the locker room, and Nkamhoua (broken wrist), Tray Jackson (concussion, broken nose) and Jaelin Llewellyn (ACL rehab) all battled through varying ailments.

As the roster got thinner, the losses mounted; but even though U-M has lost 18 of 20 games for the first time in more than 40 years, the players say they appreciate the way it’s been handled.

“Coach Howard, he’s trying to share the message that we have to get 1% better every day,” Williams said. “He’s not pounding the losses on us or any of that. We watch film, we try to learn from these mistakes that we keep doing and apply it. I appreciate coach Howard for that. A lot of coaches could be yelling at us, putting us down.

“Coach Howard just wants us to be better on and off the court. … I appreciate him for that.”

There’s a chance the comment could be misconstrued as apathy. Maybe it comes off as the coach not demanding more of players. Maybe it comes off as the new generation being satisfied with a participation trophy.

Williams shut down any conspiracy theories of that sort immediately.

“I mean, nah, we’re definitely being pushed every day in practice,” he said. “We’re trying to fix the mistakes. We’re not just going into practice like we will wipe away the game that happens. We’re gonna watch film, drill, Coach Howard’s going to drill us to help us in the next game.

“We’re not satisfied with the record, just to be transparent … that’s a fan perspective. I just feel like that’s false information, because we’re being pushed every day. We’re pushing each other every day.”

The bigger picture

Fans don’t want to hear about the moments they don’t get to see.

Barbecues at Howard’s house won’t end what looks like it will assuredly be the program’s first two-year NCAA tournament drought since it missed 10 straight (1999-2008). Neither will bowling nights, though those happened, too, as did a watch party for the Super Bowl.

But for the players — whose years of dedication and hours of work per week are rewarded with losses and scrutiny — that’s what this year will be about.

“Even though this season hasn’t gone how we all wanted it to be, how we all envisioned, we can never question the group of players, the group of teammates, the group of people we had,” Nimari Burnett said. “With that being said, it definitely sucks. It weighs on us in our own individual ways.

“But us as a group, these guys are people I’ll talk to the rest of my life. Ultimately, I’m grateful for that.”

There are many questions about what the future of the program looks like. The coach, the roster construction, the NIL investment, the recruiting, the transfer portal; all of which are valid for a program that’s gone from Elite Eight to Sweet 16 to bubble team to bottom of the Big Ten.

But from where Howard sits, there’s no question about what needs to happen. And no place he’d rather do it.

“We’re going to grind like no other this summer,” Howard said. “Getting back to what we’re used to … and that’s winning. But this year right here alone, we have learned a lot and I feel we have won in a lot of ways.

“I could have sat this season out but that’s not how I’m wired. I felt this team and this staff needs me and I need them, too.”

Contact Tony Garcia: apgarcia@freepress.com. Follow him at @realtonygarcia.

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Michigan

Woman accused of driving at the bottom of an Oakland County ski hill near guests

Published

7 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Woman accused of driving at the bottom of an Oakland County ski hill near guests

Nick Lentz

February 28, 2026 / 11:18 PM EST
/ CBS Detroit

A 58-year-old woman is accused of driving a vehicle at the bottom of a ski hill near skiers and snowboarders in White Lake Township, Michigan, the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office said Saturday.

Prosecutors allege the Bingham Farms, Michigan, woman drove near guests of Alpine Valley Ski Area, including children, on Tuesday.

According to the prosecutor’s office, witnesses said they saw the woman smoking what appeared to be marijuana before the incident and wearing ski boots while driving. Officers attempting to perform sobriety tests reported that she “exhibited poor balance, slurred speech, and open hostility.”

Online court records show the woman is charged with operating while impaired for the third time. If convicted, she faces up to five years in prison, a maximum fine of $5,000 and “mandatory vehicle immobilization” for one to three years, the prosecutor’s office said.

“This defendant endangered children with her irresponsible actions,” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said in a written statement. “There is no excuse to drive impaired, even once. If you’ve had too much to drink or are under the influence of marijuana or other drugs, call a friend, call an Uber, just don’t drive.”

The woman is scheduled to appear at a probable cause conference on March 12.

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First Film to Depict a Robot Discovered in Michigan

Published

20 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

First Film to Depict a Robot Discovered in Michigan

A long-lost silent film that’s believed to be the first depiction of a robot in motion pictures was rediscovered in Michigan. And it’s a great reminder for film history fans that you shouldn’t give up hope just because a film has been deemed lost.

The film, titled “Gugusse and the Automaton,” is just 45 seconds long and was created in 1897 by French film pioneer Georges Méliès. It shows a magician named Gugusse turning a large crank to control Pierrot Automate, a child-sized robot. The robot grows bigger and bigger until it’s an adult.

Once full size, the robot does a little dance before hitting Gugusse over the head with a stick. Gugusse brings the robot down from his pedestal and then shows him what’s what.

Gugusse hits the robot over the head with a gigantic mallet, each swing making the mechanical man a little smaller until he’s back to his child-like size. Another swing makes the robot a small doll and then it’s just one more mallet slap before the robot disappears completely.

With that, the film is over.

It’s a short film with a goofy, slapstick premise. But it’s also an artifact that can be interpreted similarly to so much robot-focused media that would come later in the 20th century. The robot harms a human, the human needs to destroy the robot.

We see anti-robot stories pop up especially during difficult economic times, like the 1930s and 1970s, something I’ve written about before at length. And if you’re wondering whether there were hard economic times in France during the 1890s, there certainly were—in the form of a double dip recession, no less.

But putting aside the potential message of the film (and the risk of taking it too seriously as a sign of broader social frustrations), the story of how this film was rediscovered is fascinating.

Bill McFarland of Grand Rapids, Michigan, drove a box of films that belonged to his great-grandfather to the Library of Congress’s National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Virginia so that experts could take a look at what he had.

McFarland’s great-grandfather was a man named William Delisle Frisbee who had worked jobs as a school teacher and a potato farmer in Pennsylvania, according to a blog post from the Library of Congress. But he also worked nights as a “traveling showman,” according to the Library.

“He drove his horse and buggy from town to town to dazzle the locals with a projector and some of the world’s first moving pictures,” the Library explains. “He set up shop in a local schoolroom, church, lodge or civic auditorium and showed magic lantern slides and short films with music from a newfangled phonograph. It was shocking.”

Frisbee died in 1937 and two trunks of his possessions were passed on through generations until they made their way to McFarland, who was unable to screen the movies from himself because of their condition.

The Library posted a video to Instagram talking about their acquisition of the film and how remarkable it is that such an old film was found. It’s estimated that as much as 90% of films made before 1930 are lost to history.

Other films in the trunks included another Méliès film from 1900 titled “The Fat and Lean Wrestling Match,” fragments of a Thomas Edison movie called “The Burning Stable.” Library technicians scanned the films in 4K to preserve them for future generations.

The word “robot” wasn’t coined until 1920 for the Czech play R.U.R. by Karel Capek. But visions of artificial men date back centuries. And it’s incredible to see a robot from the 1890s depicted on film for the first time. Even if it’s just 45 seconds long.

Don’t give up hope if you’re longing to watch some movie that’s believed to be completely lost. You never know what someone may have in a dusty old trunk in Michigan.

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Michigan rolls past Illinois to win Big Ten title outright, boosting No. 1 seed hopes

Published

1 day ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Michigan rolls past Illinois to win Big Ten title outright, boosting No. 1 seed hopes

Kylan Boswell (4) scored 15 points for the Illini but Yaxel Lendeborg (23) scored 16 in Michigan’s win. Geoff Stellfox / Getty Images

Feb. 27, 2026 11:17 pm EST

Michigan has left no doubt about Big Ten superiority — the No. 3 Wolverines’ 84-70 romp Friday at No. 10 Illinois gives them an outright conference championship with two regular-season games remaining.

The win gives Michigan its first outright title since 2021, and it’s another top-shelf win that gives Michigan (27-2, 17-1 Big Ten) a boost in its pursuit of the NCAA Tournament’s No. 1 seed. This matters for the Wolverines because they would be lined up for a potential Final Four matchup with the No. 4 seed rather than either of the two teams that are also in contention for No. 1 — Duke, which beat Michigan last week to gain the inside track, and Arizona.

Friday’s lone meeting of the regular season between two purported national contenders left Michigan looking much the part, and Illinois looking a tier lower. This was domination, a comfortable second half for a Michigan team that led by as many as 21.

Michigan sophomore big man Morez Johnson Jr., who transferred from Illinois in the offseason, heard a lot of jeers from fans at State Farm Center and responded with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Big man Aday Mara also scored 19. Yaxel Lendeborg, the star of Michigan’s jumbo frontcourt, had 16 points and seven rebounds.

That interior helped the Wolverines to a 42-32 edge in points in the paint and 22 second-chance points. Keaton Wagler had 23 points to lead Illinois (22-7, 13-5), which projected as a No. 2 seed in Tuesday’s Bracket Watch but has lost two straight games and four of six. The Illini are trending in the wrong direction and potentially heading to the three-line.

The No. 1 seed also gets to choose its tournament path, and Michigan has requested Philadelphia as its first-weekend site. Otherwise, the Wolverines will likely be placed in Buffalo, which is closer to Ann Arbor.

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Feb 28, 2026