(Note: if the groundhog saw his shadow this morning, it means six more weeks of Super Bowl hype.)
The University of Michigan is, first and foremost, a football school. Always has been, always will be. Which is a shame for those who have toiled for the basketball, softball, and hockey programs -- all of which have seen their share of glory, too. But nothing can top football at Michigan.
The supremacy of football at U-M also means stability at the coaching position, which isn't the case at other universities where the pigskin is revered. Since 1969, the Wolverines have had three head football coaches. Which is how many the Michigan basketball program has had -- since 1996.
Tommy Amaker, if you've been paying attention to anything printed in india ink in the newspapers, or overheard on the radio waves, or -- gasp! -- glowing on your CRT courtesy of the Internet, should have some pretty warm buns this morning. You know, sitting on the hot seat and all. No stability in that coaching job; not even close.
There was a time when that wasn't the case. Michigan, in the 70's and most of the 80's and 90's, had success, and coaching stability in Crisler Arena. Johnny Orr, Bill Frieder, and Steve Fischer were all in Ann Arbor for more than a cup of cappucino. There were some frequent trips to the NCAA tourney, and an NIT championship. The program sent players to the NBA with some regularity.
They were what Michigan State is now, basically.
But for whatever reason, after Fischer left amid a cloud of scandal in 1997, the words "Michigan basketball" have been almost an oxymoron. Brian Ellerbe came and went, and when he left, I believe there were still a bunch of people on campus who asked, "Who was that, again?"
Now we have Amaker, a Duke man, in his sixth season of mostly mediocre, comme ci, comme ca basketball. The NCAA tourney has been unchartered territory for the Wolverines. Pre-Big Ten records have been artificially bloated. The talent, experts say, has actually been decent. The recruiting is holding its own, for the most part. But not so much, the man in the turtleneck and blazer on the sidelines. The Duke man, Amaker.
It seems highly unlikely, the way things are going, that Amaker will be invited back for a seventh season coaching these Wolverine basketball players. Only a terrific second half of the Big Ten schedule, and some noise in the NCAA tournament, it says here, will be enough to save his job. Neither have precedence recently, so there you have it.
The other night, the Wolverines blew one to Iowa, at home. To a Hawkeye squad which hadn't won a road game all season. Until they visited Crisler. A 20-1 Iowa run wiped out a double-digit Michigan lead. And, as usual, Amaker was left to face the media wretches who wanted to know, "Hey, what happened?"
Yes, there was a time when it was unfathomable that a Michigan basketball team could allow dregs like Iowa score a game-turning, 20-1 run on their own floor. Unfathomable until about, oh, ten years ago, when first Ellerbe, and now Amaker, have scratched their heads in folding chairs on the Michigan bench.
No success, no stability at coach. A new trend now, in Ann Arbor, when it comes to mens basketball. A trend that could spell the end of the Amaker Era, and the dawning of a new one, and from a Michigan man, to boot.
If I was AD Bill Martin, I might give Phil Hubbard a call.
Hubbard, a Michigan center from the late 70's, has been working tirelessly in the NBA as an assistant coach. Just a thought, but I'd be willing to bet that Hubbard would listen to a Michigan overture to be their next head basketball coach. Provided they'll need a new coach.
Odds are, though, that they will.
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