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TheWolverine.com Chat: Spring football, Michigan hoops, more

Chris Balasby:Chris Balas•03/02/23•

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Michigan Wolverines football and basketball have both had plenty of success in recent years. We discuss both programs in today's chat. (Getty Images)

Michigan is off on spring break but started football practice last week. The Wolverines have hit the ground running, with several already making moves in the first week. We talk about that and more in today’s chat: THEWOLVERINE.COM THURSDAY CHAT.

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One of the storylines this spring — Chris Partridge‘s return as a Michigan assistant. He’s back after spending some years at Ole Miss, and the linebackers have already taken to him.

He’s also hit the ground running on the recruiting trail.

“He’s just so passionate about it. He cares so much,” Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh said. “Going back to the time when he was here, the comments that come back from the families, especially just how much they trust Chris, because it’s daily, weekly, monthly, yearly. He just invests just like it’s like his own family. So just that tremendous passion, how much he cares. Really, I think everybody that he’s associated with just knows that, senses that and then he [emanates] it.

“And it’s not just over those months that he’s recruiting somebody. It’s while they’re here, and it becomes a lasting, trusting friendship with Chris. Just the amount of comments I’ve had from parents, families, where he’s part of the family … he becomes part of the family. That’s what you’re looking for. That’s the kind of coach I want around our players, around our program.”

He’s got several of them at Michigan now. We talk about the impact in today’s chat.

Michigan basketball needs a win this week

Michigan basketball, meanwhile, has two opportunities to pick up a huge road win this week and get back in contention for an NCAA Tournament bid, on the right side of the bubble. The Wolverines will play at Illinois tonight and at Indiana Saturday having won 6 of their last 8.

“It’s ‘go time’ now,” Michigan assistant Saddi Washington said. “But it’s kind of been ‘go time’ for us for a few months as we try to earn our way into seeding for the Big Ten Tournament … as we try to earn our way into postseason play. You hope this is the time of year that your team starts trending in the right direction.”

Michigan got a huge boost, of course, with a win over Wisconsin, but the Illini and Hoosiers have a combined four losses at home this year.

“I think our guys are just having a very clear understanding of how important it is to just live in the details,” Washington said. “Whatever was contributing to us not finishing games, now it appears we’ve learned from our past failures. Failure is a big part of learning how to be successful, right? Now I think we’re in a better position to finish out some of these games as we move forward, because they don’t get any easier.”

The Big Ten Tournament starts next Wednesday in Chicago. The Wolverines will play their first game either Thursday or Friday.

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