ANN ARBOR -- The Michigan basketball programs welcomed hoops fans back to Crisler Center on Thursday night for the first time since March of 2020.
Coaches and players from the men’s and women’s teams spoke about the upcoming season and had some friendly competitions as part of the “Michigan Madness” event (see video below or click here). Approximately 3,300 fans attended, according to a Michigan basketball spokesperson.
Each player was introduced, with many performing a brief dance before tossing a pair of t-shirts into the stands. Eli Brooks, who returned for a fifth season, entered to Eminem’s “Without Me” (Guess who’s back, back again...).
The MC, Chicago’s Young Wayne, brought the two head coaches, Juwan Howard (men) and Kim Barnes Arico (women), to the stage to answer a few general questions about their teams.
“Two years ago we had this building rockin’,” Howard said. After COVID-19 kept fans out of Crisler last season -- a banner year for both programs -- Howard and Barnes Arico were happy to see them back.
A handful of players went on stage as well to talk about their goals for the season, which involved more banners for both.
(The freshmen were called up to lead the arena in “The Victors.” Suffice it to say that Jordan Hobbs, a rookie with the women’s team, saved the performance from being a complete disaster.)
The two teams squared off in a dance contest at midcourt. After an uninspiring start, a choreographed dance by a quartet of men’s players won over the crowd.
The competitions shifted to those involving basketballs. In a 3-point contest, junior Maddie Nolan was mobbed by her teammates after beating freshman Caleb Houstan. Senior Adrien Nuñez then beat senior Leigha Brown, creating a Nuñez-Nolan championship, which Nuñez won.
(Note: MLive’s video does not include all of the original audio due to music copyright issues.)
Much has been made about the athleticism of the freshmen men. Sure enough, freshmen Kobe Bufkin, Isaiah Barnes, and Frankie Collins were chosen to compete in the dunk contest, along with junior Zeb Jackson and senior Brandon Johns Jr. The participants were a bit ambitious with their attempts, which led to more misses than actual dunks. Bufkin was declared the winner thanks to an impressive off-the-backboard windmill.
The evening concluded with a performance from Chicago rapper G Herbo. Players eventually joined him on stage, with several rapping along with him.
The women open the 2021-22 season with an exhibition game at Crisler on Nov. 4 against Grand Valley State and start the regular season on Nov. 9 against IUPUI. The men’s first home game is the regular-season opener on Nov. 10 against Buffalo.
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