Michigan team loses stars, but cruises to title

When the Michigan Mustangs arrived in town for the Big Time Tournament last week without their best two inside players, most fans and coaches wrote them off as a legitimate contender for this year's title.

And when the Mustangs' top remaining inside threat -- 6-8 senior-to-be Deeandre Hulett -- had to return home Sunday morning for summer school, even a third straight trip to the final game looked like a long shot for Michigan.

But as it did throughout the six-day, 224-team event, coach Chris Grier's squad taught its naysayers and championship opponent alike a lesson: size can be vastly overrated.

With just one player taller than 6-4 on their active roster, the Mustangs finished off a run of unlikely victories with an easy 98-76 win over South Carolina's Team Carolina Sonics Monday night at Durango High School.

"I told them we had to change our game, and that everything had to be on the perimeter," Grier said. "I told them to get the pace going, and that would take the (opposing) big men out of the game."

The strategy worked perfectly for a club that came up short against the Illinois Warriors and DC Assault in the past two Big Time finals.

On the final two days alone, the Mustangs managed to overcome the New Orleans Jazz's 6-11 center Jonathan Bender, the Atlanta Celtics' 6-8 power forward Donnell Harvey and Team Carolina's 6-8 power forward Jason Parker -- three of the nation's top-rated prospects.

Just how did Michigan win despite its height disadvantage? With a near-flawless formula that combined remarkable quickness, superior outside shooting and a bench filled with capable reserves.

"We're kind of small, so we had to use our quickness," said forward Jason Richardson, who was named the event's MVP after scoring 20 points in the finale. "And we could go real deep on our bench."

With University of Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe watching his state's top players courtside, Richardson displayed the type of explosiveness on the break and the offensive glass that had fans jumping out of their seats all week.

"I didn't have that national reputation like DerMarr Johnson (DC Assault) or Kevin Gaines (Las Vegas Mad Moves) or Leon Smith (Illinois Fire), so I had to show the world what I could do," said the 6-6 Richardson, who will be a senior at Saginaw's Arthur Hill High School this fall.

Mustangs point guard Brent Darby (25 points) also may have improved his Division I prospects with a strong tournament. The same goes for guard Klevin Foster, but college coaches will have to wait three more years to get their hands on the dynamic sophomore-to-be.

For the Sonics, Parker showed he's more than a physical presence despite his football-player frame, scoring 19 points with a variety of surprisingly quick low-post moves.

Carolina swingman Chuck Edison (28 points) also had a productive championship game, hitting consistently from beyond the 3-point arc and in the paint.

* NOTES: Michigan almost didn't get a chance to play in the championship game, arriving more than 30 minutes after the 5 p.m. scheduled start time. While Team Carolina waited, event organizers considered substituting the semifinalist Atlanta Celtics or a group of players named to the all-tournament team before the Mustangs showed up. Grier said his team returned to the Tropicana Hotel to pick up home jerseys and ran into rush-hour traffic on the way back to Durango. Ironically, Grier's squad waited for the DC Assault for about 20 minutes before last year's final. "The first thing I thought of was, '(adidas director of basketball operations) Sonny (Vaccaro) made us wait (last year) so I hope they make them wait for us," Grier said. ... Two Las Vegas players -- Clark guard Kevin Gaines and Cheyenne guard Demetrius Hunter -- were named to the 35-player all-tournament team. ... The Wisconsin Shooters captured the "A" division title, while the L.A. Rockfish was tops in the "B" division. Wisconsin's Quemont Greer and L.A.'s Russell Lakey were the MVPs in their respective brackets.

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