Big Ten Champions: Livers, U-M's Veterans On What This Title Means To Them
Tonight played out like a fairy tale in a lot of ways at Crisler Center, with the Michigan Wolverines’ basketball team not only blowing out hated rival Michigan State on Senior Night, but clinching the outright Big Ten championship in the process.
It was a special evening for everyone wearing the Maize and Blue, especially the seniors and fifth-year seniors who have given all they have to this program — forwards Isaiah Livers and Austin Davis, and guards Chaundee Brown, Mike Smith and Eli Brooks.
Livers was the final one of the bunch to leave the court tonight, kissing the blue block M at Crisler Center’s midcourt before departing one final time.
“I told myself when I woke up this morning that no matter what the result of the game or my performance was, I was going to kiss the floor,” he said afterward. “I knew it was the last time I’d play at Crisler and I just had to — that’s how much love I have for the campus and coaches and this place.
“[Former teammate] Muhammad [Ali Abdur-Rahkman] texted me today and told me to leave it all out on the floor tonight and be regular-season champs.”
That’s exactly what Livers and his Wolverine brethren did, taking home their 15th regular-season championship in the process in the toughest conference in America. U-M’s two conference titles under former head man John Beilein were obviously special as well (2012 and 2014), but this one is as special as any of the school’s previous ones when considering everything this year's team had to fight through off the court.
“At the beginning of the year, everyone asked whether or not we’d even have a season,” Livers recalled. “Coach [Juwan] Howard did a great job keeping our eyes on the road and the journey, and what we wanted to do and what our goals were.
“Doing this tonight on Senior Night is what I’ve dreamed about and envisioned, and what made me work so hard during lifting sessions and during games when I’m tired. This is what drives us at Michigan basketball — we want to hang banners.”
Michigan State and Michigan ended the regular season against one another with a Big Ten championship at stake two years ago as well, with the Spartans coming out on top.
That game in East Lansing has remained in the minds of the veteran Wolverines and added to tonight’s fire, Brooks revealed.
“I remember MSU celebrating on their court after they clinched against us [in 2019],” Brooks recalled. “I remember it so vividly, so this means a lot tonight. We didn’t have to talk about it at all because everyone remembered it.
“Last year, Maryland clinched on their home court against us too and there was confetti falling as we were walking out. We want to win every single game, and it just happened to be against Michigan State that we clinched.”
“It’s even sweeter to do this against MSU,” fifth-year senior point guard Mike Smith admitted, with tonight’s game actually being his first-ever matchup with the Spartans.
“Coach showed us a video beforehand of [former MSU player] Draymond Green — a big talker — saying he wishes we’d never win a game. That shows how competitive this matchup is.
“To celebrate a Big Ten regular-season championship with family and friends here is a blessing. This was one of the things I knew this team was capable of doing when Coach Howard first recruited me.
“This is only one step of the goal though, and we still have a game Sunday, the Big Ten Tournament and NCAA tournaments coming.”
Smith, who scored nine points and handed out five assists, wasn’t the only Wolverine tonight who made it clear he isn’t satisfied with a regular-season title.
“I want a natty too,” Livers said. “A March Madness run [is next], fingers crossed … go get that natty.”
Regardless of what happens in the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments, the job Howard has done in only his sophomore campaign as a head coach has been nothing short of incredible.
Michigan improved its record to 19-2 tonight and 14-2 in Big Ten play, with no coach in school history ever having won more games during his first two years on the job than Howard.
One of the main reasons Livers and Brooks decided to stay in Ann Arbor following the coaching transition post-Beilein was due to who Howard is as a person and the genuine and respectable way he treats his players, coaches and those around him.
“He’s a high-character dude who treats everyone like family,” Brooks exclaimed. “People doubted him. He put his name up there [with this championship]. It’s fun to play for Juwan and he’s a great guy, so I’m happy for him.”
“If Coach Howard had a jersey his size, he’d get out there and play,” Livers laughed. “He has passion for his players and for the game. He’s a winner and has my vote for coach of the year for sure.”
Let it soak in, folks … the Michigan Wolverines are your 2021 Big Ten champions.
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