Maize and Blue- Bits and Pieces: 2/19/08

I don't like to start with bad news, but I do like to finish with good news, so you're going to have to put up with the bad news right up front.

David Merritt is done for the season:

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – University of Michigan men's basketball coach John Beilein announced Tuesday (Feb. 19) that senior guard David Merritt (West Bloomfield, Mich./West Bloomfield HS) will miss the remainder of the season after tearing the medial meniscus in his left knee against Ohio State (Feb. 17).

No, Merritt wasn't our best player. Not by a long shot. His career best game was Sunday, a seven point, four assist outing before leaving with the injury. His performance on the court is not what he's known for on the team, however. Coach Beilein puts it best:

"His overall stats are not even close to what David means to this team. He is just a wonderful leader both on and off the court."

In what will most likely be his last game in a Michigan uniform, Merritt showed as much heart as anyone on the floor, hitting a three pointer and two impressive lay-ups to extinguish an Ohio State run.

Thanks for the effort, David. Your presence will be missed, on and off the court.

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The Detroit Free Press is reporting on a Rivals.com article that quotes Terrelle Pryor on a multitude of things, none of which have anything to do with "The Riot at South Fayette" (let's pretend Fayette rhymes with riot, because makes the nickname exponentially cooler.)

What Pryor's quotes do allude to, however, is that he's not coming to Ann Arbor. "Blasphemy!" you say. "Which quotes could you have possibly misconstrued to prove that?!" you ask.

Pryor admits he was set to sign with Ohio State the day before Feb. 6, but a conversation with his father, Craig, made him think twice.

Ouch. That clearly doesn't sting us as badly as it does Ohio State, because he was minutes from signing with them. Literally. He was going to sign a piece of paper with a big red 'O' on it, until his dad said "Not so fast, my friend!"

And while we're not in any worse of a position as we were 15 minutes before he was going to sign his LOI, we're not exactly in better standing:

"I've seen everything at Michigan, but I didn't get to see everything at Ohio State," he said. "I am still in touch with all the Ohio State commitments I've become friends with, but they're being really cool about it, not pressuring me."

Translation: "Michigan can't really do anything to change my mind, short of paying me. Lots. Ohio State, on the other hand, I'd like to see more of what they have to offer."

And with coaches only able to call recruits once a week, it's tough for RichRod to get in a position to be persuasive more than that. I'll give us a 5% chance at landing him.

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MAIZE AND BLUE SPORTS HAS A NEW WRITER!

Daniel, a Michigan graduate currently living in Columbus (yeah, I know), is going to be helping me out here at M&B Sports. He's a fantastic writer, as you'll see in his first post (likely going up tomorrow morning).

For now, he'll mostly be covering hockey, but he's such a fantastic writer, and good personality for the blog that I wouldn't be surprised if he very quickly turns into a general sports poster.

Everyone welcome Dan to the blog, and leave him a nice welcome message in the comments.

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Others:

• Lloyd Carr will be receiving his 2007 Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year award on March 4, at 7pm. You, yes you, can purchase tickets to the event. Check the link for details.

• Freshman forward Aaron Palushaj was named the CCHA rookie of the week for this past week, which included three assists in a weekend sweep of Lake Superior State.

• Another freshman player out of Ann Arbor won player of the week honors this past week as well, Michigan Guard Manny Harris. In big wins over Iowa and Ohio State, Harris shot 57% from three point range, 94% from the charity stripe, and averaged 21 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Wow.

• Former Michigan hockey player Kevin Quick has been charged with identity theft.

Leave a message for me in the comments, and Go Blue!