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Pelinka

Former Wolverine guard talks about the Fab Five and law school

As a former athlete, you would expect Pelinka to bask in the memories of made 3-pointers and come-from-behind wins. Instead, his memories are related to how he was able to impact others. At Michigan, Pelinka realized that he would be put on a pedestal as a member of the basketball team. He accepted this responsibility with open arms as it gave him the chance to reach out to people.

Daily: So, why did you choose Michigan?

Pelinka: It really came down to a few different things in making the choice. I had a real close relationship with my father. He was involved in my basketball career in the fact that he went to, I think, every home game during my entire career in Ann Arbor. He was there.

I wanted to pick a school that had the top credentials academically and then with the athletic prowess that a school like Michigan has. I think the combination of Michigan and being in the vicinity where my father could still be as involved in my career as he was when I was a high school player. The whole combination of all those factors made it seem like a self-made choice to come here.

D: What was your first impression of Steve Fisher when he recruited you?

P: Coach Fisher, when I was a freshman, was an assistant. He did a large part of the recruiting in the Chicago area because he was a high school coach at one point. So his ties to the Chicago area were real strong and he kind of had a name there.

He did a lot of my personal recruiting. He went to a lot of my games. In fact, he was a big factor in my decision. I really liked coach Fisher. I liked how he recruited, I liked what he had to say about the school, and how coach Frieder ran the program.

D: What are you doing now?

P: This is my last year of law school. I'm on my way out. I have three more months. At the end of the semester, I'll be graduating.

D: How many years have you spent in Ann Arbor?

P: Eight years. A third of my life. I would have never imagined when I picked up and left Chicago that I would have spent that much time here. But it has been a great run of years for me. The University of Michigan will always hold a very special place in my heart.

D: What has been so gratifying about Michigan?

P: I think what's been neat about this University to me is that what you put into your experience here, you can pull out. And, it has so much to offer, that if you explore different things you're going to find benefits from each and every area that you look into. I think I've really developed intellectually as a person here.

I think my character has grown. I think I have learned how to relate and how to interact with a lot of different people in a lot of different arenas. I think I've learned to appreciate a broader perspective. The University of Michigan has been a training ground for my character.

D: Do you think that is due specifically to the University or could it have happened anywhere?

P: I think the University of Michigan is unique in a sense, from an athlete's perspective especially, because I don't think you've got another school in America that you could say has the graduate programs that Michigan has to offer. I went to the Business School and it is one of the top business schools in America.

From an academic side, obviously the school has so much to offer there. And then from the sports side of things there is just so much tradition here. Being apart from the program now for a few years like I've been, I still see the support of people in town.

If I'm grocery shopping, or at Briarwood, people still come up and say: "Man, I remember those great years, and the runs, and the Final Fours." It's always there, and you can just tell that there is a common bond in this community with this University built around the sports program.

D: It must be flattering having people stop to say "hi" every now and then.

P: Yeah, it's neat. It's neat to know when you have done something with your athletic career that has touched someone else's life. It's not necessarily: "Yeah, I remember, I was watching the national championship game on the couch, eating a bowl of popcorn, and it was the best time of my life."

But, it is stories like: "You know, when you were a sophomore, I ran into you uptown. You were buying some CDs, and my son was with me, and you came over and bent down and talked to him for a couple of minutes. And that changed him as a person."

D: Is that support you were talking about something you think is unique to Michigan?

P: I maintained that when you put on a Michigan jersey, it is an amazing platform. I use the analogy that it is kind of like a key that unlocks the hearts of young kids. When a Chris Webber, a Juwan Howard or anyone wearing a Michigan uniform walks into a high school gym, or walks into a store, they have a platform.

D: How involved were you with youth groups during your undergraduate years?

P: I had the chance to go around and speak to a lot of people. Some people helped me out after my senior year and I got to get around. Someone counted up the number of people I got to speak to, and it was like 400,000 people. Just at different basketball camps, and different organizations.

Those experiences to me were as powerful as putting on the championship ring or playing in the Final Four in front of millions of people. I still talk to kids around the country.

D: How often do you think about the actual basketball aspect of your career?

P: I get pretty nostalgic when I get back into Crisler Arena. I've been doing the games on the radio for WJR, I even got a chance to do one on PASS TV, which was fun. I think when I put myself in the hot seat, and start to analyze the games, I tend to really reflect a lot on my career. Outside of that, I think it is important as an athlete to relish and be happy with those memories. But, on the other side, you can't live in the past, you need to look forward.

A lot of my dreams and visions are what I can do down the road, in future years, as opposed to what I have done in the past. Not to say, that there aren't times when I'm sitting on the couch listening to music, or talking with friends, and flashbacks come up of the '89 season. Of Glen Rice, and the rainbow jumpers, and bringing us to the promised land. Or, the game that everyone always wants to talk about, the "timeout game" with Chris Webber.

There have been nights where I haven't slept, literally, for whole nights because I'll be thinking about that game. I've talked to Chris since the game and I've seen it even on ESPN, and stuff. And they show the clip of that, and I was standing on the court opposite Chris, on the baseline, in a spot that was known to be the "hot spot" in the Super Dome. I was with Eric Riley, I remember, in the hotel watching the ESPN teasers to the game. They said the past two Final Fours that had been played in the Super Dome had been decided by a baseline jumper.

One was Keith Smart with Indiana, and before that it was Michael Jordan. Both baseline jumpers to decide the game. And where was I standing when Chris Webber called a timeout? I was standing on that baseline and I was wide open for a three and he said since then: "I saw him, and he was open, and I thought I'd get it to him."

That's a shot that could literally change someone's life. If I had gotten the ball and missed it, I would have been the scapegoat in Michigan history. But if I had made it, I would have been the Sports Illustrated cover boy. Maybe it's best that it stayed the way it did.

D: If you could choose, do you get the ball?

P: No question, I get the ball and I shoot it. Either way, it would have made me a better person.

D: What would be your ideal situation after graduation from law school?

P: I think, ideally, I would love to be in some sort of position, and I don't know how it would happen, where I could have an impact on young people. I don't know if that means coaching, or if that means broadcasting, or if that means as a lawyer helping out families, doing pro bono work in a time of need, or being there for people as a counselor. I definitely think that what drives me is to hopefully get into a position where I can benefit the lives of other people again.