Tourney may decide coach's fate

ATLANTA - Brian Ellerbe was only named the interim coach of the Michigan men's basketball team this past October. But success at this weekend's NCAA Tournament could take the word interim out of his title.

After succeeding former coach Steve Fisher - the players' mentor and friend - Ellerbe had a tough task ahead of him.

He could have taken the Wolverines in many directions. Often, new coaches will make drastic changes - wipe the slate clean and fill it with their own coaching philosophy.

But Ellerbe has made few major changes in Michigan's 24-8 season, and if last weekend was any indication, good things are in Ellerbe's forecast. After capturing the first-ever Big Ten Tournament title, Michigan garnered a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

MARGARET MYERS/Daily Michigan men's basketball coach Brian Ellerbe steps off a bus in Atlanta yesterday. Michigan will play Davidson tomorrow in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

And, despite his contention to the contrary, Brian Ellerbe deserves much of the credit for the success, according to some of the players.

"Coach Ellerbe came here and did a great job under tough circumstances," said Michigan co-captain Travis Conlan. "He could have come in and switched up a lot of things that would've made him look better because that's how he knew how to coach."

It's what the 34-year-old Ellerbe has kept the same that might be his best coaching move of the season. Apparently, Ellerbe is doing something right. Last year, the Wolverines, who finished the regular season 19-11 but lost six of their last nine games, were not invited to NCAAs, and had to settle for a spot in the National Invitational Tournament. This year, Michigan has a first-round date with No. 14 seed Davidson tomorrow at the Georgia Dome.

"He came here and kept everything pretty much the same," Conlan said. "Because of the guys that were already here - the nucleus we had - and he took it upon himself to sacrifice for us. I think that's the biggest thing that everyone's overlooked, is that he came here and let us do what we know how to do."

Lately, what Michigan knows about is winning. The Wolverines ride a six-game win streak into tomorrow's game. Michigan will attempt to win its first NCAA Tournament game in four years, after losing in the first round in both 1995 and 1996.

The Michigan players remain as focused as they've been all season. Michigan center Robert Traylor, named the Big Ten Tournament's most valuable player, will be playing in his first-ever game in the Big Dance. Traylor said that despite a season marked by NCAA scrutiny and a coaching change, the team has gelled.

"Coming into this season, we said it's us against the world," Traylor said. "There's not one guy on this team who believes he can win a game by himself. We know we have to have each other and that's the way it has to be 'til the end."

For Ellerbe, the end is yet to be determined. The NCAA tournament games could be his last as coach of the Wolverines.

Michigan Athletic Director Tom Goss has said he will make a decision shortly after the completion of the Wolverines' season as to who will be Michigan's next coach.

Rumors of possible replacements have floated around, but Ellerbe is not thinking about next year.

"I'm not concerned about my future," Ellerbe said.

Ellerbe credits this year's success with the efforts of his players, not their coaches.

"I believe players should get the credit," Ellerbe said. "I'm pretty old-school, but coaches are only as good as their players. A coach never scores a point and grabs a rebound. At its simplest form, we don't have jobs if we don't have good players."

Michigan forward Maceo Baston is one of those players. Baston, who was recruited by Fisher, said Ellerbe deserves credit for how he has kept the team together.

"He did a great job for us this year for a guy in that position - trying to gain respect from the team and the coaches," Baston said. "Everyone's coming together. There hasn't been any problems on the team, any inter-problems like we've had in the past with teammates.

"We've come together and gelled and kept at what we had to do and we did it," he said.

03-12-98