The jersey player for a new breed

LaVell's dad doesn't like to fly. That's why he'll choose Michigan. Current California coach Ben Braun used to open up the Eastern Michigan gymnasium for LaVell to shoot around when he was just a little boy. That's why he'll go to Cal. LaVell wou kld love the opportunity to play with (Virginia recruit) Majestic Mapp in college. That's why he'll become a Cavalier.

With so-called "experts" psychoanalyzing the every move of a high school senior, Michigan coaches and fans craved a shred of reliability.

It was time for the truth - no matter what the decision.

CHRIS DUPREY Dupe's Scoop

It was the day after Mother's Day, one day after Blanchard had shared the news with his family, when they got their wish. "LaVell Blanchard has chosen Michigan!" boomed out Ann Arbor radio station WTKA, proud to have been the main source of Blanchard updates throughout the final days of tension.

And that one sentence meant the rebirth of Michigan basketball.

Sure, Blanchard's not the only player in Ellerbe's first recruiting class. With Kevin Gaines' passing abilities, Gavin Groninger's shooting touch and the multiple talents of Jamal Crawford and Leland Anderson, the Wolverines could have survived without Blanchard.

What is behind this public infatuation with Blanchard? His 28.6 points per game average at Ann Arbor Pioneer is certainly a first-class statistic, but other Michigan prospects have put up impressive numbers before - even at the junior college level, which tops high school ball any day.

Signing a McDonald's All-American gives Michigan a degree of elbow room in the recruiting world, but even that wouldn't likely cause the hysteria that surrounded the Blanchard saga. Remember, Jerod Ward was also a highly-touted player headlining a strong Michigan recruiting class, and no one responded like this. If anything, Ward's injury-filled career reminded hype-builders that Michigan's newfound recruit hasn't checked into a game yet.

The enthusiasm is because Blanchard is a "jersey player," a symbol, a flagbearer for the new breed of Michigan basketball - one where the news is made on the court, by the players; not off the court, by the boosters.

Blanchard's well-trumpeted academic success - he is interested in medical school - is one step on the road to a basketball program where the term student-athlete does not contradict itself. It is a sign that the program is evolving. It is a checkpoint that Brian Ellerbe is doing things the right way, the only way that long-term success is provided for.

May the rumors finally die. And let the season begin.

- Chris Duprey can be reached over e-mail at cduprey@umich.edu.

05-17-99