Honors Keep Coming For Michigan's Russell

Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.Wednesday, March 2, 1966 THE ANN ARBOR NEWS Page Twenty-Five Honors Keep Coming For Irllchigan 's R The youngsters at Tappan Junior High have looked forward to their physical educa- tion classes with particular enthusiasm this winter and little wonder. Their instructor is Mi< 5^ ' All-America Cazzie Russell who sp( hours a week at the school as stu- dent teacher. Here, Russell helps Tom Dill- By Wayne DeNeff It's on bright, sunny days in the spring that a person might find Cazzie Russell sit- ting in the Ferry Field stands watching the Michigan base- ball team at practice. It's the crack of the bat on the ball and the thump of the ball in the glove that still ex- c'tp'; the 21-year-old Michigan .merica who today was iiained college basketball's Player of the Year. Russell is a student teacher at Tappan Junior High and it was just about seven years ago—at the age of the boys he now teaches—that Russell started turning his attention He Is 'Player Of Year' to the sport which has brought him national fame. It was Russell's teacher and baseball coach in high school, Larry Hawkins, who recog- nized that baseball scholar- ships were few, usually re- served for pitchers. He sug- gested that Russell start thinking about basketball. "You're not going to get a scholarship playing baseball," Hawkins told the young ath- lete with great natural abili- ties, "let's give basket ha 11 a try. Since thai day Russell never has been too far away from a basketball and Michi- gan Coach Dave Strack some- times actually has to slow him down a bit. Take Monday afternoon, only a few hours before the Michigan-Iowa game. Russell spent more than an hour in sweat clothes firing away at the hoop. Strack, when he saw him, coaxed him off. A little late*- ^"ssell was back on the < ,<ding the Wolverines to a 103-88 triumph which kept Michigan one game in front of Michigan State in the Big Ten race. Russell often goes to Yost Fieldhouse to practice shoot- ing after church on Sundays. Yesterday. Strack called off practice but Russell got in some shooting late in the day. After his junior year. the 6-5V2, 225-pound Russell asked Strack what he should work on during the summer. "Just show up next fall," Strack quipped. "I hardly know what to say," said Russell when told of his selection as player of the year, an honor held by Princeton's Bill Bradley last year while Russell was run- nerup. "I'm grateful. I hope I'm deserving of such an award." Russell, who has set scoring records at Michigan in each of the last three years and soared over the 2,000-mark in total points last Monday, is concerned about the Big Ten basketball race these days. "I just hope we can win the Big Ten, and we're working real hard on that," he says, adding: "Then we can go for the big prize—the NCAA." man in a tumbling session but what the kids i really like is when Russell demonstrates | basketball. Left to right are Lloyd Crawford, i Jeff Ford, Tim Pott, Pete Nichols, Tom | Carey. Gary Willits, Jay Williams. Bartb i Weigum and Doug Wanty. Russell is enrolled j in the School of Education. I