One interim coach completed a magic ride and a newcomer to the scene made his first big statement. The Big Ten filled the field and a developing dynasty continued to stride forward. Those were the stories of the 1989 Final Four, as Michigan, Seton Hall, Illinois and Duke played for the national title. Let’s look […]
The 1989 Michigan basketball team was loaded with talent, from All-American forward Glen Rice to talented sophomore Sean Higgins, to the low post duo of Terry Mills and Loy Vaught to their fine point guard Rumeal Robinson. But after a third-place finish in the Big Ten, they looked ready to go into the books as an underachieving disappointment.
Editor’s Note: This is part of a series of sports history articles aimed at preserving the best moments of the modern sports era, from 1976 to the present. The focus is team sports—college & pro basketball and football, major league baseball and hockey.
This article offers a snapshot of 1989 sports, a year that saw an amazing sequence of events unfold for Michigan basketball, the World Series marred by an earthquake and Wayne Gretzky changing sides