UM to open Wayne State's new arena
Wayne State will host the University of Michigan in a basketball exhibition on Nov 5th to open their new arena. I think that's pretty cool of UM to do this for the smaller school.
August 19th, 2021 at 8:27 AM ^
That’s pretty cool, I think the Pistons had a big part in getting the arena built. Their G-League affiliate will be playing their games there.
August 19th, 2021 at 8:30 AM ^
Very cool! And this was a delicious quote
“I truly appreciate the willingness of Coach Howard and Warde (University of Michigan Director of Athletics Warde Manuel) to provide this opportunity to open our arena with the state’s premier Division 1 program,” said Fournier. “To me, it underscores their genuine support for the City of Detroit and our community.”
August 19th, 2021 at 8:35 AM ^
I always knew I liked Rob Fournier.
August 19th, 2021 at 8:48 AM ^
Oh man, sparty beat reporters are going to demand a retraction.
August 19th, 2021 at 9:52 AM ^
Disrespekt!
August 19th, 2021 at 9:58 AM ^
Wow. That's surprising and impressive. He could have taken the diplomatic route and praised UM generally. ("one of the premier programs in the country")
But either he forgot about State—that happens—or he wanted to make a deliberately dismissive statement.
Maybe izzo dizzed him.
August 19th, 2021 at 11:20 AM ^
1. Michigan
2. Mott Community College
3. MSU
August 19th, 2021 at 8:36 AM ^
After doing favors ($$) for small schools through the years - Mass. Lowell, Concordia( Ann Arbor), Le Moyne, Grand Valley- it’s cool that we’re sorta returning the favor to Wayne State. Where can I get tickets???
August 19th, 2021 at 12:41 PM ^
And don't forget Slippery Rock, which played and hosted a game in the Big House (against Wayne State, I believe).
August 19th, 2021 at 8:38 AM ^
that's just cool as hell. pack 'em in and don't blow them out too bad.
August 19th, 2021 at 8:44 AM ^
to open our arena with the state’s premier Division 1 program
Ohhh yeahhhhh... that's some major league disrepekt right there.
August 19th, 2021 at 8:55 AM ^
C'mon ref!
Didn't you see the blatant Disrespekt?
August 19th, 2021 at 11:30 AM ^
We may need an update to the Bo Ryan Index. Instead of rage, it's the percentage of pics on the first page of a GIS that shows a coach looking like their wife just murdered their puppy.
August 19th, 2021 at 10:47 AM ^
Very cool for us to support Wayne State and Detroit like this. Kind of a mixed bag for Wayne though - you're probably going to get pasted in your opening game, but I guess if you pulled in some small school no one would notice or care. I guess it's probably worth taking the L just to get the exposure for them
August 19th, 2021 at 11:16 AM ^
Extrapolating from being a bad athlete on bad high school teams, I always thought it was cool to get the chance to play any "big names" (even if blown out). I imagine the Wayne State players feel the same way--fist bump with Coach Howard after the game, awesome etc.
August 19th, 2021 at 12:25 PM ^
Exhibition game so it won't count in the standings, gets your school some exposure, gets your players a chance to see how they stand up to the big guys, gets the bench players for UM some competitive minutes. Win-Win.
August 19th, 2021 at 12:27 PM ^
I don't think it's a "mixed bag" at all for Wayne. It's all positive.
For an analogy ..... about 12 years ago, Northern Kentucky (NKU) was still D-2 and they opened a new arena. One of the arena's opening events was a pre-season exhibition against Louisville.
UL won, as one would expect, but it was nothing but a positive from the NKU side, in terms of publicity, being an enjoyable experience for their players and fans, and making some $$$ (the game sold-out).
August 20th, 2021 at 11:09 AM ^
i'll be stunned if juwan runs it up on them, though. he'll be a good dude before, during, and after.