Basketball: Notebook

U-M still searching for its starting point guard

Angelique S. Chengelis / The Detroit News

Ann Arbor -- Shortly after tiny LeMoyne College upset Syracuse last Tuesday night in a basketball exhibition game, Michigan coach John Beilein's cell phone started ringing.

And ringing.

And ringing.

By the time Beilein checked it, he had more than a dozen messages, including one that informed him that, "finally, LeMoyne has a good coach."

Beilein coached the Division II school from 1983-1992, and his U-M team prepares to face Division II Wayne State at 7 tonight in an exhibition at Crisler Arena.

Naturally, the purpose is to win, but equally important to Beilein is working on lineups and a rotation of nine or 10 players the Wolverines will need this season for major contributions.

"If anybody followed what my former Dolphins (LeMoyne) did the other night, these guys (Wayne State) can play, too," Beilein said. "We'll be treating this as a game-like situation, as will Wayne State. You want to make this as close to the real thing, and the real thing is that you don't play 15 (players) in a game."

The exhibition doesn't count toward the regular-season record. U-M has another exhibition Nov. 14 against visiting Northern Michigan before opening the season Nov. 20 against Houston Baptist.

Perhaps the position of most concern is point guard.

"The point guard is the big one right now," Beilein said. "That's the one where we're going to experiment with what's the best way to go about the rotations."

The primary players at point are Stu Douglass, Laval Lucas-Perry and very hyped freshman Darius Morris, from southern California.

"One of the biggest things (Morris has) done hasn't been here in the two weeks he's practiced," Beilein said. "It's just his history of running a team. We don't have a guy out there right now, with the exception of maybe Josh Bartelstein, who has ever run a team.

"They have to be the coach on the floor a little bit. We see that leadership or mentality in him right now. His head is still swimming, like any other freshman."

Expected in the rotation tonight are: Lucas-Perry, Morris, Douglass at guard, Matt Vogrich and Harris on the wing, Anthony Wright, Zack Novak, Zack Gibson and DeShawn Sims at the forwards and Cronin inside.

Injury update

Harris continues to deal with what Beilein described as a high hamstring injury in his left leg.

"The higher hamstring, they tell me, takes longer to heal than a regular mid-level hamstring," Beilein said.

He has been limited in practices so that he doesn't suffer a re-injury. Harris said he has been doing a variety of rehab, like biking and working out in a pool.

Beilein said Harris was full-go during Wednesday's practice, and described him as "the best he looked." Harris was expected to fully participate Thursday.

... Freshman forward Jordan Morgan continues to recover from knee surgery.

"He is not going to be going full court for another couple weeks," Beilein said. "We thought he'd be going full court by not, but not yet." B

Beilein has not ruled out redshirting Morgan, but has not made a decision.

... As for redshirt freshman Ben Cronin, who had hip surgery nearly a year ago, he still needs time to fully recover.

"He's been doing OK," Beilein said. "He's running better, bouncing better, but still not 70 percent of what he will be at one point, so be patient with him."

... And sophomore guard Zack Novak (ankle sprain) said he's fine.