April 3, 1989: The University of Michigan, led by Glen Rice and Rumeal Robinson, and with head coach Steve Fisher still officially interim (or "caretaker" as they'd say in soccer), beats Seton Hall 80-79 in overtime, to win the NCAA Tournament at the Kingdome in Seattle.
Bill Frieder had graduated from Michigan in 1964, and was a teammate of the man who, to that point, was their best player ever, Cazzie Russell, who would lead them to the NCAA Tournament Final the next season. Frieder became an assistant coach at Michigan in 1973, and head coach in 1981. He led them to Big Ten Conference titles in 1985 and 1986, and a 24-7 record going into the "Big Dance." He seemed to be, to borrow one of the favorite phrases of head football coach and athletic director Glenn "Bo" Schembechler, "A Michigan Man," through and through.
But just before the NCAA Tournament, Frieder got an offer from Arizona State University. It was for considerably more money. And, given that basketball is a Winter sport, the Phoenix metropolitan area would have considerably better weather than the Detroit metropolitan area. He accepted the job, then told the media he would be leaving Michigan after the Tournament.
No, he wouldn't, Schembechler decided: He would be leaving immediately. Schembechler fired him, promoted assistant coach Steve Fisher to be head coach, and said, "A Michigan Man will be coaching Michigan, not an Arizona State man."
For the record, Schembechler himself was a native of Barberton, Ohio, part of the Cleveland metropolitan area, and a graduate of Miami University of Ohio. He did not become head football coach at Michigan until 1969, when he was 40 years old, and had never previously held a job at that University, or anywhere else in the State of Michigan. Regardless of how many football games he had won, and regardless of Michigan's status as a football State first, Bill Frieder was more of a Michigan Man than Bo Schembechler was.
Bo was a hypocrite. But he was also the man with the power, and, rightly or wrongly, it was his call.
Steve Fisher? He was a native of Herrin, Illinois, in the southern "Little Egypt" part of that State. He had graduated from Western Illinois, and became Frieder's assistant in 1982 -- meaning that he got his 1st job at the University of Michigan at age 37, also younger than Bo.
Given that UM is a football school first, and a basketball school second at most, the switcheroo wouldn't have been a disaster, but could have been embarrassing. Instead, Fisher guided the Wolverines to wins over Xavier and South Alabama, then to upsets over North Carolina and Virginia to get into the Final Four, which would be held at the Kingdome in Seattle. In the Semifinal on April 1, against fellow Big Ten team Illinois, Michigan won, 83-81. They were in the Final.
For Michigan, Glen Rice scored 31 points, and Rumeal Robinson scored 21. For The Hall, John Morton scored 35 to lead all scorers on the night. Watching the game on CBS at the time, I thought Michigan were dirty, and the refs let them get away with it. Looking it up, over 30 years later, I see that the Wolverines were only called for 16 fouls, the Pirates for 23.
The game went to overtime. Seton Hall led, 79–76, with less than a minute remaining, when Terry Mills hit a turnaround 11-footer to cut the Seton Hall lead to 1. After a defensive stop, the Pirates' Gerald Greene was controversially called for a foul on Robinson with 3 seconds left. Robinson made both free throws, and, after Seton Hall's last-second shot came up short, Michigan had its 1st National Championship.
To this day, it's the Wolverines' only title. They've also lost title games in 1965, '76, '92, '93, 2013 and '18. It's the closest any New Jersey team has come to winning the National Championship, and Hall fans still think the refs gave Michigan the game.
Seton Hall coach P.J. (Peter John) Carlesimo -- part of the Big East Conference's Italian wing with Lou Carnesecca of St. John's, Rollie Massimino of Villanova and Rick Pitino of Providence -- got the Pirates to the Big East Tournament title and the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight in 1991, the Big East regular-season title and the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1992, and both the Big East regular-season and Tournament titles in 1993.
In 1994, he left to take the head coaching job with the Portland Trail Blazers, losing in the 1st Round of the NBA Playoffs 3 straight seasons. He then moved to the Golden State Warriors, where he never made the Playoffs, and became best known for getting choked in practice by All-Star Latrell Sprewell. He was the coach of the Seattle SuperSonics in 2008, when they moved to become the Oklahoma City Thunder. He last coached in 2013, in the Nets' 1st season in Brooklyn.
Fisher remained in charge in Ann Arbor through the 1997 season. He guided the Wolverines into their "Fab Five" era of 1991-93, reaching the Final under dubious circumstances, to the Elite Eight in 1994, and the NIT title in 1997. Although Michigan's 1991-92 and 1992-93 achievements were later vacated by the NCAA, Fisher himself was cleared of any wrongdoing. Nevertheless, the University chose to distance itself from the scandal, and fired him.
The "Michigan Man" then coached at San Diego State from 1999-2017, getting them from 5023 in his 1st season to 21-12 in his 3rd. He won the Mountain West Conference title in 2006, '11, '12 and '15, and got them to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 n 2011 and 2014.
Bill Frieder, the not-a-Michigan Man, coached at Arizona State through the 1997 season, never winning a Conference Championship, regular-season or Tournament, and only once getting to the Sweet 16, in 1995, and no further.
As of April 3, 2022, Frieder, Fisher and Carlesimo are all still alive.
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April 3, 1989 was a Monday. To avoid TV competition, the NBA scheduled no games for this day. The NHL was between the end of the regular season and the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Football was out of season. For Major League Baseball, it was Opening Day, and these 7 games were played:
* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-4 at Shea Stadium. Dwight Gooden went 7 innings for the win, while the Cards' Joe Magrane didn't get out of the 4th inning. Howard Johnson, Darryl Strawberry and Kevin Elster each had 3 hits, 1 of Johnson's being a home run. All of the Cards' runs were driven in by Pedro Guerrero, including on a home run.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-4 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Craig Worthington singled Mickey Tettleton home with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning. Roger Clemens had started for the Sox, getting a home run from Mike Greenwell and 2-for-4 with a walk from Wade Boggs. Cal Ripken hit a home run for the O's.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Robin Yount went 0-for-4. Paul Molitor was injured, and did not play.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-4 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-3 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 0-for-4.
* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 5-3 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4.
* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. Mark McGwire went 2-for-3 with a home run and 3 RBIs.
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