Michigan’s Title Hopes Ride on Tarpley

Michigan is banking on Roy Tarpley this season.

Tarpley, the Wolverines’ 6-foot-10 center, is the man Michigan is counting in its fight for the Big Ten championship, and he could well be equal to it. The Big Ten’s Most Valuable Player last year is looking to a fine senior season as a springboard to the NBA.

“He’s built himself up to 228 pounds,” Michigan Coach Bill Frieder said. “He wants to be a great pro. He’s worked his tail off to get ready for that.”

Tarpley’s importance to Michigan was underscored at the start of practice this season, when a knee injury he suffered turned out to be slight. The prospect of losing Tarpley was not.

“We’re not a very good basketball team without Roy Tarpley,” Frieder said. “Without him we’re not good inside. After a few days without him we start going back to depending on perimeter shooting.

“You can’t do that and win in the Big Ten. Without Roy in there, we’re not even a top twenty team.”

With Tarpley in the lineup, Michigan can play either a power inside game or go to the fastbreak. He can rebound, run, handle the ball and make the outlet pass. Last season, he averaged 19 points and 10.4 rebounds a game in leading Michigan to a 26-4 record.

Tarpley was one of Frieder’s easiest recruits. He spotted Tarpley, then just 6-6, the summer before his senior season in high school, noting “those long arms and those long legs.”

Tarpley then resembled a scaled down version of the Washington Bullets’ Manute Bol. He couldn’t put the ball on the floor and couldn’t play defense.

But he was tall, had promise of getting bigger and showed natural quickness. Frieder was the only coach to recruit him, and Tarpley announced early he was going to Michigan. Other coaches took interest during his senior year, after tarpley had made a commitment to Michigan.

“By the end of the summer he was 6-foot-9,” Frieder recalled. “He committed to us in November and we didn’t even have to use an official visit on him. We wanted to get 6-7 kids that year anyway.”

Tarpley was discouraged over his lack of playing time as a freshman, but stuck it out. He improved to 12.5 points and 8.1 rebounds as a sophomore, then matured as a junior.

“It all goes back to his determination,” Frieder said. “He wanted to be a great player. He’s put in a lot of time.

“We had to keep getting after him to come out early and work one-on-one and work on his weights. But he did it.”

This season, Michigan is looking for Tarpley to do it once more.