New Era, Same Dominance? Michigan Basketball Makes a Statement vs. Eastern Michigan! Go Blue Hoops!

[Hail Media Group presents Go Blue Hoops, where Michigan basketball’s past, present, and future all come together in one show. Hosted by former Wolverine great, 10-year NBA veteran, and longtime ESPN and NBC college basketball analyst Tim McCormick. Each episode goes beyond the box scores from championship memories and recruiting stories to sharp breakdowns of the season ahead. Insight, legacy, Michigan basketball. This is Go Blue Hoops. Hey everybody, the Go Blue Hoops podcast is presented by the leaders and the best at Michigan Medicine. There’s a difference between an answer and a Michigan answer. To find your answer, visit michiganers.org. Thanks so much to Michigan Medicine. Also, OLIPOP is a wonderful sponsor for us. I enjoy OLIPOP. It tastes good.

It’s healthier than other soda options. Also, thanks to the Knight’s Steakhouse, which I am a big fan of. It’s a great option when you’re in town for a game or visiting, go to Knight’s Steakhouse. And also a special thanks to Valiant, that’s our apparel provider, the great John Wangler. Um, we’re really fortunate to have that relationship. Also, the A2 Homegirl Real Estate Group with eXp Realty, Sheri Winrob, the lady in charge. She knows real estate and knows what it means to go blue. All right, we’ve got another strong podcast for you. Welcome back everybody.

And it’s been 188 days since Michigan won the national championship and now it’s time to start defending it on the court. 188 days since we beat UConn at Lucas Oil Stadium. one of my favorite days ever and I’m predicting another exceptional year by the Michigan team. Also on the podcast today, we’re going to speak to a fascinating guy in Michigan’s basketball folklore. Um, Garde Thompson has a great story. He’s also one of the most popular players that this team has ever had. Um, he’s loved by his teammates, but also anybody that he meets. Um, also he holds the single game record for Michigan for threes in a game. He had nine threes in the NCAA game against David Robinson and Navy and he’s got a lot of great content to share with you. So stay tuned.

You will absolutely love it. Okay, we watched Michigan beat Eastern Michigan by 25. Eastern not a good team. Uh, Michigan played 11 guys, which is a big number. Roddy Gayle would make it 12. I would guess that the rotation’s probably going to be nine in big games. Um, but I saw a lot that I liked. Um, and I’ll share that with you. I saw nothing at all that concerns me at this point. These games are tremendous as a learning tool. Um, if you’re concerned that Michigan was up by three with 90 seconds to go in the first half, don’t be. Um, the exhibition games are an amazing opportunity for growth. The NCAA definitely deserves a little credit on this one. Nobody else gives them credit for anything, but the exhibition opportunities are just fabulous.

So to put the value in perspective, in 1984, um there were no scrimmages or exhibition games. Everybody had to start on the same day. And it was just pretty brutal because for five weeks, we were just pounding each other going up against Butch Wade and Richard Rellford and Robert Henderson and Roy Tarpley. And it was pretty brutal not seeing another player, another team to match up with. And so what we actually did, I thought this was a brilliant idea. This was okay under NCAA rules. Um what Bill Frieder did was set up two scrimmages. Um one was at Flint Central, that’s Eric Turner’s high school, and the second one week later was at Clarkston High School, which is my school. Both scrimmages were sold out. Um, standing room only.

And it was so much fun to go back and play in front of my high school crowd. The crowd was electrifying in both gyms and it really helped our mindset as we walked away from that contest. Um, what do the three scrimmages do? What are the benefits? Well, they play Eastern, Oregon State, and Houston in Grand Rapids, which will be an NCAA caliber type of opponent. Um, you work on your rotation, treat it like the first game, see who plays well together. Uh, wonderful experience for the freshman to actually put on a uniform and feel the crowd. Um, congratulations to those guys. You can sharpen the offense with 11 guys. Only Trey and Elliot really know the system well. Um, great for Mike Boynton Jr. to further establish his system.

There’s four new big men that have to learn about playing at Crisler and playing in the Big Ten. The defense will need time for sure. Does it mean anything? Absolutely not. Remember last year in exhibition game number one, Michigan played against Cincinnati and gave upund 100 points and they lost the game. Um this was supposed to be the best defense in the country, right? And they didn’t look like it in their first exhibition game. Also, when you look at their second exhibition game, it was against St. John’s. That was a neutral-site game in New York. Michigan beat St. John’s by two. It was a great test versus an elite opponent. Um, more growth and opportunity on defense. Michigan gave up 94 points in that game.

So, um, one month later, you may remember Michigan learned from these experiences, went to Las Vegas for the Players Era Championship, and they beat San Diego State, number 21 Auburn, and number 12 Gonzaga by a total of 110 points. So, these are all just growing experiences now. It doesn’t count on their record. And I do think that was one of the keys that they got a couple games that really helped build them for once the regular season started. Um, so what are some of my Eastern Michigan takeaways from the game on Sunday? In the battle for Washtenaw County supremacy? Um, I like the balance obviously with six guys in double figures. Over half of the rotation had success and did score 10 or above. Um, point guard was a concern about six weeks ago.

I just didn’t think that it was smart to go into a season with Elliot Cadeau as your only true point guard. The addition of Kenny Noland builds my confidence a great deal. I liked actually Kenny Nolandd and Elliot Cadeau playing together. Um, Trey was on the court too. That’s three guards, three guys that can all handle the ball and run the offense. If you’ve got that much playmaking, you’re going to be really hard to stop. Also, Joseph Hartman is a player. Uh, very smart, coach’s son. I liked him in Lithuania. I liked him a lot in the practices that I was watching. Um, I also think that he was just flat out impactful in the game. 10 points, four or five from the field. Um, he was not a hindrance on defense. He knew where to go. Uh he helped break the press.

A lot of positives from Joseph Hartman. I think he’s got a really good chance to be a regular in the rotation this year. Uh the top performers, Trey McKenney and Quinn Costello, both pure shooters. Uh I’ve attended seven practices so far. I watched three games in Europe. I saw Eastern Michigan. The thing that I like about good shooters, about pure shooters, is they shoot well every day. They’re not streaky. The fundamentals are sensational. Uh those two, Costello and McKenna, combined for seven for 15 from three. Um what else did I like?

I thought it was great that we had a huge lineup out there with Thiam, Estrella, and Quinn Costelloo spreading the court. the lane is wide open when those guys are on the court together because the big guys can step out and Quinn is going to be a problem for defenses because of his range. Uh, a couple of other things when we talk about good shooting. It’s a great sign that Joseph Hartman and J.P. Estrella both made two threes. Um, I think this is going to be a really solid shooting team. I also wanted to point out how impressed I am with the leadership of Roddy Gayle. Um, he’s dealing with lawyers and litigation and NCAA briefs and will he be eligible.

He shows up every day, goes to work, leads the young players, takes pride, and yesterday, you know, he’s ready to get back on the court and he can’t play. He’s told that no, it’s it’s not it’s not quite time. There’s some paperwork that needs to be done over again. It’s just ridiculous and it just shows what u a fortunate fan base we are to have a guy like Roddy Gayle as a leader. And when I talk about leadership, I always feel like Michigan’s best football teams, Michigan’s best basketball teams, the common denominator is great leadership from the veterans. When I look at Bryce Underwood, you I think he’s got a lot of potential, but why is a sophomore being named captain when he hasn’t really established himself as a great leader yet?

Um I think that Michigan is very fortunate to have Trey McKenney and Elliot Cadeau. They were new players last year. They had never played for Michigan and so they saw what it was like from Will Tschetter and, you know, some of the returning players on how to lead. Now they’re showing leadership to the freshman and the young guys. It’s evident at practice. It’s evident after the game and the post game. I love the post game where all of the players came and surrounded Trey McKenney. They’re really good leaders and that’s the foundation of a good team. Um, what else did I like? Three podcasts ago, I predicted the J.P. Estrella and Moustapha Thiam would combine to average 24 points and 15 rebounds per game. Those are big numbers. I like both players.

They will love this system, especially the pick and roll game and the lobs with Elliot Cadeau. Um, this will be a top two front court in the Big Ten. Michigan and Illinois, the best big guys in the conference. So, there’s positive things. Anything to be concerned about. Once again, I said, “No, there’s nothing to be concerned about at this point. There’s just learning. Um, every experience you have is going to make you a little bit better. It’s a loaded roster and please don’t start comparing them to last year. Last year was an anomaly. Everything fit together. The defense was amazing and they kept getting better and better.

This team this year has great potential. four best players, Estrella, Thiam, Kadau, and McKini, I think are all top 25, top 30 players and so they’re deep and they’re definitely talented. Also, not really a concern, but a few coaches will point out in the film room, I thought that the players jogged through the offense a little bit at times. Nothing horrible, but if you’re going to win at Indiana, if you’re going to win at the Breslin Center, if you’re going to knock off Illinois at home, you have to get out of the habit of jogging through your sets. Some of that is the excitement of the first game. Some of it is uncertainty. Some of it is just, you know, it’s human nature that you kind of ease into things.

Um, I thought there was also some slippage in the second half on defense. Nothing horrible, just too much penetration. And it’s important to be able to protect Thiam and Estrella, keep them out of foul trouble. That’s going to be something that’s going to get discussed a lot in the film session. And last, Ricky Liburd and Jalen Reed are still on a minutes restriction, and that’s okay. Um, I’ve seen Ricky practice. He will be a fantastic two-way player for this team. I think he’s going to have a huge season. And Jalen Reed is so far advanced based on when most players come back from ACL’s and Achilles injuries.

Um he’s doing really well and in practice he’s physical, he’s tough and he definitely has some rust on his game that will be taken care of by the start of the regular season. Um also congratulations to the Michigan players that played their first college game ever. First time wearing the maize and blue, getting to run out of the tunnel. Doesn’t matter whether it’s an exhibition game or not. It’s a significant accomplishment. These players all dreamed about being college players when they were young. They realized it in the Eastern Michigan game and they should be very proud. Ricky Liburd, Quinn Costelloo, Joseph Hartman, and Malachi Brown. Good job. And it kind of made me remember my first game ever.

I was a little bit nervous and I remember running out of the tunnel and I looked up and I saw my family was there. I was filled with pride and the band was playing the fight song and we run out and we ran out and hit the M Go Blue banner and I remember Mike McGee who is a senior leader that was chasing the all-time Big Ten scoring record. He came up to me and he said, “Listen, if you get the ball, don’t shoot. give it to me. He seriously said that and I thought this isn’t going to be very much fun. But it all worked out and I still remember that first game vividly. So now I want to talk to a really good friend of mine, a guy that has some great accomplishments in his career, and I know that you’re going to find him wildly entertaining, the great Garde Thompson.

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When a new airway is what you need to keep breathing. Only Michigan answers with specialized treatment options that aren’t available anywhere else in Michigan. We provide the nationally recognized care you need without having to travel out of state. Learn how University of Michigan Health answers the call at michiganers.org. All right, it’s time for the Michigan Man interview on the Go Blue Hoops podcast and we have a very special guest. one of my favorite Michigan players of all time, a great teammate. Garde Thompson, u a star of East Grand Rapids High School, lethal three-point shooter, uh big winner, NIT champions, and two times winning a Big Ten title, and one of the most popular players in Michigan basketball history. Garde, thanks for coming on the podcast.

Really appreciate it. Thank you very much for having me and thanks for hosting me on my visit my senior year in high school and convincing me to be a Michigan Wolverine for the rest of my life. Appreciate it. So, what do you remember about your visit? Oh boy, we can’t we talk about all this online live. Uh it was awesome. Um you made me feel very comfortable. We had a Notre Dame Michigan football game and uh it was awesome. It that signed the deal right there. What about the night before the game? any illegal behaviors or anything? We cannot go into that. We you and I will both be in trouble. All right. So, maybe you can start out by sharing with Michigan fans what you’re doing these days to stay busy. Yeah. So, I live in Cincinnati and I’ve got two wonderful kids.

My daughter Ally, um, who you know and your daughter knows well helped get my daughter on the volleyball team at Grand Valley State thanks to your daughter. um she’s 26 and lives out in Golden, Colorado. And then my son is 24, Garde Jr. He’s a double major here at the University of Cincinnati, both math and physics, and he will graduate this December. So, they’ve both kept me very busy on and off the field and on and off the court. So, you had a prolific high-scoring career uh in East Grand Rapids, runner up to Antoine Joubert for Mr. Basketball. What was your transition like coming to Michigan? Uh do you remember your first practices and some of your teammates? What was going through your mind? Yeah, I remember them very well.

You and you and Dan Pelekoudas were the two seniors. Then you had Eric Turner and Leslie Rockymore as juniors and then you had uh the group that were sophomores, the five ahead of us, Paul Jokisch, Robert Henderson, Richard Rellford, Butch Wade, and Roy Tarpley. And then there was Antoine and I. And I kind of felt like I was the odd man out because I was probably the probably the least talented guy on the team at that point. And strength-wise and everything else, I had to learn from everybody. So, it was good to have Dan Pelekoudas as a mentor and you as a mentor and I kind of had to cut my teeth freshman year. I pretty much was a cheerleader. I did not get in the court and to play much at all. Yeah.

The reason I was so excited that you came to Michigan is because when you were a freshman on campus, um, as a senior, I was sort of responsible for taking recruits around and I always made sure you were with me because we ended up at a great party or a sorority. So, like from day one, you took charge of the recruiting. Well, it that’s that’s what you did when I came in my senior year in high school. And you know what? these recruits nowadays, especially with the whole NIL package, if they don’t enjoy their two days on campus, they pretty much write that school off. So, you’ve got to kind of pull out all the stops. And back then, it was not nearly like it is today with as many factors going into the recruiting process, but boy, we did it the right way.

We did it by the book and we and we made sure they had fun. And we had no money to take them out. No money. No money. I remember I remember us begging Perry Pericus at Thano’s to give us a pizza. They’re like, “Listen, that’s illegal. Now, now these kids are making a million dollars a year coming to school.” So, when you came on campus, your first three years, there was no three-point line. And that’s what you did. You excelled as a three-point shooter. But then as a senior, all of a sudden, you had a three-point line. You averaged 15 points per game. You put up one of the most prolific three-point shooting games in Michigan history. Actually, you’ve got the record uh 33 points on nine threes against David Robinson and Navy in the NCAA tournament.

What do you remember about that game? I remember that he scored 50 that he followed Loy Vaught, Mark Hughes, Glen Rice, and JP out of the game. And if he’d had any help, they would have beat us. Thank God we had a better team than them. But the guy was a man among men. He was just unbelievable talent and is as down to earth. I mean, you played against him in the NBA. As down to earth as anybody you’ll find. Love the guy. Yeah. What about the um the three-point line? How did you find out that all of a sudden there was going to be a three-point line and it was it was kind of wasted for three years because, you know, a lot of your shots were from deep, but you weren’t rewarded for it. No.

But thank God because that would have meant Scott Skiles would have had a three-point line, too. and that he’d have averaged probably 50 a game had Scott Skiles had a three-point line. You know, I was in the gym early August going into my senior year and I had a key to get into Crisler and I’m in there shooting by myself and there’s this guy on the floor with knee pads on and he’s painting a line around the top of the key.

I said, “Hey,” I said, “What are you doing?” He goes, “Oh, you guys are going to have a three-point line.” I said, “What do you mean you guys?” He goes, “Yeah, the Division One’s having a three-point line this year.” I said, “Well, how far back is it going to be?” He said, “It’s going to be 19 ft 9 in.” I said, “Right here at the top of the key.” He goes, “Yep.” I said, “All the way around 199.” He goes, “Yeah, I’ll be done in about an hour.” So, I kind of waited for him to finish. And I said, “Oh, man. So, you’re telling me this is legit for our Big Ten games included and the NCAA Tournament.” He goes, “Yeah, all year you guys are going to have it.” And probably from here on in. So, I spent the next two months kind of between you and I.

I didn’t tell anyone else what this thing was. I sat and spent two months practicing and practicing and practicing 2, three, four hours a day. All I would do is shoot threes. And sure enough, once the game started, you know, everyone was so used to letting you shoot from out there because it was only worth two. Well, all of a sudden it wasn’t worth two. And you know, I think our team was fortunate because you had Antoine Joubert, you had Gary Grant, you had Glen Rice, and you had myself. You had four people that could flat out shoot the ball. And that was a tough recipe for people to stop.

And so we took advantage of it and then obviously they have taken advantage of it every year since then and it’s a huge staple of the game thanks to Steph Curry and what he’s done in the NBA. But what a what a godsendon to have that at least for one year of my career. Well and it was a really good career as I said two Big Ten championships, an NIT championship. Um, and as a senior, what a lineup. What one of the most prolific scoring lineups in Michigan history? You and Antoine and Gary Grant and Glen Rice. Um, you started all 31 games, averaged 15 points per game. Give me a quick thought on Judge and Gary and Glenn, what they meant to you, what you thought of their games. Well, they were we didn’t have anyone on our team that was not a good teammate.

Uh, they kind of got weeded out as the years came along. By the time we were seniors, you know, we had just lost, you know, Jokic had switched to football. So, you had Robert Henderson, Butch Wade, um, Richard Rellford, and Roy Tarpley all graduate. Those are all big men. So, in come JP and Mark Hughes and Loy Vaught along with Glen Rice and Mike Griffin from Chicago. And the 10 of us just played well together. You know, we weren’t awesome, but we beat number two Iowa. We beat number one Indiana. We beat number three Syracuse. We took everybody we played down to the wire and scored a ton of points and it was fun to be on that team. Everybody passed the ball. It was like last year’s team. You know, you take a guy like Will Tschetter who was a senior last year.

He didn’t get to play a ton, but I’ll tell you what, he was as important to that team as anybody on that court because he kept everybody together. He was the glue to that team. I kind of felt like Antoine and I that was our job with that team that year was to keep everybody together because freshman year, you know, by the end of the year, you were the dominant guy. You won us the NIT championship in New York City against Notre Dame when we beat him by 20 and you put on a clinic. Sophomore and junior year, you had Roy Tarpley and you had the other big boys going with it. But then when you add Glen Rice and Mark Hughes and J.P. Oosterbaan and Loy Vaught and Mike Griffin along with Antoine Gary and I, that’s a fun team and we had a great time playing. Great time playing.

And Coach Fisher and Coach Frieder were awesome. They let us take the ball and run with it. You um you mentioned Coach Frieder. You seem like you had a really unique relationship with him. What did you think of Frieder? How I bet you probably have a couple good stories. He was he was a he was like a riverboat gambler, my kind of guy. Um, you know, he wore his feelings on his sleeves. Um, very different from Steve Fisher in Fish still to this day is one of my good friends and you know as well as I do, we play in the ALS Brotherhood Michigan alumni golf outing every summer. You’re in my force of me riding my cart and that all goes to ALS and to Mart Fisher’s son or Steve Fisher’s son, Mart Fisher. But Frieder and Fisher were great. They uh they recruited me.

They put these teams together that I was blessed to be on. And like I said, freshman year NIT championship, thanks a lot to you, but a lot to the hard work that we all put in. And then backto-back outright Big Ten championships. They just made it fun. And after my freshman year, you didn’t get to go, unfortunately. You were trying to make the Olympic team and should have made the Olympic team. And then we’re with the Philadelphia 76ers, but we went to Europe for 3 weeks. And as part of our trip, we had a couple days off. So, we were in Monte Carlo and it was Frieder Fiser, Antoine, Eric Turner, and myself uh trying to play blackjack. And you know, we’re playing, we had no money back then, right? So, we’re playing $5 a hand. $5 a hand.

And Frieder’s just sitting there watching, sitting there watching. And all of a sudden, he pulls out of his wallet and puts a thousand down on all of our hands. And we’re like, “What are you doing?” And sure enough, blackjack, blackjack, 20, blackjack. And he did that twice. We won eight, nine, $10,000. Not us, he. And then they escorted us by our ears out of the casino because they knew he was counting cards. It was a single deck. And I, as I learned throughout my next three years, the dude was a genius. I mean, you think you think Rudy was smart and you think Mike Griffin was smart, Frieder was like in a different level of smart. Well, didn’t his daughter Laura graduate from Michigan at like age 12 or something like that? I don’t I don’t know about that.

But no, you’re you’re right. He was smart. And when you mentioned the European trip, um this current team took a trip to Lithuania. Um what are the benefits that you got? Was it on the court? Was it off the court chemistry-wise? Um will this will this help this Michigan team the upcoming year? That’s a great question. The answer is yes. I mean, other than the unfortunate ACL tear of our of our coveted incoming freshman, I feel bad for him. He’ll he’ll he’ll get back to it. He’ll get back to it. But the bonding and the things that you get to experience, you can’t do that here practicing against Eastern Michigan and whoever else is local, right, for your scrimmages, being able to do that. When we went over there, we played the West German Olympic team.

So, this was the summer of 84, so prior to the 84 Olympics, as you know. Um, so Detlef Schrempf and Rik Smits were on the West German team. Um, and we beat them twice. We played the Greek Olympic team. We beat them twice and we split with the Italian team. So, you know, we won five out of six games against Olympic teams, just our Michigan basketball team. And we got to go to Nice. We got to go to Monte Carlo. We did things that you just, you know, we were in Amsterdam. We got to tour the red light district. Of course, I don’t partake in that type of activity, so I was not there. I was back in my hotel reading. Just kidding. Um, but it was fun. You know, we bonded everyone. It brought us closer and I think that was a big reason.

You know, had you come back the next year, honest to God, I don’t think we’d lose a game. If you and Tarpley are on the court with us with Gary and Antoine and Rock and I as the as the guards, I don’t see us losing a game that next year had you come back. You um you mentioned Gary Grant, what a special player he was. I want you to talk about him. And also, kudos to you because if I was in that situation coming into my senior year and they bring in a stud like Gary Grant, I would have been mad. Did you have any conversations with Coach Frieder about your Antoine and I So once again, kind of how Frieder recruits, right? He told Antoine and I sat right in our living room and said, “We will not recruit a guard the next year.

We’ll we’ll go two years.” So we said, “Okay, you know, fine.” which, okay, the year ahead of us, we’re all the big guys, right? Then you have our group and then we figured that the next the year behind it’ll be big guys again. All of a sudden, I’m I’m sitting there on a Saturday in the spring of my freshman year and you know, Eric Turner was leaving to go pro and so I’m thinking I got I got a legit chance to start as a sophomore next year. You know, it’ll be Rockymore, Antoine, G, and me, the three of us kind of battling for spots.

And I’m watching the McDonald’s All-American game on a Saturday with my roommate and they go, “Yeah, this is Gary Grant from Canton McKinley and he’s committed to Michigan.” And I said, “Hold on, Browntown.” My roommate, “Brown town.” What did he say? He said, “Oh, dude, he’s coming to Michigan.” I said, “No way.” So we didn’t have cell phones. So I went to my wall phone that was on the wall in my dorm and called Freeder and he picked up. He goes, “Garde, I know what you’re going to say.” He goes, “But he’s so good we couldn’t pass on him.” And I’m like, “What? What?” Okay. Um, well, I said, “Okay, fine.” I said, he goes, “And I’m telling you, you will want to play with this guy. He’s he’s that kind of player.” And he was 100% right. He made Antoine and I better.

We were in our minds one of the best three backcourt in the in the in the country, right? And we could all three play all both spots. Point Garde, running, you know, shooting Garde, you name it. We could all play it. and we all got along on and off the court and that made it well worth the frustration I felt initially when we signed Gary. But thank God because he’s turned into one of my good buddies and I would do anything for him. What about Glen Rice? I think he’s the best player in Michigan basketball history. I know he’s somewhere up on your list. Uh G Rice is awesome. When he came into Michigan, so let me give you a story about that. my freshman, my sophomore year, Glenn’s senior year at Flint Northwestern.

Um, Frieder on a Tuesday night after practice said, “Hey, let’s go.” Gary and I in Fisher and Frieder got in the car to go to Flint to watch Flint Northwestern play against Flint Central. Flint Central was Eric Turner’s old school. You know, they had won a couple state championships. Well, now Flint Northwestern was the team to beat, right, with Andre Rison and Glen Rice and Anthony Pendleton and a number of those guys. And so we go to the game and it was sold out and kind of like when I went to your game against Saginaw when you were a senior at Clarkston, it was awesome. Like the environment was awesome. And we’re sitting there watching and Glenn just by halftime it was a 25-point game. Flint Northwestern was rolling him.

So Frieder said, “Okay, let’s go.” Now, mind you, this is probably first week of February, so it’s 10° out, snow on the ground. He goes, “I want to take you by Glenn’s house.” And he drove us over to Glenn’s house and there were no lights on and we went around back and he showed us how the kitchen was set up and they were sleeping in sleeping bags in the kitchen with a Coleman lantern as their heater. And I just remember thinking, “You got to be kidding me.” And here I complain if I don’t get the right food for my meal for dinner, right? And here this kid’s struggling to get through a Michigan winner. When he came to Michigan, he was he was a hard kid. He was frustrated with the world, right? As any of us would be.

But I’ll tell you what, over the next two years, he turned into one of the nicest dudes, biggest heart, and to this day. Love seeing him at the golf outing. Love seeing him anywhere. He’s just a he is he is the epitome of what it’s like to go from having a rough life to turning your life around and being just the Mac of all Macs. Glen Rice. Awesome. Awesome to see him be like that. And his brother’s same way. Yeah. To continue the conversation with Glenn, you’re not going to like this. I um on the podcast two weeks ago, I came up with my list of the best five shooters in Michigan basketball history. And I want to hear yours, but I had an honorable mention list. And what I did is I had you on there along with Gary Grant and Shawn Higgins.

But my number five all-time best shooter, Trey Burke. Number four is Duncan Robinson. Number three is Nik Stauskas. Number two, Louis Bullock. Number one is Glen Rice. Your thoughts? Are you bitter that I didn’t have you in the top five? I’m pretty much beyond bitter. Um, no, I’m just kidding you. Uh, you can’t go wrong with any of those guys. I give Louis Bullock and Before we continue, you know how we have this golf outing every other summer, right? to fight ALS and to help give back. And it’s our Michigan basketball brotherhood. And shout out to Josh Stler, Alan Shrager, Louis Bullock, and Mark Hughes for putting that together to bring all of us back together and to make everyone feel a part of it.

And Coach Beilein and Dusty May and Coach Boynton, all of them have helped all of us come back to be part of the same team and pulling for each other. So, I give Lewis crap all the time that he was just behind me on three-point shooting. Now, those guys could all outshoot me any day of the week. I had a couple lucky days. They did it for years. So, I’m just honored to be on the honorable mention list. I disagree. I think you’d belong on that list. How about this? On my top six list, you were there. I better be six. Yeah, I better be six. So, you brought up golfing and I have to call you out a little bit. You’re right. The last couple of years we did play together at Moose Ridge. You were my partner and it was one of the most bizarre rounds.

First of all, you had a gallon of some cocktail. I’m not sure what it was. It was very strong. And then I’ve never seen this before. You had a Frisbee. So when you’re backed up on a par three, you’re throwing a Frisbee around with Steve Stoker or whoever’s in our group. Um and then you ran up to the next tee and you were giving Glen Rice and his group a lot of hassle. And then you’d run behind us and you were getting Stu Douglas and that whole group a hard time. And yeah, those guys. I’ I’ve never played with anybody so disruptive as you. I think you heard everybody else’s game. I’m not sure you helped ours or not. No, we were beyond hell. But let me ask you this. Did you have fun? I had a great time. I It was fantastic. Yeah.

I do know that Moose Ridge has a lot of poison ivy out of bounds and so you gota you gota keep the ball straight and Chuck the Glopper Chuck the Glopper and Chris Schro were also disruptive in our group. So between the four of the five of us we were very disruptive but we have a ball and we’ll do it again this summer. So we had a great time playing together in 84 and we won the NIT. Um Roy Tarpley, Eric Turner, Judge Rock, a really good team. There was a good opportunity as a freshman to learn how to lead and do a lot of those things. What do you remember about that year?

Um, like I said, freshman year, you know, the first I got in the first game of the year against Toledo at our place in Ann Arbor at Crisler Arena and I made my first shot like an eightfooter on the baseline and I think I might have made one more. So, I think I was two for two in my first game. I thought, okay, you know, I played four or five minutes each half. This is great. So, you know, we go through our 10 preseason games. I think we were eight and two maybe. and then came the Big Ten and we played Ohio State and um I got put in the first half after Eric Turner ET was in foul trouble. So it was Peludis out there and then I think Rock might have gotten in foul trouble too. So it was Antoine and Dan Pelekoudas and then one of them got in trouble.

So I got put out into the game like 10 minutes into the first half, first Big Ten game. I’m thinking this is great, right? Well, they decide they’re going to full-court press us. And they had two guards, one named Michael Taylor, one or one named Stokes, one named Taylor, both I think from Canton McKinley, seniors. And they picked the ball from me two times so fast and went in and dunked it. And within 30 seconds, I had two turnovers and had no idea how that even happened. And I was like shocked out of my mind that had no one had ever done that to me ever in a game. And I got taken out, put on the bench. I didn’t go in for the next like four or five games. I just sat on the bench cheering. And that’s kind of how my freshman year went.

But I learned to deal with adversity for the first time, which was great. And I learned to be a good teammate, right? I always appreciated the guys on my bench in high school cheering for me. You just kind of take it for granted. I’d never been that person. Well, now I was the one cheering you on and cheering Eric Turner and Leslie Rockymore and Antoine Joubert and the five sophomores ahead of us, right? Butch Wade, Richard Rellford, Paul Jokisch, Robert Henderson, and Roy Tarpley cheering you guys on. And then we get to the NIT tournament and we’re thinking, okay, we get to host some games. And we did. We hosted, I think, three games, won those three. And then we go to the NIT semifinal. Who do we play? Dell Curry and Virginia Tech in the semiis.

So Steph Curry’s dad, and I think he scored what, 40 against us with no three-point line. And once again, another guy that would have scored 40, 50 or 55 against us had there been a three-point line, but you by the end of the year had dealt with adversity yourself with the knee injuries. And you know, here’s the emerging 7-footer out of Detroit named Roy Tarpley. And by the end of the year though, you were clearly the man. And we beat Virginia Tech and then we pounded Notre Dame in the finals by 20. So much so, I got to get in the game for a couple minutes. And I think I might have scored a basket at Madison Square Garden. So thank you for putting a clinic on in the in the Madison Square Garden.

And then afterwards, our whole team because of the snowstorm, as you remember, we were supposed to fly home afterwards because of the snowstorm. We got to go out in New York City. And one of my buddies who went to Five-Star Basketball Camp with me was a bouncer at Studio 54 and he was able to let our entire team in to Studio 54. That’s again something we can’t talk about on air, but boy, what a fun bonding way to finish up the year. Like that was just one of the coolest things of my life. Yeah. And we went to a place called Limelight. Yes, we did. Yep. An old church in New York City. We went to both. You stayed out of trouble. You stayed I stayed out of trouble and made the You and I both made the plane the next day to go home.

You with your MVP trophy and me with my I got in and scored two points. How good was Eric Turner? I don’t think people realize the immense talent that guy you played against him in practice every day. Yeah. I got to guard him every day freshman year and um I think I told you this story about seven, eight years after I graduated, I went up and played in this Negaunee tournament up in the upper peninsula, right? Bunch of guys from Grand Rapids. One of my buddies had a plane, so we flew up in his plane and we had our team and um and we’re playing against this team supposed to get there from Flint. I have no idea who’s going to be on it, but you know, they’re like five minutes late getting there and all of a sudden who walks through the door? Eric Turner.

I said, “ET.” He’s like, “Oh, G, what are you doing?” I said, “We’re playing you.” He goes, “Oh, you’re not going to like that.” And I’m like I’m like, “I’m going to eat his ass up, right?” Cuz he ate me up for a whole year. It’s payback time. No. Soon as we started playing, I couldn’t make a move. I couldn’t put a move on to get past him. He was still that quick and that good and just he was just at a different speed than anyone else. Had he not had some things get in his way, he would have been a great NBA player. And he’s another kid like Glen Rice who just as nice a guy as you will have. I would take him as a teammate any day of the week. Yeah, I think Magic Johnson, Eric Turner are the best guards from this state that I saw. What about you and Fish?

Steve Fisher um had a big impact on you. What were your thoughts on Fish in terms of Um Fish is always been and will be till the day I die one of my friends. Not just a peer, not just a uh someone I look up to. Not just a coach, but a friend. Uh he and Angie were at every one of my games my senior year. Angie’s his wife. And when I was at Michigan, I babysat for Mark and Jonathan all the time. When they’d go out to dinner, you know, I’d go over and babysit. And uh I got to know them extremely well to where when Fish was the coach, you know, took over in ‘ 89 and won a national championship with those guys.

Um when they would come to Northwestern, I lived in Chicago at the time, uh I would sit right on the bench next to him for four or five years while he was coaching and it just meant the world to me. Like he considered me part of the coaching team. And that’s the relationship we’ve had. That was what 1990, 1991, ’92, ’93. Here we are 35 years later and I talk to them every few months and text back and forth and my mom and dad. They’ve been great friends with Angie and Steve and they exchange Christmas cards and you know they have a very tough thing going on with a son that’s got ALS. But God love them. Fish doesn’t miss Angie and Fish don’t miss a day helping Mark get through it and their grandson and their daughter-in-law and they are just great people. End of story.

A lot a lot of prayers for Mark Fisher always. Yes, sir. And it was fun last summer getting a chance to meet Yaxel and Aday and Mize and spend some time with Nimari and Will Tschetter at the banquet that we had. Absolutely. What are what are your thoughts on how much you enjoyed getting to know the players, but then also following in the aftermath about one of the best teams that I’ve seen in college basketball? I got to tell you, um, I kept telling my friends here who know basketball, I said, “You guys, this team’s different.

They’re different.” Last summer when we had the outing and were in Ann Arbor and Dusty just bent over backwards to make sure that their team, those players got to know us. and whether it was Steve Grody and Wayman Brit and Phil Huard coming from 10 years before us to our group to the groups after that like they wanted everyone to be a family and I think that’s a huge part of why those kids last year were able to come together so quickly is they saw the brotherhood and once again you know Alan Shrager and Louis Bullock and Mark Hughes and Josh Stler have put that together and made that a reality. quality every year and that’s something I’m proud to be a part of and proud to proud to see it happen and to see those kids last year when we were there for the alumni weekend against UCLA and to see those kids afterwards that practice on Friday, you know, it’s the night before a nationally televised game against UCLA and we’re ranked what number two or three or four in the country and soon as practice was over, we’re out shooting with the kids and having a fun time and challenging them and just talking smack and like they made they were so loose in such a together group that you could see they have a chance to do something special and my god did they what they did to Arizona and I was there live in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil when they put a whooping on Arizona like I’ve never seen a team put a whooping on somebody as good as a team like Arizona that they did in the semi-finals.

I’ve never seen anything like that. Really well said. Um in closing today I have quick hitters, fast questions, hopefully short answers. I don’t know if you do short answers, but what’s what’s the most points Garde that you ever scored in a game at any level? Um, 48 in high school, I believe. Is that school record? I think so. Maybe not. Nowadays, you know what? Maybe not. Who knows? Toughest Big Ten road venue? Indiana. What do you remember about playing at Indiana? I can tell you. Can I give you a long answer on this one? Yeah, I can’t wait. We played Indiana. We locked up the Big Ten championship my junior year. Gary Grant throws in a shot at the buzzer. We already had it locked up, right?

We had already won it by a game, so this would have given us a twoame gap over Indiana and Purdue. Gary throws in a shot from his hip at the buzzer on senior night on a Saturday evening in Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana. Bobby Knight didn’t like it, did he? Oh, let me tell you. So, so we had our own, we had chartered a flight to go in. So, we weren’t flying commercial for that cuz it’s a shorter flight. So, so we could determine when we left and Frieder said, “Do you guys want to watch them do senior night? It’s really cool.” And we all said, “Yeah.” So, we sat down on the bench. Well, normally what happens on senior night is they win. Indiana wins because they always win at home because you know, Bobby Knight, that’s you don’t win in Assembly Hall very often.

So he gets on the microphone and the whole crowd stays. All 20,000 of them stay. And he introduces the seniors and he talks about each one of them. Well, as we’re sitting down, we see Bobby Knight go across the court, go into their locker room and close the door. And next thing you know, there’s they’re pounding on the door. He’s not opening the door. So it’s Dan Dakich, it’s Uwe Blab. They’re seniors. And he’s not he’s not opening the door.

So poor Dan Dakich and Uwe Blab go back get the microphone and said hey coach night’s not coming out the whole crowd’s still there and they said thank you that you could tell they were so sad and all I remember is we all said to ourselves we made this happen basketball made this happen and I think that’s what finally put him over the edge thank that I’ve never heard that story that’s a great story guard it was awesome good who um who’s the most famous person you’ve ever at Michael Jordan. Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. Where’d you meet Magic? So, Magic recruited me to go to Michigan State and then um met him several times after that. And once again, what a great guy. Talk about somebody with a big heart.

And then Jordan, I got to play in summer league a couple times in Chicago when I lived there. And there was nobody, nobody that closed like Michael Jordan. I mean, that guy, we’re comparing LeBron and Michael Jordan. They’re two different players. They’re both awesome, but there was never anybody like Michael Jordan. All right, let’s get back to the short answers. Who’s your favorite Michigan teammate ever? Gary Grant, JP. Through um throughout your Big Ten career, who’s the toughest matchup you ever had? David Robinson for our whole team. Yeah. Um, how old were you the first time you dunked? Somewhere going in between eth and ninth grade. That’s pretty good. I mean, for a guy that’s not real tough. Um, you went to Michigan. If not, where would you have gone?

Michigan State. What was your favorite spot on campus? Thano’s Pizza or any place Perry could help us out getting some food. What is your handicap in golf? you pretty much playing with you. No, probably about a 12. What was more special, winning the NIT in Madison Square Garden or either one of your Big Ten titles? Winning the NIT in Madison Square Garden that weekend was the funnest weekend I had ever playing basketball. I agree. It was for me, too. Absolutely. Final question. Garde, you’ve accomplished so much. What makes you most proud? My two kids and seeing them be happy, seeing them be successful, and seeing them be an asset to society. Garde, I can’t thank you enough.

Whenever we spend time together, whenever we talk on the phone, it’s always a lot of fun for me and I count you as one of my best friends and it was a real privilege to have you on the Go Blue Hoops podcast. Thank you, team. Love you, brother. Go Blue. Go Blue. If you like this kind of content, please like, share, follow, and subscribe.]