{"id":4720,"date":"2026-04-13T14:49:04","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T14:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/13\/michigans-athletic-department-had-an-incredible-winter-but-it-shouldnt-whitewash-the-investigation\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T14:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T14:49:08","slug":"michigans-athletic-department-had-an-incredible-winter-but-it-shouldnt-whitewash-the-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/13\/michigans-athletic-department-had-an-incredible-winter-but-it-shouldnt-whitewash-the-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan\u2019s athletic department had an incredible winter, but it shouldn\u2019t whitewash the investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The Michigan men\u2019s basketball team\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/mens-basketball\/michigan-wins-national-championship-69-63-knocks-off-connecticut\/\">national championship<\/a> validates countless decisions and uplifts the numerous individuals who made them.<\/p>\n<p>After the Wolverines players themselves and coach Dusty May, the athletic department and its director, Warde Manuel, deserve kudos for a job well done. The investment in the program to adapt to the era and build a roster was masterful. Manuel also made a brilliant but extremely tough decision to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/mens-basketball\/michigan-basketball-parting-ways-with-juwan-howard\/\">fire<\/a> Juwan Howard and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/mens-basketball\/michigan-basketball-hires-dusty-may-as-new-head-coach\/\">recruit<\/a> May two years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll let you guys write how much credit I should get,\u201d Manuel said April 6 amid the celebration. \u201cIt\u2019s written. It is what it is. Y\u2019all saw it. Y\u2019all know who hired him. You can say, who gets the credit? I\u2019m gonna give the credit to Dusty and the staff and the team and everybody around.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The national championship was, in part, the splendor of the athletic department\u2019s forward thinking and strategic planning. It is not, however, absolution for any of the department\u2019s recent failures.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>The wait continues for the results of law firm Jenner &amp; Block\u2019s investigation into the athletic department \u2014 which the University has reportedly paid more than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/news\/local\/michigan\/2026\/04\/10\/sherrone-moore-inspired-probe-investigation-into-michigan-athletics-department-approaches-10m\/89556293007\/\">$10 million<\/a> for since it started following former Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore\u2019s inappropriate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/football\/former-michigan-head-coach-sherrone-moore-detained-following-firing\/\">relationship<\/a> with a staff member. The investigation was subsequently expanded to evaluate the practices and cultures of the athletic department as a whole.<\/p>\n<p>If systematic failures within Manuel\u2019s athletic department are found to be in any way causal of the malpractices that have transpired over the past few years, the University must act. Their actions can not be softened by any amount of goodwill resulting from on-court, on-ice or on-field success.<\/p>\n<p>Certainly, Manuel and his staff have done a tremendous job in building both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball programs and the hockey program. This winter and spring have featured the most collective success between the three teams ever \u2014 notably, the University\u2019s three highest profile teams after football.<\/p>\n<p>Men\u2019s basketball is the most obvious success story, with Manuel firing a beloved former player in Howard, then wisely including former coach John Beilein in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/mens-basketball\/michigan-reconnects-with-john-beilein-through-mays-hiring\/\">hiring process<\/a> for May. Manuel doubled down with financial backing that allowed May to construct a competitive team in year one, and then one of the best in college basketball history in year two. Top to bottom, they constructed the necessary alignment for Michigan to win the NCAA Tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Wolverines women\u2019s basketball coach Kim Barnes Arico has seen resources also increase toward her program. Bringing in now-sophomores Mila Holloway, Syla Swords and Olivia Olson was the biggest recruiting win of her tenure, and the program\u2019s second-ever <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/womens-basketball\/texas-locks-michigan-out-of-paint-ending-ncaa-tournament-run-77-41\/\">Elite Eight<\/a> has been the early return.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>And even if the Michigan hockey team had the makings of a title winner and fell short, a Frozen Four is nothing to scoff at. The construction of the Wolverines on the ice \u2014 especially <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/ice-hockey\/sophie-matthews-michigans-aggressive-recruitment-through-the-chl-will-revitalize-the-program\/\">embracing<\/a> the rule change regarding CHL players \u2014 is evidence of the athletic department adapting to the times more than anything.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have a lot of anchors in a lot of different programs, and what happened in football this fall is not defining of the 99.9% of the people in that department who are doing the right things,\u201d Manuel said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m proud of my staff, I\u2019m proud of my coaches, I\u2019m proud of the student athletes and the way they comport themselves and do things. So this is just remarkable for everybody associated with the athletic department and the University of Michigan, especially this basketball team.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The success of those three teams corroborates Manuel\u2019s assessment of most people in the department. But it only takes a few, especially when their actions are damaging to the well-being of others, to overshadow it all.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And though Manuel only references Moore\u2019s misconduct, there are several incidents that have created controversy around the athletic department. The sign-stealing scandal is least important. Cheating is deplorable, but it didn\u2019t damage lives in the way others\u2019 misconduct did.<\/p>\n<p>Manuel not-so-subtly patted himself on the back for hiring May. Well, Manuel also hired former hockey coach Mel Pearson \u2014 who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/ice-hockey\/breaking-down-the-michigan-hockey-investigation-findings\/\">bullied<\/a> female staffers \u2014 and doubled down by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/ice-hockey\/michigan-fires-mel-pearson\/\">retaining<\/a> him for three months after receiving the report. Moore didn\u2019t exactly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/football\/sherrone-moore-fired-with-cause-after-two-seasons-as-michigan-head-coach\/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CU%2DM%20head%20football%20coach%20Sherrone,relationship%20with%20a%20staff%20member.\">pan out<\/a> as Manuel\u2019s choice to replace Harbaugh, either.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>Then there\u2019s former football assistant <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/football\/former-michigan-quarterback-coach-and-co-offensive-coordinator-matt-weiss-facing-indictment-of-multiple-federal-counts\/\">Matt Weiss<\/a> and staffer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/sports\/football\/former-michigan-football-staffer-latroy-lewis-accused-of-rape-fired-from-atlanta-falcons\/\">LaTroy Lewis<\/a>. Their actions are egregious and disgusting. And in Weiss\u2019 case, the access afforded to him by his position enabled his alleged crimes. Even if they didn\u2019t report directly to Manuel like Moore and Pearson, all of the actions of the athletic department reflect upon his leadership.<\/p>\n<p>There is no balancing act between uplifting student athletes with national and Big Ten titles and employing and enabling individuals whose actions damage others\u2019 lives. The Wolverines could win a national championship in every sport and it wouldn\u2019t matter. If the results of the investigation found that Manuel\u2019s leadership and the practices and culture of the athletic department enabled the misdeeds of Moore, Pearson, Weiss and Lewis, that supersedes everything else.<\/p>\n<p>The outcome of the investigation will ultimately fall in the hands of incoming University president Kent Syverud. If evidence for necessary change comes across his desk, one men\u2019s basketball title shouldn\u2019t hold him up from making a decision. Winning titles shouldn\u2019t even cross his mind.<\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Michigan men\u2019s basketball team\u2019s national championship validates countless decisions and uplifts the numerous individuals who made them. After the Wolverines players themselves and coach Dusty May, the athletic department and its director, Warde Manuel, deserve kudos for a job well done. The investment in the program to adapt to the era and build a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[1921,1497,4392,2332,726,4393,4394,3072],"class_list":{"0":"post-4720","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-athletic","9":"tag-department","10":"tag-incredible","11":"tag-investigation","12":"tag-michigans","13":"tag-shouldnt","14":"tag-whitewash","15":"tag-winter"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4720"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4722,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4720\/revisions\/4722"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}