Michigan Women's Hoops: The Time Is Now, and Nolan & Hobbs Are On It. ššļø
So listen, Michigan fans. If you haven't paid attention to Michigan Womenās hoops in the past, you need to understand something. Let me explain.
Hail Media does not have a website yet. Weāve been working around the clock on content, and I can guarantee you that if there were 27 hours in a day, there would be one by now. Itās coming soon. But Iām not waiting for that to write this here on M10 Social.
We are living through the golden age of Michigan Womenās Basketball. It should already be obvious to everyone that there is more interest in womenās basketball in general than ever before, but Iām not talking about Caitlin Clark etc.
Iām talking about the Michigan Wolverines.
Our current coach, Kim Barnes-Arico, is our GOAT. And itās not even close. The Michigan women had 13 winning records in the first 39 seasons of the program before she arrived. Since she arrived, KBAās teams have had the following number of winning seasons:
13.
IN 13 SEASONS.
Weāve got a solid team and a program that is worthy of your attention. The majority of our games are on TV, and the season is almost here. Give it a tryāfamiliarize yourself with the roster and commit to watching a few games. I think youāll be hooked. They play their asses off.
Now Iām not saying watch them instead of the men. Iām saying watch them both. I do. Iām a football guyāitās been in my blood since I was five. I played at Michiganāand I donāt think I ever went to a womenās game while I was there, despite knowing a few of the girls on the team. But Iām no bandwagon jumper with the womenās game. Once I had a daughter, I jumped in and took her to tons of games. Becoming a girl dad aināt no ābandwagon,ā and I decided I wanted her to grow up knowing itās the norm for both women and men to play sports at the highest of levels. I loved our little daddy-daughter trips to Ann Arbor to watch womenās hoops, tennis, volleyball, swimming & divingā¦. We went to a whole bunch of Detroit Shock (WNBA) games too, and were devastated when they left town. Weāre finally getting them back in a few yearsāitās about damn time.
Left to right: Lacey getting Cheryl Fordās autograph at a Shock game in 2007, Lacey and her friend Lissy - jerseys and face paint, Lacey with her Swin Cash visor!
When we started going to Michigan games, Kevin Borseth had just been hired, and he was a really good coach. The turnaround actually started with him, and he got them winning. He left the program in good shape for KBA to come in and take it to the next level.
Left to right: Lacey and my son Tony with coach Borseth, Lacey and Carly Benson, Lacey and Jessica Minnfield. The players were always accessible and gracious - really nice to Lacey - she was just 8!
Lacey attended a Michigan girls hoops clinic at Crisler too in 2010 which was pretty cool. Lacey is with Carmen Reynolds (L) and Courtney Boylan (R) on the right.
Sorry (but kinda not sorry) if Iāve turned the middle part of this post into a personal scrapbook, but hey - Iām merely establishing my street cred. Heheā¦ And Lacey (who is handling the Hail Media Substack as a Michigan alum herself now with a degree in English and gender studies and an M.F.A. in creative writing and publishing from Long Island U) was a pretty good little hoopster herself when she was younger. Iāve always loved this little sequence of her taking it to the hole and giving a little āof courseā pose afterā¦
So, as I was saying before I interrupted myself, Kevin Borseth left the Michigan program in good shape for Kim Barnes-Arico to take it to the next level.
And take it to the next level she did. Tournament appearances are now a given, and advancement is expected. Weāre talking five total March Madness appearances before KBA. EIGHT since, including seven straight, with a Sweet 16 and an Elite 8 during that stretch for good measure.
I genuinely LOVE Michigan men AND womenās hoops. And I aim to do something about it.
Through my work with Football Alumni of Michigan (FAM), Iāve attended and covered a handful of events to get content for FAMās social media. Itās been a lot of fun, and FAM is an organization that Iām proud to be a part of, a 501c3 nonprofit focusing on mental health and helping former players in need. This summer that included my second Champions Circle Sherrone Moore Golf Classic, where we interviewed current and former football players. I also got to sit down with Gus Johnson from Fox Sports, and I chatted with Kim Barnes-Arico and newly hired assistant coach / returning Wolverine Danielle Rauch (a DOG for Michigan as a player). They were both gracious enough to come by our tent and go on camera to talk about their āWelcome to Michigan Momentsā and they put them in a football context too.
Here they are:
First Coach Barnes-Arico:
And Coach Danielle Rauch:
Danielle and I connected online, and I reached out, telling her I wanted to do a Michigan Womenās Basketball show for Hail Media. She loved the idea. As an assistant coach, she couldnāt really commit to hosting a show, which I figured, but she suggested that a couple of her former teammates might.
Enter Maddie Nolan!
Maddieās nickname was Maddie āNylonā because she could drain three-pointers like no oneās business. Sheās seventh all-time in career three-pointers at Michigan and currently playing pro ball in France. She was really excited about the idea, and we got on a Zoom with my partner, Chris Howard, to discuss the potential. We also thought it would be great if she had a co-host.
I got a text a couple days later:
Note the timestampā¦ (Maddie if you are reading this, you didnāt wake me - just having fun pointing out the international nature of this process lol).
So, enter Jordan Hobbs!
Jordan wore #10 at Michigan which automatically makes her cool, and sheās another tenacious competitor who led that team last year as a senior, staying after there was a big exodus to the portal. Talk about development - you could see it in all four years of her career at Michigan and she put herself in position to get drafted for the WNBA. Sheās also now playing professionally overseas in Italy.
These two are going to crush it - with analysis on the current Wolverines and their upcoming season, along with alumni guests, guests from the current program, some hoops culture and anything else THEY want. My job is to help them with whatever they need, support their efforts and enjoy the show.
Iām here for it. You should be too.
M10 Social is owned by Doug Cohen in West Bloomfield, MI and provides social media training and digital marketing services from the Frameable Faces Photography studio Doug owns with his wife Ally. He can be reached there at tel:248-790-7317, by mobile at tel:248-346-4121 or via email at mailto:doug@frameablefaces.com. You can follow Dougās band Vintage Playboy at their Facebook page here. You can also visit our other business Detroit Jerky at the website www.DetroitJerkyLLC.com! Also please visit Dougās other media company Hail Media for all kinds of Michigan content - podcasts and shows about the Wolverines!