Former Michigan basketball coach John Beilein walked to the back of the plane from his seat in Row 1 and reassured those in the back.
“I just talked to the pilot, everything’s good,” Beilein recalled of his message in a new Big Ten Network documentary commemorating the Wolverines’ plane crash on the way to the 2017 Big Ten Tournament. “Relax back here, we’re going to be fine.”
The wind was blowing nearly 60 miles per hour that March 8 afternoon at Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti when the team was taking off. Everything was not fine.
The pilot, Mark Radloff, began to take off as normal but when he pulled back the yoke “to his lap” it didn’t lift off, he said on BTN’s “The Miracle on March 8th.”
He knew there wasn’t enough runway to clear the fence or trees ahead of him, so he slammed on the brakes. The plane − carrying not only the team but its family, the band, the cheer team and administrators − ripped through the chain link fence and stopped just feet short of a ravine that runs through the airport’s grounds.
Even before the crash, this was no ordinary weather occurrence. The power at Crisler Center and the Player Development Center had been wiped out, which forced U-M to cancel practice and the staff had resigned itself to a walk-through in the team hotel in Washington, DC.
Radloff knew the weather was still amenable to flying – he’d flown in similar conditions – but this plane did not elevate in time.
Beilien said he’d “never been so proud” of his team as he was watching everybody get off the plane without panic, in an orderly and organized fashion.
Greg Harden’s message to Michigan basketball
Shortly thereafter, sports psychologist Greg Harden met with the team and some players, including Derrick Walton, who didn’t want to get back on a plane. Walton had injured his knee, requiring stitches, as he jumped out of the exit window, but after some reassuring, the team boarded a new plane.
“You know how you get over this?” Mo Wagner recalled of the late-Harden’s message to the team. “You go out there and win everything.”
When the team arrived in DC, athletic director Warde Manuel cried tears of joy. There would be more tears of joy
The uniforms were stuck on the bottom of the plane, which was under investigation, but Manuel called it “the least” of his worries. When the band and cheer team walked in, the entire arena erupted for the Wolverines. There would be more cheers in the days to come.
Duncan Robinson said playing in the practice uniforms made it not even feel like a real tournament game, which “provided some looseness” to the team.
Michigan’s 2017 Big Ten Tournament run after plane crash
On March 9, 8-seed Michigan knocked off 9-seed Illinois, 75-55, avenging a loss from earlier in the season when center Maverick Morgan called Michigan a “white collar” program.
“We waxed them,” said sports information director Tom Wywrot.
“It was like a miracle to me,” Beilein said.
By the next day, the game uniforms arrived. The Wolverines debated keeping the practice jerseys, but “didn’t want to make everything about the crash,” Wagner said.
Kathleen Beilein, John’s wife, hired charter busses, grabbed all the families and they drove through the night to make it on time for the quarterfinals.
Michigan played a Caleb Swanigan and Isaac Haas-led Purdue when Zak Irvin hit a tying layup to force overtime and then had another floater in the extra period before he hit the game-winner in overtime to beat 1-seed Purdue, 74-70.
“Somebody was looking down on us,” Kathleen said. “The kids and everybody on that plane deserved it. It was a happy time, it was a good time.”
The semifinal belonged to Walton. He was “pissed” he hadn’t been named first-team All-Big Ten − Minnesota’s Nate Mason got the honor − and Walton told Wywrot, “I’m gonna hang 30 on them.”
Walton put up 29 points, nine assists and five rebounds as the Wolverines beat the Gophers, 84-77, to go to the title game.
Walking off the court, Walton turned to Wisconsin’s Bronson Koenig and said, “see ya’ll boys tomorrow.” They did.
Beilein told the team they’d gone through so much, they couldn’t “go home without a championship.”
Walton, who didn’t want to get back on a plane, took over once again in the title game. He had 22 points, seven assists and six rebounds in the Wolverines’ 71-56 championship victory, and was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.
“The smiles on their faces were so genuine,” Beilein said. “We’d been up and down all year and look at what we just did under these circumstances. That is what you coach for, to see those smiles.”
Michigan lost in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament that year to Oregon, 69-68, but made the national championship game a year later.
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Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Motivational message after Michigan basketball plane crash sparked run
Reporting by Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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