November 29th 2008 was the first Michigan Basketball game I covered at Crisler Arena (now known as Crisler Center or The House that Stu and Zack Built). Michigan was playing Savannah State and the Tigers were giving U-M all they could handle. The Wolverines had stormed back from an improbable 20 point half-time deficit to tie the game in the closing seconds. However, Savannah State had a chance to put up the game’s final shot and potentially snag a monumental victory. Then with 3 seconds left on the clock Zack Novak, a little known freshman, stole the ball and drove the length of the court for a game winning shot of his own. He rose up for a dunk and it rattled out – sending the game into OT.
U-M eventually won on a DeShawn Sims three-pointer at the buzzer. I knew right then that there was something special about Novak. He played with the heart of a Lion, he was relentless and fearless. In the postgame locker room as reporters mobbed Sims to talk about his game winner, I joked with ...
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March 04, 2012
