Michigan won its second national title. One man has been there for both of them.
Bob Bland is the guy behind the guy for Michigan hoops, and the thread connecting the program's two title teams.
INDIANAPOLIS — The one man who had been here before stood against a wall in the Michigan locker room 45 minutes after midnight, catching up on congratulatory messages while taking in the scene around him.
Bob Bland was the Wolverines’ equipment manager in 1989, the last time this program won a national championship. That was his second season. This is his 39th. So as Michigan players and coaches celebrated in the aftermath of winning their second national title on Monday night, Bland soaked it all in just a little bit more this time around.
“I was talking to him, and he was like, ‘This is crazy,’ ” senior guard Charlie May, son of second-year coach Dusty May, told The Inside Zone. “In our second year here, we won it. In his second year here, he won it. And we were just like, ‘Man, this university can’t go another 37. We need some more.’ ”
Michigan’s 69-63 win over UConn capped a dominant NCAA Tournament run that brought out Wolverines stars and omens of yesteryear. The Fab Five reunited for an alternate broadcast of Saturday’s semifinal win over Arizona. John Beilein, the winningest coach in school history, was shown on the Lucas Oil Stadium videoboard during the triumph over the Huskies. And when it was all over and the confetti rained down from the rafters, Big Ten player of the year Yaxel Lendeborg held up a “Shock the World” sign, paying homage to the 1989 national title team.
