Roster Changes

Rather late on this, but in case anyone hadn't noticed Sireece Bass, LeQuisha Whitfield and Lauren Young are no longer on the team. Bass has transferred to Eastern Kentucky and will sit out a year. As has been noted elsewhere, Michigan will field a young team this year - 4 upper classmen (Phillips, Jones, McPhereson & Hicks), 3 sophomores and 6 freshman.

Sireece Bass

Nothing official, but it appears Sireece Bass may have left the team. I didn't see her at the Notre Dame game last night and, more importantly, isn't included in the last two pre-game releases on mgoblue.com. Whatever the situation is, I wish her the best.

Sireece Bass (again)

Mlive.com/Ann Arbor News had a nice article on Sireece Bass and her battle with lupus. She's one tough young lady.

Last season as a freshman, Bass played in 26 games for the Wolverines and made eight starts.

She's now down to four pills a day and is rarely affected by her disease. She goes full speed in drills.

"Basketball means a lot to her,'' Michigan coach Kevin Borseth said. "She's on the court, she cares, she tries hard. I don't ever see her walking around feeling sorry for herself because she's got something.''

Bass will live with lupus the rest of her life, but doesn't allow it to define who she is or what she is capable of doing.

"She's still pushing and fighting - it's somewhat of an inspiration,'' Whitfield said. " So I can't complain too much because I look at how she handles what's she's had to deal with.''

Sireece Bass

The Michigan Daily ran a nice article about her a couple of weeks ago that I neglected to link to at the time. It talks about her toughness & her dealing with lupus:

Some mornings, it's hard for sophomore point guard Sireece Bass to get out of bed and make it to class. Although this may be a common occurrence for any college student, Bass's struggles are caused by more than just laziness or a hangover.

Her joints throb with pain, fatigue easily takes hold and she sometimes struggles to breathe.

And on top of all that, Bass has to suit up for basketball practice in the afternoon.

But she just presses on.

First Varsity Letter Reception and Ceremony

The ceremony for all winter sports at U of M was held April 11th. If you click on the link to the Photo Gallery, you'll find in the slide show a group photo of the four women's players who earned their first letter - Sireece Bass, Kalyn McPherson, Krista Phillips & LeQuisha Whitfield.