Indiana All-State Guard Novak Signs With Wolverines
4/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan men's basketball coach John Beilein announced Wednesday (April 16) the signing of 6-5 guard Zack Novak (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton Senior HS) to a National Letter of Intent for the 2008-09 season. The Wolverines will have four newcomers to the roster next season, with Novak joining two early signees from November -- 7-0 center Ben Cronin(Syracuse, N.Y./Henninger HS) and 6-3 guard Stu Douglass(Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS) -- as well as 6-3 guard Laval Lucas-Perry(Flint, Mich./Flint Powers Catholic HS), a transfer from Arizona.
Novak was a four-year (2005-08) varsity starter at Chesterton Senior High School under coach Tom Peller. As a senior in 2007-08, Novak finished third in all of Indiana with 26.9 points per game and led Chesterton to a 19-3 overall record and the school's first outright Duneland Athletic Conference championship with a 12-2 record. For his efforts he was named as a 2008 Indiana Basketball Coaches Association first team selection, becoming the first Chesterton player to receive the honor since 2000. He was also honored by the IBCA with an Academic All-State selection and earned All-State first team honors from the Associated Press.
Chosen the 2008 Player of the Year by the Northwest Times, the Post Tribune and the Michigan City News Dispatch, Novak led Chesterton to a 57-31 record in his career while averaging 20.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.9 steals per game. He closed his career with a school-record 1,791 points, breaking the prior record by 560 points (Lenny Eason, 1,231).
Michigan will lose only one scholarship player from 2007-08, senior Ron Coleman(Romulus, Mich./Romulus HS).
Comments from U-M coach John Beilein
On recruit Zack Novak... "We are very pleased to have Zack join us. He has a real passion for the game and a competitive nature that any coach wants to coach. His range ... let's put it this way, the new (three-point) line will not bother his shooting range. He is a proven winner. He led his team this year, in fact during his entire career at Chesterton, after starting on varsity as a freshman, and we are hoping he will have the same success here at Michigan. We like players that can give us versatility, and Zack does that for us. He can play multiple positions. Of our three signees he is probably the most versatile, and we were really looking for a player with that ability during this signing."
On assessing the first recruiting class... "The true assessment of a class is four years later. Right now, though, we feel these four young men meet some of our needs as we continue to build this program."
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
