KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It wasn’t long after the Michigan men’s basketball team won the Big Ten tournament this month when the moment arrived for the Wolverines to claim their polyester scalp: to bring out the ladders and let each player, coach and staff member take part in cutting down the nets.
When the assistant coach Billy Donlon’s turn came, he made his snip, retreated down the ladder and handed off the scissors to his fellow assistant Jeff Meyer — gripping the blades and offering the handle, the way he and everyone else were taught in kindergarten. But when Donlon looked down moments later, he recalled last week, he saw his palm covered in blood.