About a week before Michigan snatched the attention of the college basketball world with unexpected wins over North Carolina and Gonzaga at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas, the Wolverines assistant coach Phil Martelli was as concerned about the casinos there as he was about the basketball games.
Michigan’s new head coach, Juwan Howard, who had never coached in college before this season, was preparing for his team’s first trip. Martelli, who had spent the last 24 years dealing with college athletes as the head coach at St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia, wanted to know what the team’s policy would be on players entering the gambling halls in the resort where they were staying.