University of Michigan hoops seasons creating memories for students who cover them
It's been quite the magical season for Michigan men's and women's basketball players.
Their classmates writing for the university's campus newspaper, the Michigan Daily, might know that better than anyone else.
CBS News Detroit spoke with their two managing sports editors to learn why the stories they're telling mean so much more to them than just getting experience on their resumes.
Michigan Daily co-managing sports editors Graham Barker and Lyra Sharma say there were signs the Wolverines' men's and women's basketball teams could be among the greatest in program history even before the NCAA tournament, but being a part of keeping that history alive is only now starting to hit home for these students.
"It kept going, they just kept racking up win after win, you just kind of realize this is looking more and more like a possibility," Barker said.
They're in Ann Arbor for an education, and they said this is the type of learning you won't find in any classroom.
"I don't think anybody at 20 years old gets to say they've managed 100 people. I'm working basically a job in college," Sharma said.
"We kind of think of this as our journalism school. I think there's so many learning experiences you get through here," Barker said.
Barker says he's keeping it all business until the job is done in Indianapolis.
"It's hard to take a step back and look back at all the cool stuff we're doing right now, but I know that years down the road these will be memories that I'll cherish," he says.
Even though the women's team fell one game short of the Final Four, this year's team tied the program record for wins and tied the program's furthest run in the NCAA tournament. Sharma has been front row since November.
"Even when the men's team is having such a great season, and hockey is doing so great, so much of campus came out to support the women's team, which is what that team deserves but maybe wasn't getting for a lot of years," she said.
Next, Barker will head down to Indianapolis with hopes of writing a column that hasn't been in the Michigan Daily since 1989, one about a Michigan men's basketball national championship.