Why the Michigan women’s basketball coach wore a softball jersey in NCAA Sweet 16 win
Fans may have been wondering why Michigan women’s basketball coach Kim Barnes Arico was wearing a number 11 softball jersey during the Wolverines’ historic NCAA Tournament win in Wichita on Saturday.
Michigan advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history with a 52-49 win over South Dakota at Intrust Bank Arena and are one game away from the Final Four in Minneapolis with a showdown against Louisville on Monday night.
But the question that kept popping up on social media for non-Wolverine fans was why is the basketball coach wearing a softball jersey during the game?
The reason is because Barnes Arico is honoring her brother, who died in 2019 after years of being in a vegetative state following a 2005 accident when he went running near his London home and suffered cardiac arrest. He was a standout baseball and basketball player who wore the No. 11, hence why his older sister now proudly dons the number on the sideline of her games.
“Wearing this really means a lot to me,” Barnes Arico told The Eagle. “I feel like my brother is always with me and I have him close to my heart. That was really special to me.”
What was unique about her attire in Wichita was that Barnes Arico was wearing an actual Michigan softball jersey with the No. 11 on it. When she has occasionally donned the number 11 for games in Ann Arbor, like she did for Monday’s Elite Eight game, she has always worn a custom T-shirt she had made.
That was actually the inspiration for the change, as the idea came from Michigan director of basketball operations Amy Mulligan.
“After we made the Sweet 16, I said, ‘Do you guys want to try something different?’” Mulligan said. “That’s when we thought of these baseball and softball jerseys.”
Instead of just Barnes Arico wearing the jersey this time, Mulligan’s plan was quickly embraced by everyone in the program and they all wanted to join in to show support of their head coach.
“Kim always talks about unity,” Michigan assistant coach Carrie Moore said. “Where we go one, we go all. So when one person said that we should wear them, everyone was into it and we wanted to pull it off for her.”
Michigan equipment manager Spencer Bechstein went to work to secure navy blue baseball jerseys and yellow softball jerseys for every non-player in the women’s basketball program.
He made especially sure to secure the No. 11 softball jersey for Barnes Arico, a request that the school’s legendary softball coach, Carol Hutchins, was more than happy to oblige.
“She’s like the Pat Summitt of softball, so I was honored that she gave us a little piece of her to have with this jersey,” Barnes Arico said. “She’s won a national championship and she’s so special, so it meant a lot to our staff and our program to be able to represent a little part of her.”
This story was originally published March 27, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
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