Michigan honors Diane Dietz and keeps rolling in Big Ten play

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After getting back on track with a win over Minnesota, the No. 8 Michigan women’s basketball team handily took care of business over Penn State and Wisconsin teams that are both in the lower half of the Big Ten. But more notably, the Wolverines and the Michigan athletic department honored a Michigan women’s basketball legend and put her jersey up in the rafters, cementing the first time a player from the women’s team received that honor.

Both on and off the court, the Wolverines had a monumental week, from decimating two opponents to celebrating the career and impact of one of the best in program history.

THIS PAST WEEK

Before Sunday afternoon’s game between Michigan and Wisconsin, the Wolverines honored a legend. Diane Dietz, a former All-American who played at Michigan from 1979 to 1982 and is the current Big Ten Conference Deputy Commissioner, became the first woman to have her jersey retired and put up in the rafters at Crisler Center.

The moment allowed for both a celebration of Dietz and a reminder of the impact of female athletes on campus and the room for growth in the commemoration of female athletes, given that Dietz is only the first woman to receive this honor.

“It’s just really an honor to be able to celebrate Diane Dietz and all that she’s meant to Michigan, and all that she’s meant to Michigan women’s basketball, and to hang her Jersey in the rafters is really special,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said.

And for the players, Dietz serves as a motivator, mentor, and reminder that there is still room for growth for female representation.

“(It was a) feeling of celebration, but a determination to keep pushing for women’s representation, especially all throughout history,” senior guard Brooke Quarles Daniels said. “I think it’s definitely a little bit disappointing that it’s taken this long, and we still have the Naz (Hillmon)s, the Katelynn Flahertys and even girls on our team now that could possibly be acclaimed for something like that. I think it’s a celebration, but also just a continuing push to move forward.”