Reports Say Braun Headed For Michigan

About the same time Monday that former Michigan coach Bill Frieder was saying the Wolverines’ hiring of Ben Braun was “a done deal,” Cal athletics director John Kasser said the media was responsible for the rampant fear that Braun would leave his current program.

Asked to shed some light on whether Braun was going to spend Monday night deciding whether or not to accept the coach’s job at Michigan, Kasser offered, “Go ask your media friends. That’s where you guys are getting this misinformation.

This is so far beyond what it is that it’s unbelievable.”

Is the possibility of Braun leaving Cal purely a media circus? Consider Steve Fisher was fired Friday by new Michigan AD Tom Goss, who still owns a home in Oakland and is a casual acquaintance of Braun. Also, Braun spent 11 seasons as Eastern Michigan’s coach before coming to Cal in September 1996.

Then consider the following quote from Frieder, who resigned last month as Arizona State’s coach: “They tell me it’s a done deal. That’s what they tell me in Ann Arbor (Mich.).”

Frieder, who was succeeded by Fisher on the eve of the 1989 NCAA Tournament, said he had spoken with some of his media friends in Ann Arbor and some “good sources.”

Braun did nothing to dispel the rumors Monday. He left his office early in the day and went home, leaving word he wouldn’t return any phone calls. The statement he issued Sunday said he hadn’t been contacted by anyone from Michigan.