The NCAA tournament is about basketball but also so much more: the parents, fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The Sweet 16/Elite 8 are taking place in 4 cities around the country and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD is covering all the angles so you can look forward to an abundance of access in the days ahead. Jon Teitel commences our coverage from Atlanta by chatting with Michigan basketball father Robert Hochberg about his son Harrison playing for Coach Dusty May and making the NCAA tourney.
You played basketball at Vassar: how good a player were you back in the day? I was a pretty good player, and had some interest from mid-majors at the time to be a role player, but I made the decision to go where I could be an important part of the program. Vassar was a developing program and presented the balance of sports and academics I felt was right for me. I had a great experience there and felt that I left the program in better shape than I found it.
You have been the CEO of Numeric Computer Systems for more than 30 years: what does your company do, and how long do you plan to stick around for? We are a software developer that supplies the food & beverage industry globally in the area of their supply chain logistics, specifically DSD (Direct Store Delivery). It has been a fun job and has provided the opportunity to travel the world, meet interesting people, and help their businesses get more efficient. I think I have a few more years left in me!
Your wife Jackie is a Michigan alum and serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council for the school’s College of Literature/Science/Arts, and your father-in-law Ira went to school in Ann Arbor: how easy a decision was it for your son Harrison to go to Ann Arbor? He always dreamed that he would go to Michigan: he grew up watching Wolverine football games on Saturday and dressed in Maize and Blue from a very young age.
He played a post-graduate year at Cushing Academy: how did that extra year help him either on or off the court? Harrison had achieved a lot at Suffield Academy both athletically/academically, but unfortunately he lost his junior year due to COVID. Doing a post-graduate year at Cushing enabled him to engage better competition and gain another year of hard work, development, and coaching to have a chance to achieve his dream of playing for Michigan. Harrison was never afraid of the work: that is his superpower! He is always the 1st 1 in/last 1 out.
The Wolverines have a new coach this year in Dusty May: what makes him such a great coach? He knows the game and has been a complete student of the game his whole life growing up in Indiana, working under Bobby Knight, working his way through the coaching ranks. I have been to a few practices, and he is a savant: he is right there in the middle of everything and sees the game so clearly and teaches it to his players in real-time.
Harrison is a sophomore: does he have a post-graduation plan yet? It is beginning to develop: though right now he is just focused on doing the best he can for the team and academically at school. He wants to get into the sports management field and is still looking to get a summer internship. I think it is fair to say he wants to stay around sports post-graduation.
He is a key member of the scout team: how has he enjoyed the experience? He loves it. He takes the challenge very seriously because he knows that he needs to help prepare the guys for their next opponent. It takes a lot of commitment/preparation to bring the gameday speed/energy to get them ready, but he embraces his role.
Last year he received the school’s Athletic Academic Achievement award: how is he able to balance his work on the court with his work in the classroom? I always felt that time-management is something that athletes learn before other students: you cannot be partying until 2AM if you will be lifting weights at 6AM! He learned that structured approach during prep school and followed it through to college: he is well-prepared and always able to keep everything balanced.
The team finished the regular season with 3 straight losses but have bounced back to win 3 games in the Big 10 tourney and their 1st 2 games in the NCAA tourney: what has changed over the past 2 weeks? A few things. They had a couple of injuries and had to adjust to a different rotation, and the Big 10 schedule just wears on every team because it is a very physical league. The games down the stretch came 1 after another and they were caught a little flat by 3 pretty good opponents: Illinois/Michigan State/Maryland. However, they had a chance to rest/regroup/practice and come back strong, which has been fun to watch.
