ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WXYZ) — After the Michigan Wolverines won the National Championship in men's basketball for the first time in 37 years, fans flocked to get new merchandise to celebrate.
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Alumni and freshmen alike were in Rally House Ann Arbor, getting their gear to commemorate the team.
"It's great to be a Michigan Wolverine!" one fan told me. "We waited since 1989 for this, thankfully it happened. The whole town is buzzing, it's phenomenal."
"I was at my sister's house, had a watch party at her place," one freshman student told me, recounting where he was when Michigan won the National Championship. "The second we won, I ran straight to South U and that was just electric."
Rally House has been the home of the Wolverine rally cry on South Street today, as merchandise commemorating this incredible moment flies off the shelves.
"We re-opened last night with two shirts out once the clock hit zero, we opened the doors, a lot of students were running around but we had them getting shirts right away," general store manager DeArron Haygood told me. "We are really having a party in here, Michigan men's basketball national champions, how can you not be excited?"
While we all witnessed Dusty May and his team make history on Monday night on the court, one second-year Master's student and a graduate of the athletic training program, got to see the hard work first-hand behind the scenes.
"This is what we work for as athletic training students," she said. "We go in every day, we see them, we see the ups and the downs, we just pick up the pieces. It has been one of the longest seasons ever, but it has also been so rewarding and so fulfilling, and I was just so thankful to be a part of it.
A few fans we talked to came straight to buy merch after leaving Indianapolis this morning, following the victory.
"We drove back this morning, because it was a pretty good party in Indianapolis, so we didn't want to get on the road last night, so we just got back," one uncle told me.
"This is not going to be a responsible financial day at all," his nephew told me. "But when you wait 37 years, it's a long time coming, lot of heartbreak, you have 1992, 1993, 2013, 2018, 0-4 in final games. Finally, to get one to go, we made the investment to go up there as a family to witness, and it was nip-tuck until the end, and it was well worth it.
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