Wolverines' Italy trip will cost anonymous donor up to $800K
— -- Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh got to meet the Pope and played gladiator when he took the Wolverines to Italy in April. He called it the experience of a lifetime. And the price tag? Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said Tuesday the trip will end up costing between $750,000 and $800,000 when all the numbers are in.
"Waiting on a few numbers, so we don't have it final," Manuel told the Detroit News. "It will be about $5,000 to $6,000 a person, so it was a great investment. It was just terrific. We pay them through an educational experience, like Michigan does all the time. I don't think about it in terms of paying our athletes, but if people want to say we should give something to our students of value, I can't think of a better way to invest in them for their lifetime and their experience."
Harbaugh said recently that the trip still had "a glow" about it.
"It was an incredible trip. The best thing I've ever been a part of on a football team," Harbaugh said Monday on The Rich Eisen Show. "The wonderful thing was that it was really all about the players and their experience. Not all learning is done in the classroom or on a football field.
"From an educational standpoint, from a team bonding standpoint, it was an experience that had everything."
