The Michigan basketball team said goodbye to Crisler Arena as they know it today. When the two meet again in September, anticipation will be high for the 2011-12 versions of both.

The Michigan coaching staff is spreading out the final eight hours it's allowed to spend with players according to NCAA rules. After a one-hour practice at Crisler on Monday, the 43-year-old arena will be off limits as construction work gets serious on its $52 million renovation project.

Michigan basketball coach John Beilein on his players as they head into the off-season: "I think our team has got an incredible hunger now that they’ve had a taste of what hard work and togetherness can bring."

Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com

The coaches will spend their final four hours with their team at campus intramural buildings and inside the wrestling team’s weight room, preparing individual workouts for players to follow during the summer.

Coach John Beilein said the intensity level has been high since Duke ended Michigan’s season with a 73-71 NCAA tournament win on March 20.

“It’s been tremendous how hard they’re working. I think our team has got an incredible hunger now that they’ve had a taste of what hard work and togetherness can bring,” Beilein said at an end-of-season press conference Monday. “Exams start in just two weeks, and we’re sad to see this part end because the improvement we see it right in front of our eyes."

What fans can expect of a renovated and expanded Crisler Arena is a known commodity: A new main entrance, additional retail spaces and ticketing areas, and a private club space among an additional 63,000 square feet.

Fans' expectations for the 2011-12 Wolverines team will be high. There were no seniors on a roster that finished 21-14 and qualified for the NCAA tournament for the second time in three seasons, though sophomore guard Darius Morris is inquiring about his potential NBA draft status.

“Trying to go into the summertime with the same momentum and continue it through five months where (coaches) basically have to step back is an important time for us,” Beilein said. “What are our guys going to do when the coaches aren’t watching any more? We love it, but we hate to see the school year come to an end.”

Beilein said he and his staff will give each player a written plan and DVD footage that explains areas of improvement. How closely each player follows those plans is yet to be seen, but Beilein thinks his roster is full of players looking to get better.

Some players will look to improve their games at private facilities, like Stu Douglass did last summer at Champions Academy in Zionsville, Ind.

“We have a bunch of self-starters, and you just never know how much they’re going to improve. I think we saw that with Darius over the summer, and people don’t know how hard he works on his own,” he said.

“When I think about Tim Hardaway Jr. goes home and sees Tim Hardaway Sr., they will be in the gym within hours. Tim Sr. was in the gym for hours. We have that type of environments that some of our kids are going back to.”

Rich Rezler covers sports for AnnArbor.com. Contact him at 734-623-2553 or richrezler@annarbor.com.