Then in the late 1980s a group of University of Michigan students, Adam Blumenkranz, Eric Lefkofsky and David Kaufman, attempted to create a mascot on the university's behalf, a lovable creature known as Willy the Wolverine.

Wilily Yay or Nay: Mascot swimming upstream against heavy tradition

Keywell and Lefkofsky, who both grew up in suburban Detroit, were undergraduate entrepreneurs in Ann Arbor. <font face="monospace">Leftkofsky</font>

 sold carpets to students for their dormitory rooms and created a new mascot for the university, using the image to sell apparel and souvenirs.