All-Time Michigan Basketball Team

Submitted by Vuginovic on

I know we have had several all decade and all century football teams but I have yet to see an all time basketball team so hear it goes.

 

PG:  Rumeal Robinson, Jalen Rose, and Gary Grant.

Rumeal Robinson- Lives in Michigan history as the guy who made the 2 game winning FT’s at the end of the 1989 National Championship Game. He is also number 2 in school history in assists with a total of 575 career assists. He also has the highest assists per game with 5.75 assists per game.

Jalen Rose- He led Michigan in assists all 3 seasons he played and in scoring twice. Rose started in 101 of his 102 career games and scored in double digits 98 times. At the end of his career he joined Gary Grant as the only Michigan player to get 1,500 points, 400 rebounds, 300 assists, and 100 steals in their career. Rose was also an All-American in both 92’ and 94’.

Gary Grant- Grant currently holds the school record for career steals and career assists. Also he has the 4th highest career point total and the 3rd highest 3 pt percentage. A few more of his school records are 11 double doubles, his 14 10+ assist games and being the first Wolverine with 1,000 points, 600 assists, and 200 steals. He also took Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 85’, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in 87’ and 88’, and All Big Ten selection in 87’ and 88’.

 

 

SG:  Manny Harris, Cazzie Russell and Jalen Rose. ( yeah I know but I thought maybe he could be a SG)

Manny Harris- Manny being Manny. As a sophomore Harris led Michigan in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, minutes per game, 3 pt field goals and FT percentage.  Harris became the 6th Michigan sophomore to tally over 1,000 career points. He currently is 37th on Michigan’s all time scoring list and is only in his Junior, and hopefully not last, year.

Cazzie Russell- Russell started in only 3 of his seasons at Michigan due to Freshman not being able to play. As a starter in 63’-66’ he averaged 24.8, 25.7, and 30.7 points per game. Totaling a total of 2,164 points he was number one but is now 5th on the school point leader list. Russell led Michigan to 3 straight Big Ten titles and a National Championship Game appearance. In 66’ Russell became National Player of the Year and over his career had many other outstanding records.

Jalen Rose- He led Michigan in assists all 3 seasons he played and in scoring twice. Rose started in 101 of his 102 career games and scored in double digits 98 times. At the end of his career he joined Gary Grant as the only Michigan player to get 1,500 points, 400 rebounds, 300 assists, and 100 steals in their career. Rose was also an All-American in both 92’ and 94’.

 

 

SF: Glen Rice and others who will not beat Glen Rice out of this spot.

Glen Rice- Michigan’s all time leading scorer with 2,442 points, 6th on Michigan’s all time rebounding list with 859, 6th on Michigan’s all time 3 pt shot list with 135, and was the 7th wolverine to get 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 steals in a career. Also Rice was the shining star on the 89’ National Championship Team becoming the Most Outstanding Player of the tourney and setting the single season tourney record for points.

 

 

PF:Chris Webber and Rudy Tomjanovich

Chris Webber- Remembered more for the timeout in the N.C. game against NC and the scandal that took Michigan over a decade to recover from than his outstanding accomplishments on the court. In his 2 seasons at Michigan Webber booked an astounding 1,218 points. He also set a Michigan school record with the most points ever for a sophomore. Webber only played in 70 games yet he had 37 double doubles. Only 4 wolverines ever got more. Webber also had 175 swats in his career, 3rd on Michigan’s all time list. Webber is one of 4 Michigan players to ever record over 500 points and over 50 steals in a season. He is one of only two players to record over 500 points and over 50 blocks in a season (which he did twice). Additionally, Webber is one of 4 Michigan players to tally over 1,000 points and over 100 blocks in their career. Lastly Webber led Michigan to 2 straight NCAA runner ups, was an all American in 93’ and was the first sophomore since Magic Johnson to be drafted 1st overall in the NBA Draft since Magic Johnson. He did all that in only 2 seasons.

Rudy Tomjanovich- Played 3 seasons due to eligibility rules. However he scored 1,808 points(7th),25.1 ppg(2nd), 1,039 rebounds(1st), and is only one of two wolverines in the 1,000 point/ 1,000 rebound club. 

 

 

C: Phil Hubbard and Bill Buntin

Phil Hubbard- As a freshman Hubbard averaged 16.1 ppg and 11.0 rpg. Hubbard had a monster sophomore season posting 19.6 ppg and 13.0 rpg. He missed his junior season due to a knee injury he suffered playing in The World University Games. Hubbard returned for his senior season and he averaged 14.8 ppg and 9.2 rpg. Hubbard finished his career with 1,455 points and 979 rebounds. He is Michigan’s 4th leading rebounder of all-time. Hubbard averaged 11.13 rebounds per game over the course of his career, which ranks 4th on the school’s all-time list. Hubbard set the single season rebounds record when he snatched 389 boards in his sophomore season. He totaled 53 double-doubles in his career which places him 2nd on the all-time list. He once posted double-doubles in a school record 14 consecutive games. He also owns the single season record with 24 double-doubles (1976-77). He is also is one of 5 Wolverines to total over 1,400 points and 900 rebounds in his career.

Bill Buntin- At 6 ft 7 inches many considered Buntin too undersized to play in the big ten however Buntin’s athleticism was unmatched by any other. His vertical was rumored to be hovering around 50 inches.  He exploded onto the scene as a sophomore averaging 22.3 ppg and 15.7 rpg in his first season. He ended up becoming the first Wolverine to top 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in his career. To this day he is one of just two Michigan players to accomplish that feat. He ranks 9th in school history with 1,725 career points. His career scoring average of 21.8 ppg places him 4th on Michigan’s all-time list. Buntin ranks second on Michigan’s career rebounding list with 1,037 boards. His career average of 13.13 rpg also ranks 2nd on the all-time list.
Buntin is one of 7 Wolverines to record 500 points and 300 rebounds in a season. He accomplished that feat in each of his 3 seasons and is the only Michigan player to do it 3 times.
He is also one of 11 players to notch three career 200 rebound seasons and one of 11 players to tally three career 400 point seasons. Buntin is one of just 5 Michigan players to appear on both of those lists. Buntin was a two-time All-American selection (1964, 65). He is one of 4 Wolverines to earn multiple All-American honors. Buntin died at age 26.

 

My team would go as so…

PG- Jalen Rose

SG- Cazzie Russell

SF- Glen Rice

PF- Chris Webber

C- Bill Buntin

Thoughts?

Comments

Nothsa

December 15th, 2009 at 7:26 PM ^

20 years on Grant is still Michigan's leader in assists and steals. There's a good argument for Jalen Rose too, I understand that! I'm not a Wolverines hoops fan - as an IU alum, the Wolverines that scared the daylights out of me would include Roy Tarpley, Gary Grant, Glen Rice, Chris Webber, and Jalen Rose. Slightly older IU fans think highly of Phil Hubbard and Ricky Green. Cazzie Russell is a legendary player of course.

geno

December 15th, 2009 at 8:45 PM ^

Ricky Green over Jalen and Manny . Steve Grote was pretty darn good ,also . Pure guts and toughness . He tried out for same Olympic team as Hubs , but suffered a collapsed lung and had to drop out of tryouts .

Bill in Birmingham

December 16th, 2009 at 9:26 AM ^

Very underrated player. If Hubbard hadn't been hurt, they would have been a phenomenal duo. McGee really showed his talent with the great Laker teams of the 80's. Even though he was their seventh or eighth man, he could come in (even in that lineup) and take over a game.

Blue boy johnson

December 15th, 2009 at 11:07 PM ^

Ricky Green absolutely phenomenal college point guard
Gary Grant One of my favs
Roy Tarpley Maybe most talented M bballer I've seen
Phil Hubbard Better as frosh than any of fab 5
Glen Rice The Best

Edit: these are players I have seen. Never saw Cazzie, Campy, Rudy T, as far as I can recall.

Zeke21

February 12th, 2017 at 11:10 AM ^

Your assessment Blue boy is right on.

Although as a kid I saw Cazzie, and believe me he was it.  Not a doubt the best scoring M player ever. Some guys can shoot, Cazzie would just score in bunches.   Rudy T was also an obvious top 5 M player ever, although Tarpley did have more talent.  Campy was good, but not in the class of the above mentioned.  Ricky Green simply fabulous, and Hubbard great.  Gary Grant on my second team.  

I would not include any fab 5, they were not fabulous,  The 89 team was a TEAM, mills, higgins, and loy vaught deserve mention w Rice and rumeal....that was a TEAM.

cazzie, green, hubbard, rudy t, rice.....bench, ,,,,loy, tarpley, grant, mo taylor, buntin, rumeal and for the millineiums, trey burke and mcgary.

Tater

December 15th, 2009 at 11:10 PM ^

I know the average age here is too young to have seen Cazzie play. I am quite impressed that most of you have him on your team. He pretty much carried the team to the Final Four two years in a row.

I was lucky enough to have had him as a student gym teacher and have seen his "hand in a bucket of water" speech dedicating Crisler Arena. I really can't explain what he meant to Ann Arbor or the University at the time. I can only hope someday the basketball team again has a presence as large as Cazzie's so that another generation or three of UM fans can have the experience we did watching him.

trackcapt

December 15th, 2009 at 11:47 PM ^

For one, constructing the best players and the best team might be a different exercise. My starting 5 would be:

PG - Gary Grant
SG - Cazzie Russell
SF - Glen Rice
PF - Roy Tarpley
C - Chris Webber

Coming off my bench would be Rumeal, Rudy T, Jalen, Rickey Green, Phil Hubbard, Loy Vaught and Louis Bullock. Those last two are illustrations of putting a team together vs. the most accomplished players. Loy was an insane rebounder and led the conference in FG% in 89 and 90. And I think you need one stone-cold, dead eye assissin who can just light 3's if you need it. You already have one in the starting 5, but you get to those end of game, comeback situations and you need another one. A couple guys I considered for Loy's spot were Juwan Howard (who I think is underrated and whose stats are probably suprisingly better than any of us think) and Terry Mills. Tim McCormick and Maurice Taylor might be others.

Then, of course, there's the other-worldly performance of J.P. Oosterbaan, but no one here needs futher explanation of that.

acnumber1

December 16th, 2009 at 9:38 AM ^

Wayman Britt deserves a spot on the bench. Absolute shut-down D. So good that despite not playing football for Michigan was drafted by the Washington Redskins as a DB. (Opted for NBA, spent a bit of time on a roster or two).

geno

December 17th, 2009 at 12:40 AM ^

Can't we get any love for Steve Grote , C.J Kupec , and Johnny Rob . Canham's biggest mistake was letting Johnny Orr leave . M had a number of very good teams under Orr . Back then , only the champion made the dance . Orr was M's best coach , his teams were GOOD ! John Wooden thought Johnny Rob was really solid . Waymin Britt , too . We used to be really good before Ed Martin .

MznbluePA

December 28th, 2009 at 4:11 PM ^

Has to exclude Webber, since he is NOT listed in any all-time individual statistics in the record book.

Rickey Green - fast, and amazing on defense. Only here for 2 years, so he won't hold any individual records.

Glen Rice - the best shooter ever at Michigan, if not in the country.

Rudy Tomjanovich

Cazzie Russell - took the team to 2 NCAA finals, losing to UCLA one year.

Roy Tarpley