What athlete do you wish had played for Michigan?

Submitted by M-Wolverine on

This what I was kinda hoping the other thread would be about. Are there any athletes who went to other schools, that after their careers you wish had gone to Michigan? It probably helps if they were really considering Michigan, but I'm not setting any ground rules. (I mean, "I wish Michael Jordan had gone to Michigan" is nice, but seems there's not much there). I would say they should not only be good, but you think would have fit in for Michigan. Some great guy you hate might not work. Terrelle Pryor probably would have helped up, but we might have bigger problems than "stretching" now too. (But maybe you can make a case for him).

I immediately thought of daddy Glenm Robinson, who said after the fact if he knew all the Fab Five were going to Michigan he would have gone too. Put Ray Jackson as a sixth man, and add him, and I think those title games might have ended differently. (And a third year even without Webber). Kevin Garnett was considering us before he went straight to the NBA. I'm sure there are some football players who went elsewhere we didn't end up hating. Or go other sports if you like. Really miss that Jeter never got to actually play here? Or that Phelps had been eligible to compete?

And yes, I know we have one vote for Aaron Craft already.

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His Dudeness

January 25th, 2013 at 11:15 AM ^

Thanks for the update. I am an alien from anothe rplanet and I just landed. I learned to like Michigan rather quickly and understand the game of basketball and one of the players I enjoy watching is KG, however I missed the part where he didn't go to college. Boy is my face red.

Joined: 11/24/2008

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m1817

January 25th, 2013 at 11:00 AM ^

Lew Alcindor's choice was down to U-M and UCLA.  I would be interesting to see whether U-M would be supplanted UCLA in the late-1960's and early-1970's if Alcindor had made a different decision. 

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YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

January 25th, 2013 at 11:04 AM ^

Randy (as athlete, not off-field where he was a complete zero) was the best player according to Bobby Bowden and Lou Holtz. Bobby had a ton of great athletes and he said Randy was as athletic as Deion and bigger. Tuman, Streets and Moss would have decimated secondaries. Barry had the single best season in NCAA history with 2,600 yards rushing, 39 TDs and then 5 TDs in 3 quarters of the bowl game. As opposed to Moss, he is a great guy and all about the team.

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Mr Miggle

January 25th, 2013 at 11:20 AM ^

Of the guys we were really recruiting, Glenn Robinson Jr and Tim Tebow would have been the most interesting to land. Kareem would have made the biggest impact.

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WhoopinStick

January 25th, 2013 at 11:22 AM ^

Not because he was a great person or a personal favorite, but because he wanted to come to Michigan but we never offered.  So he goes to our rival and is a beast.  Not to mention he played a position of great need.  

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Johnny Blood

January 25th, 2013 at 11:27 AM ^

I don't know if he ever had interest or not (probably not), but a guy I think who would have been great to have is David Robinson.  One of the best players ever and a true class act.

Joined: 12/22/2010

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ryanlove12

January 25th, 2013 at 11:37 AM ^

Patrick Peterson. No way we would have gotten him, but he is my favorite non-M player in the last 15 years or so.

Basketball, I have to go KG. we were his college of choice I believe. I know this was mentioned, but If somebody could clarify. Did he just choose to forgo college, or did he do so in light of basketball sanctions at Michigan? I was in Middle School then. I don't remember exactly how it happened.

Joined: 01/12/2013

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the Glove

January 25th, 2013 at 11:40 AM ^

Ted Ginn jr., took an official visit to Michigan and then Ohio. Who knows, could have possibly made a pipeline with his dad's team if he would have went to Michigan.

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frekulz1400

January 25th, 2013 at 12:00 PM ^

Eric Lindros would have been a fun guy to watch at UM. I guess he would have come to Michigan if he had chosen to play NCAA hockey. There was an article in the Daily about it one time where he was close to committing but his hometown OHL team ended up trading for the #1 pick so they could take him. Red is actually the person who gave him the famous double 8's.

http://www.michigandaily.com/sports/trading-one-m-another-investigating-unique-pipeline-binding-two-north-american-hockey-power?page=0,3

Joined: 11/06/2010

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User -not THAT user

January 25th, 2013 at 12:33 PM ^

I was going to post him, too.

More recently, my pick would've been Nathan Grebe.  How does Coach Red let a hobbit-sized dynamo like that leave the state and go to Boston freaking College?

And as someone said earlier, losing USNTDP guys like Jack Campbell and John Gibson REALLY put a hurting on hockey this year.

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Tater

January 25th, 2013 at 12:06 PM ^

It was between Michigan and MSU for Magic Johnson.  He could have won it all at Michigan, and it might have kept MSU's basketball program from ever getting off the ground.  That would have been a double-win.

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Scout96

January 25th, 2013 at 12:23 PM ^

I remember reading or hearing Jason Kidd said he would have liked to have played with the Fab Five since he thought they lacked a real point guard.  Imagine him feeding all the other players.  Jalen did a good job, but JKidd would have ran our team even better, likely to a title.  I believe he would have been a freshman when the Fab Five were sophomores, so it might have only been 1 year with Webber.  At least it would have made our chances even better during year 3 of that run.

Although you wrote "atheletes that went to other schools" you also mentioned no ground rules, so one thing every UM fan probably thinks, is we wish the Yankees hadn't deprived us one full year of Drew Hensen.

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French West Indian

January 25th, 2013 at 12:55 PM ^

...I admired Kirk Gibson's work with the Tigers and it always kind of annoyed me that he was a Spartan.

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SeattleWolverine

January 25th, 2013 at 1:29 PM ^

Mateen Cleaves, he would have changed the course for two programs over about a decade long span. 

Garnett. People thought he was coming to M and would be another insane athlete like Webber (and he was, in his own way). 

Tebow is a good one. 

Justin King maybe puts us over the top in 2006. Victor Harris? Lots of secondary guys come to mind.

Did we recruit Rocket Ismail? That was before I followed recruiting. 

It's selfish but I can't help but wonder what would have happened if some of the teams would have had certain guys who went pro early. Imagine the 93-94 team with Webber. The 92 football team that went 9-0-3 if they'd had Desmond. Drew Henson to the Yankees. Given the weak schedule we played in 2001, hard to see how we still lose to any of Washington, Sparty Bob and Tressel with Henson. Go to the national championship game and get killed by Miami. But still, the whole rivalry dynamic would have changed if Tressel had lost that first game in Ann Arbor. It's too easy to imagine all of the things in the past that could have had positive ripple effects if they had happened differently. 

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UMaD

January 25th, 2013 at 1:08 PM ^

The Fab5 was awesome, but I always felt like they could have benefited from a true PG (Talley certainly didn't do it and Jalen was better as a second guard).  If Jacque Vaughn had come after Webber left I think they might have won that title, even without Webber.

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Mauresi

January 25th, 2013 at 1:21 PM ^

KG. Kevin Garnett was coming to Michigan, if only he was smart enough. Him being at Michigan would've changed a lot on the basketball here at Michigan quicker.

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