Last week, we started our offseason series of ranking the best Michigan men’s basketball players since the first time the Wolverines won a national championship back in 1989 to celebrate a 37-year history of Michigan basketball between titles. Today, we look at the next tier up, and it’s a significant one from our scoring model from a batch of already quality list of players in the first rendition of this series.
Michigan
Buzz is building on Aidan Chiles, the expected Michigan State quarterback in 2024
Jonathan Smith on start of Michigan State football’s preseason camp
New coach Jonathan Smith discusses the first day of Michigan State football’s preseason camp on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in East Lansing, Michigan.
Michigan State Athletics
Michigan State football will look quite different in 2024 under new head coach Jonathan Smith, including under center.
MSU cleared house after 2023, bringing in Smith and a brand new coaching staff, and reshaping the roster through the transfer portal, with nearly two dozen departures and 10 additions.
One of those transfer portal additions is quarterback Aidan Chiles, who followed Smith and offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren from Oregon State, and projects as the Spartans’ assumed starting quarterback for the 2024-25 season and the foreseeable future. Chiles, still 18 and a sophomore, appeared in limited action over nine games as a true freshman, meaning he could potentially be MSU’s quarterback for the next three seasons.
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Chiles has not been officially named the starting quarterback by the coaching staff. He is one of five quarterbacks on the roster, along with sixth-year senior Tommy Schuster, a Michigan native who transferred from North Dakota, true freshmen Alessio Milivojevic and Ryland Jessee, and walk-on redshirt freshman Atticus Carridine.
All of MSU’s quarterbacks who played in 2023 — Noah Kim, Sam Leavitt and Katin Houser — transferred in the offseason.
Chiles is the only quarterback on the roster with FBS playing experience, albeit just 91 snaps as a true freshman with Oregon State. He was the backup to DJ Uiagalelei, who had transferred to Oregon State from Clemson, which limited Chiles’ action, but Smith still made sure to get him experience.
Schuster started four seasons at the FCS level for UND, throwing for 9,073 passing yards, 63 touchdowns and 843 completions in 42 games over four seasons.
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Chiles is one of the most heralded, if not the most, transfers joining Michigan State in the portal era, even over the likes of Kenneth Walker III or Jayden Reed. While similar production to the latter two in green and white is far from guaranteed, Chiles has an encouraging background that says he could thrive.
Chiles, a 6-foot-3, 217-pound California native, was rated the No. 8 overall transfer, and second-best quarterback transfer going into this fall, according to 247 Sports’ rankings. He was a four-star recruit out of Downey High School in the metro Los Angeles area, and the No. 152 overall recruit and No. 12 quarterback in the 2023 class per the 247Sports composite rankings. He signed with Smith and the Beavers originally at the end of 2022, and enrolled early at 17 years old.
In his reserve action last year, Chiles completed 24 of 35 passes for 309 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions, while adding 79 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, showing his ability as a dual-threat option.
Teammate testimonial on Aidan Chiles
If you are curious what Chiles’ impact on MSU could look like, take it from a program veteran who has faced off against him in practice throughout the summer, or one of his projected top receivers.
“Aidan has such a vital role on the offense. They work around him,” sixth-year senior defensive tackle Maverick Hansen told reporters last week. “He’s the one, he’s the one that everyone’s looking at to be the guy and everything, just like any other quarterback. Now (Walker) is a running back. But we knew in spring ball before we even hit the season that K9 was a guy, because he would just cut up and he’d be gone before anyone else could touch him. And we’re like, ‘Holy smokes, this dude is the real deal.’ And the coaches would say, ‘Oh, K9 ain’t gonna be here long. As soon as this season’s over, he’s in the league.’ It’s different for a quarterback, absolutely. He’s got a lot — he can throw the ball, he can run the ball, he’s got a lot of different options, as far as a running back can really just run and block. So I feel like there’s a lot of potential there for Aidan.”
“Dynamic. I can say that in one word,” senior wide receiver Montorie Foster Jr. told reporters. “But if you want me to go more in detail: He’s just a dude, man. He makes plays, he stretches plays. That West Coast offense, being able to get them out the pocket and stretch plays down the field, it helps my game to make more plays down the field.”
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No. 22 – F Morez Johnson Jr. – Score: 78.4
The first player from Michigan’s 2025-26 team has made it on the list, and it’s the bodyguard himself, Morez Johnson Jr. His stint in Ann Arbor was short, but impactful. After transferring in from Illinois, he found his way into a starting lineup with two other players 6-foot-9 or taller in Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara. The trio wreaked havoc all season long thanks to their length and athleticism in a scheme tailor-made by head coach Dusty May.
Johnson was one of the most efficient players in the country, averaging 13.1 points per game on a 62.3 percent clip. He also led the team with 7.3 rebounds per game and was commonly considered one of the best defensive players on the floor with his ability to guard all five positions. He was a Second-Team All-Big Ten and was on the All-Big Ten Defensive Team as well.
No. 21 – F Deshawn Sims – Score: 78.9
In the transition from Tommy Amaker to John Beilein, Deshawn Sims was a part of a special group that propelled the program to relevancy again. Sims was the 19th player in program history to reach 1,500 career points, and the 15th to surpass 700 rebounds. Consistency was key, as he played in 129 consecutive games over four seasons, starting 92 of them.
Everything came together for the Wolverines in the 2008-09 season when Sims and co-star Manny Harris led the team to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in more than a decade. The team underperformed in 2009-10, but Sims’ play stayed consistent.
Along with the elite company Sims established with his longevity, he was also a three-time All-Big Ten honoree and averaged 16.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game over his final two seasons.
No. 20 – F Ray Jackson – Score: 81.6
Not only did we have the introduction to the 2026 championship team, but this stretch also introduces us to the Fab Five with forward Ray Jackson, the final member of the historic 1991 class.
Jackson not only has the pedigree tied to the culture that surrounded the Fab Five and their two runner-up finishes in the NCAA Tournament, but he was also a great player. One could argue he was the most unheralded of the bunch and deserves more credit than he does. Somehow, he was only a two-time All-Big Ten performer, but he averaged 17.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game in his final three seasons with the program.
He ascended from the last of the Fab Five to a premier Big Ten player during his four-year career, helping guide Maurice Taylor — an honorable mention in this series — to being a member of the All-Big Ten freshman team when Jackson was a senior.
Jackson’s impact was profound, not just for his role in the Fab Five but for the transition out of it with future players who had impossible shoes to fill. The Wolverines not only stayed afloat, but remained tournament teams in the years following, which would have meant more had that era not been tarnished with “scandal” for a fraction of what is being done today in the NIL world.
- The Top 25 Michigan men’s basketball players since 1989: No. 25-23
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As temperatures rise in Michigan each summer, so to do the chances of harmful algal blooms (HABs) developing in our lakes, causing a risk to both ecosystems and public health.
HABs are formed wherever there is rapid growth of cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, which are naturally found in lakes, rivers and ponds. Some cyanobacteria found in blooms contain toxins that can be harmful to people and animals, and often present as blue-green, yellow or brown streaks, foam, or thick paint-like scums on the water surface, according to the Michigan Departments of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE)
To help keep track of these harmful algal blooms across the state, EGLE has teamed up with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) to update its online reporting form to include harmful algal blooms. Now the public can easily report suspected HABs to the state by filling out the form at Michigan.gov/HABs. Individuals can also make a report by calling EGLE’s Environmental Assistance Center at 800-662-9278.
“This new online form is an easy and efficient way for Michiganders to help monitor and safeguard our water resources,” said Jerrod Sanders, director of Water Resources Division at EGLE, in a news release. “This tool improves efficiency and helps us respond to potential risks more effectively.”
It will also allow EGLE and MDHHS staff to better understand how HABs develop, and creates the potential to send out public notifications about what areas to avoid as a way of keeping people and pets safe when they’re detected.
Breathing in or swallowing water with HAB toxins can cause asthma-like symptoms, difficulty breathing, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, runny eyes and nose, weakness, headaches or dizziness. Skin contact can also cause rashes, blisters or hives.
“If you had contact with or swallowed water with a suspected HAB and feel sick, call your health care provider or seek medical attention as soon as possible,” said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, chief medical executive.
Locations of HAB reports verified by EGLE and results of cyanotoxin testing will be displayed on the Michigan Harmful Algal Bloom Reports Map for the public to review.
For more information on health effects, causes and reports on the occurrence of HABs in Michigan lakes, visit Michigan.gov/HABs.
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