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
Michigan becomes 20th state to outlaw ‘gay panic’ defense
LANSING, MI – Michigan is now the 20th state in the U.S. to outlaw legal arguments that someone’s sexual orientation justified assaulting them.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law the bill on Tuesday, July 23, banning the defense commonly referred to as “gay panic” or “LGBTQ+ panic.”
Under the new law, which goes into effect Oct. 23, a person charged with a violent crime can’t seek to reduce or evade criminal liability on claims that they lost control and reacted violently because of the victim’s sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
“I have been incredibly passionate about this bill for several years, and I am elated to see it signed into law. Protecting the future of LGBTQ+ people across Michigan is something I have been working hard to do,” said the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, D-Livonia.
“This bill, alongside many other monumental pieces of legislation brought forth by Michigan Democrats, is a huge step toward securing a safe and inclusive state for all Michiganders.”
The bill was sent to the governor after passing along party lines June 27 in the state House, with Republicans voting against the bill. In the state Senate, Republican Sens. Mark Huizenga, Dan Lauwers, Jonathan Lindsey and Ed McBroom joined with Democrats on approving the bill.
Michigan set to become 20th state outlawing ‘gay panic’ defense
According to the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association, Michigan is the 20th state to ban the gay panic defense.
Michigan has had at least four cases between 1970 and 2020 where a murder defendant used the gay panic defense, according to a 2020 study by W. Cartsen Andresen, a professor at St. Edward’s University in Texas.
The National LGBTQ+ Bar Association said that it has tracked dozens of cases across the U.S. where juries have acquitted defendants due to the LGBTQ+ panic defense strategy. The crimes in those cases ranged from assault to murder.
Under Michigan’s new law, a person is not justified in using force against another person based on the discovery or knowledge of the victim’s sex, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation.
That discovery or knowledge also is not permitted as evidence to demonstrate reasonable provocation, to show that an act was committed in the heat of passion or to support a defense of reduced mental capacity.
Victims’ sexuality can be used to justify crimes. Legislation could stop it.
One of the most infamous cases of the use of the defense was the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming. Shepard, 21, was driven to a remote area by two men who then brutally beat him, tied him to a fence and left him to die.
Lawyers defending one of Shepard’s killers argued his client was partly triggered by an unwanted sexual advance by Shepard and previous traumatic experiences with LGBTQ+ people. The judge did not allow the defense.
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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