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, Detroit schools set graduation rate records
Michigan’s four-year graduation rate climbed to a new high of 84% for the class of 2025, the Michigan Department of Education announced Friday, an increase of 1.2 percentage points from the previous year.
The state’s five-year graduation rate for the class of 2024 improved by nearly 1 percentage point, to 85.8%, and the four-year dropout rate also improved to 7.1%, down from 7.7% in the previous year.
The graduation rate is the highest since the state adopted the federal formula for calculating the rate in 2008, according to MDE. The rates are distributed by the Michigan Center for Educational Performance and Information and are available to filter by school district on the MI School Data website.
State Superintendent Glenn Maleyko said the historic highs are due to increased efforts by “students, educators, families and communities as well as state leaders.”
“It takes all of us collaborating to put Students First and support them so they can graduate, be successful in postsecondary endeavors, and realize their dreams,” Maleyko said in a statement. “There’s more work to do because we want all students to graduate, but we know we can make further progress while also improving other student outcomes such as literacy.”
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also said in a statement she knows “how much hard work students and parents do to walk across the stage and receive a high school diploma.”
“Since I took office, we’ve made record investments in education, from helping schools buy the latest textbooks and technology to delivering free breakfast and lunch to all 1.4 million public school students,” Whitmer said. “Let’s keep working together to boost Michigan’s graduation rate and help every young person ‘make it’ in Michigan.”
EdTrust-Midwest State Director Brian Love said in a statement the new record high was “promising.”
“It shows that the collaboration of our state leaders and educators is working for our state’s students,” Love said. “At the same time, our state leaders have more work to do to ensure all students are college and career ready, particularly students with the greatest needs.”
Several school districts also saw record graduation rates.
Troy School District had the highest graduation rate of the 20 largest districts, at 98.3%.
Sixteen of the 20 largest districts in the state saw increases, averaging 1.4 percentage points of growth among them.
Detroit Public Schools Community District had the largest increase of the 20 districts, raising its graduation rate 5.1 percentage points to 83.2%, just a hair below the state average and marking a new district high.
The growth continues an upward trend for DPSCD, with the 2025 class marking the fourth consecutive year of improvement since the pandemic low of 64.5 percent in 2020-21, a recovery of 18.7 percentage points. The gap between DPSCD’s graduation rate and the state average was 16 points, and is now less than 1 point.
“Our teachers, counselors, principals, and staff knew we could do better and put in the work every day to get us here,” Superintendent Nikolai Vitti, noting the increases “did not happen by accident.”
“We were intentional about building a stronger system of support around our high school students,” Vitti said. “This included advanced data tracking systems, more course recovery, additional counselors and mental health intervention for neighborhood high schools. We still haven’t completely arrived where students need us to be as a district but we are certainly making historic strides! I am proud of our students, their families, and our staff.”
Vitti recently focused his State of the Schools address on the growth in DPSCD, and urged other districts across Michigan to come see what Detroit is doing to spur that growth.
Grand Rapids Public Schools also released a statement about its new record rate of 83.2%, an increase of a little less than a point from last year but nearly 18 points higher than it was 10 years ago.
“The continued increase in our graduation rate shows what is possible when an entire district rallies around scholar success,” Superintendent Leadriane Roby said. “Our educators are focused on ensuring every scholar has the support they need to graduate and prepare for what’s next. The Class of 2025 is proof that our collective efforts aremaking a real difference.”
MDE attributed much of the growth to “rigorous secondary school programs in Michigan such as Career and Technical Education,” including dual enrollment, where students can earn college credit while still in high school.
The state also saw growth within 14 of its 17 subgroups of students, including homeless students (4.6 percentage points), military-connected students (3.8 percentage points), African American students (2.6 percentage points), economically disadvantaged students (1.5 percentage points), and Hispanic/Latino students (1 percentage point).
Love, the EdTrust director, said some of those rates still remain low, showing the continued need for investment. African American students graduated in four years at a rate of 75.7%. Students who are economically disadvantaged had a 74.6% four-year graduation rate.
Love said EdTrust-Midwest is advocating for additional funding that is weighted toward districts with higher populations of students with the most need.
“It’s important for state leaders to continue to invest in our schools, particularly those that serve high concentrations of students from low-income backgrounds, English learners and students with disabilities; develop research-backed policies to address our state’s early reading crisis; and support strategies to close opportunity gaps that leave too many students unprepared for college and career,” Love said. “Our students can’t wait.”
jpignolet@detroitnews.com
The Spartans have a plethora of players coming in for official visits this weekend.
Few are bigger than 4-star cornerback/wide receiver Gideon Gash.
Gash is a 6-foot-4, 205-pound speedster out of Detroit Catholic Central High School in Novi, Michigan. He holds a 91 rating from 247Sports, which ranks him as the third-best recruit in Michigan for the 2027 class and the fifth-best athlete in the entire class. His 91 rating is also good enough to rank him as the No. 70 overall recruit in the nation.
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His composite score is nearly as good as it gets at 0.9701. That keeps him ranked as the fifth-best athlete in the recruiting class while moving him up to the second-highest-rated recruit in the state of Michigan. His composite score is also the 70th-best mark nationally.
If you’re reading this and thinking you thought the Spartans already had a Gash on the roster, you’d be correct. In fact, they have two.
Older brother Caleb Gash is a redshirt sophomore on the Spartan roster and plays safety for Joe Rossi and the defense. Then, earlier this year, another older brother, Samson Gash, signed his commitment to the Michigan State Spartans. Samson was ranked as the seventh-best recruit in the state of Michigan in the 2026 class and the No. 43 wide receiver in the country. So, in fact, there are already two Gash brothers on the Spartans’ roster, with Gideon still deciding where he wants to play following his final years of high school football.
The Gash brothers are certainly not new to the game. Their father, Sam Gash, enjoyed a successful football career of his own. He played at Penn State from 1987-1991 before being selected in the eighth round of the 1992 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. He also spent time with the Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens, and New Orleans Saints during his NFL career. Gash was a Super Bowl XXXV champion and a two-time Pro Bowl selection. Following his playing days, he went on to coach in the NFL with the New York Jets, Detroit Lions, and Green Bay Packers.
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Gideon Gash has been one of Pat Fitzgerald’s most important recruiting targets since arriving at Michigan State. Alongside Joe Rossi and James Adams, Fitzgerald has played a key role in the Spartans’ pursuit of the talented athlete. Based on the recruiting efforts so far, it appears Michigan State would prefer to see Gash on the defensive side of the ball, where he could line up alongside his older brother Caleb.
Gash was named the 2026 MVP of the Polynesian Bowl National Showcase & Combine after clocking a blazing 4.35-second 40-yard dash.
As a junior in 2025, Gash was a two-way standout for Detroit Catholic Central, helping lead the Shamrocks to a 14-1 record and a Michigan Division 1 state championship. He played both wide receiver and cornerback throughout the season.
On offense, Gash caught 19 passes for 540 yards, averaging 28.4 yards per catch, while scoring eight touchdowns. Defensively, he totaled 74 tackles, three tackles for loss, nine pass breakups, one interception, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. He also added a kickoff return touchdown.
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In the state championship game against Cass Tech, Gash delivered one of his best performances of the season. He recorded six tackles and one pass breakup on defense while hauling in three receptions for 126 yards and three touchdowns on offense.
According to 247Sports, Gash currently appears warm on four programs: Michigan State, Texas Tech, Alabama, and Oklahoma. He also holds offers from Auburn, Boston College, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, LSU, Louisville, Michigan, Missouri, Northwestern, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
There is certainly no shortage of interest in one of the nation’s top athletes, meaning the Spartans will have to work hard to fend off some of the premier programs in college football.
Having two brothers already on the roster is a great starting point for Michigan State. However, it will take a strong official visit this weekend to continue building momentum and potentially put the Spartans in an even better position moving forward.
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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