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 football’s trip to LA proved the Wolverines aren’t ready for prime time
Why Michigan’s game against USC is maybe most important of the season
Tony and Andrew break down what a Michigan win over USC could mean for their College Football Playoff chances.
LOS ANGELES – It could have been worse. Probably should’ve been worse. But just when the game was on the verge of turning truly ugly, Michigan football’s defense made a play.
And then another.
Not enough of them to save the game − or save the season, though technically U-M could run the table and get into the College Football Playoff. That’s a technicality, however, because these Wolverines aren’t close to that level.
USC exposed that here at the LA Memorial Coliseum, running over, through and around the Wolverines before eventually running them off the field, 31-13. As mentioned, it could’ve been worse.
U-M couldn’t pressure Jayden Maiva, or cover the Trojans’ receivers, or stop their third-string running back, King Miller, who iced the game early in the third quarter – yes, the third quarter – when he took a handoff on 3rd-and-26, burst through a yawning hole, juked Brandyn Hillman, and tore up the field for 49 yards.
Two plays later, Miller scooted around the edge for 15 yards and a touchdown. That made it 21-7. That was ballgame. Though, frankly, it felt over when USC moved 75 yards like wire through cheese and scored with seconds left in the first half.
That made it 14-7. Somehow, it felt over even then. That’s presumptuous, of course, but hey, anyone who watched the first half saw it.
Blame the three-time zone difference if you like, or the cross-country flight, or the discombobulation that comes when a team on one side of the country travels to play a team on the other side. Like USC did recently when they played poorly at Illinois and lost.
Just don’t tell that to Indiana. The Hoosiers found their way from Bloomington, Indiana, to Eugene, Oregon, and took out the No. 3-ranked Oregon Ducks. Yes, the Hoosiers, who, by the way, are also led by a second-year coach.
Turnarounds happen fast. At least they are expected to happen fast, especially when a coach takes over at a school with resources like Michigan has.
Sherrone Moore is a long way from feeling heat. He beat Ohio State and Alabama last season, and his team – both this season and last – play hard for him. That isn’t nothing. He also recruits well.
Yet this is two years in a row the Wolverines have looked stuck in mud too often on offense. To be fair, U-M lost its best running back, Justice Haynes, to an injury just before halftime. That was a blow. And the quarterback is an 18-year-old freshman.
Still, Moore’s offense doesn’t attack the whole field. Perhaps partly because Bryce Underwood is so young, and he wants to minimize turnovers. But watching the Trojans spread wide and use misdirection, it looked like the teams were playing different sports at times Saturday evening.
Defensively, the Wolverines weren’t ready for what Lincoln Riley dialed up. Their advantage on the outside was one thing, but the struggle to get consistent pressure on Maiava and fit the run was startling.
USC amassed almost 500 yards, nearly half of them on the ground. Miller ran for 158 and often started his runs untouched.
About the best U-M could muster were two turnovers when the Trojans were close to scoring, one on a fumble, the other an interception. Those swings made the score respectable – for a while.
Scoreboards aren’t arbiters of nuance, though. Box scores are, and the more detailed numbers back up the demolition at the Coliseum, where the Wolverines got outmaneuvered and at times even outmuscled, and never really had a chance.
Contact Shawn Windsor: swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him @shawnwindsor.
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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