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
REPORT: Marquette To Host Central Michigan
About a week back or so, noted college basketball bracketologist guy Rocco Miller put out into the universe that YOUR Marquette Golden Eagles men’s basketball team will be hosting Central Michigan in the 2024-25 season.
Sources: Marquette will host Central Michigan as part of its 2024-25 non-conference schedule. #BigEast #MACtion
— Rocco Miller (@RoccoMiller8) May 30, 2024
Now, I feel comfortable passing along Rocco’s information as solid. The next thing I’m going to pass along is stemming from that and since I don’t know the two Twitter accounts in question, I can’t vouch for the information. However, not one but TWO Twitter accounts noted that 1) Central Michigan will be hosting Stony Brook in 2024-25 and 2) that game is part of a Multi-Team Event that Marquette is (technically) hosting.
Scheduling News:
Central Michigan will host Stony Brook as part of its 2024-25 non-conference schedule.
Final date TBD, but will be in November. The game is part of the MTE that Marquette is hosting though it will be on campus in Mount Pleasant. Return game at SBU in 25/26.
— Made For March (@madeformarch) May 30, 2024
Scheduling update:
Central Michigan will host Stony Brook in November as part of the MTE that Marquette is hosting.
Central Michigan will visit Stony Brook in 25/26.
— SBU Hoops (@NewYorkHoopsIns) May 30, 2024
We already talked about Marquette’s home game against Stony Brook, so the pieces fit together there. Marquette Deputy Athletic Director Mike Broeker mostly confirmed the hosted MTE in an interview with Cracked Sidewalks’ Alan Bykowski without actually saying it is 100% happening or who was involved, so that fills in that side of the puzzle as well.
“I would say we are going to host our own MTE. We’re going to get three games out of it. Next year’s MTE is really a factor of a desire to play an additional home game or two and the best way to do that. Is it an every year thing? I don’t think we can say that. I’ve said this, historically, your schedule has to do two things. One, it has to reflect your roster and what you’re capable of doing. And then two, it always has to feed your competitive expectation for the program, and obviously, our competitive expectation is pretty clear and Shaka has been open about it.”
Okay, so back to Central Michigan. This game will be the third ever meeting between Marquette and CMU. The Golden Eagles have won both, with both coming as home games for MU. Marquette won 81-67 in December 2008, and then again by a score of 97-73 in 2022. That game was the Students Only game at the Al McGuire Center. Marquette has confirmed that they are doing that event again in 2024-25, but between being a repeat opponent just two years later and coming as part of the MTE, I would presume that the Chippewas will not be the opponent slotted into that game.
Central Michigan is coming off an 18-14 season in Tony Barbee’s third season in Mount Pleasant. The Chips went 12-6 in MAC play and earned the #4 seed in the conference tournament, but had their season cut down in the quarterfinals by way of a 66-56 upset loss to #5 seed Bowling Green.
They finished 2023-24 at #277 in KenPom.com’s rankings, #269 at BartTorvik.com, and #264 in the NET. The Torvik computers show the Chippewas as perhaps being a touch better next season, as they project at #234 in the country, although that’s only 7th best in the MAC. Central Michigan returns Anthony Pritchard, a 6’2” guard who led the Chips in scoring (12.8/game) and assists (4.7/game) last season. He’s not much of an outside shooter after connecting on just 26% of his long range attempts last year, and shooting in general was a struggle for CMU all season. The Torvik RosterCast tells us that Central Michigan doesn’t return much else outside of Pritchard, so Marquette could have a notable tactical advantage if this game gets played in the first week or two of the season.
A date with Central Michigan brings us to seven known games on the Marquette schedule for 2024-25. We know dates for four of them — Maryland, Purdue, Georgia, and Iowa State — while we wait for details on the yearly game against Wisconsin as well as the aforementioned Stony Brook game and this CMU contest. There’s another game for the MTE that lays out there in the wilderness, and I would presume the opponent is on the rough level of Stony Brook and CMU. There’s also the theoretical game against NC State that Andy Katz reported as a possibility, but there’s been no announcement about that or further rumoring.
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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