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
This Michigan sculpture park and garden is the best in the country. Where you should visit
Using a chainsaw to turn hurricane debris into beautiful art
Sam Knowles, of DeLeon Springs, uses his chainsaw to convert hurricane debris into beautiful three-dimensional art and sculptures. In his 30-year artistry he has created thousands of pieces of chainsaw art.
The Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park was named the Best Sculpture Park in the USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards for the third consecutive year.
“Winning this award for the third year in a row is an extraordinary honor and a testament to the unwavering passion of our volunteers, members, guests, donors and staff,” said Charles Burke, president & CEO of Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, in a news release.
“This award underscores the importance of the gift of Meijer Gardens from Fred and Lena Meijer and our commitment to providing a world-class experience for 30 years that seamlessly blends art, culture and nature. We are deeply grateful for this recognition and look forward to inspiring our guests for years to come.”
What are the Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park?
Home to the largest tropical conservatory in Michigan, the 158-acre main campus in Grand Rapids hosts a multitude of outdoor gardens and a five-floor, 15,000-square-foot tropical conservatory.
The permanent sculpture collection features more than 200 pieces, many of which are displayed in the sculpture park. The museum also features rotating exhibits.
How can I visit the gardens and sculpture park?
The site is open seven days a week, except for Mondays in January, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Day, and New Year’s Eve and Day.
It is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Tickets for children 3 to 13 are $11, adults up to 64 are $22, seniors are $17, students with ID are $16. The venue does not accept cash.
What are the top 10 Best Sculpture Parks?
The top 10 destinations include:
- Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park (Grand Rapids)
- Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park (Wilson, North Carolina)
- Brookgreen Gardens (Murrells Inlet, South Carolina)
- Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park (Hamilton, Ohio)
- Grounds For Sculpture (Hamilton, New Jersey)
- Laumeier Sculpture Park (St. Louis, Missouri)
- San Juan Islands Sculpture Park (Friday Harbor, Washington)
- Griffis Sculpture Park (East Otto, New York)
- Minneapolis Sculpture Garden (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
- Storm King Art Center (New Windsor, New York)
Who does the rankings?
The USA Today 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards highlights the very best travel, food, drink and lifestyle.
The panel includes industry experts who nominate their favorite attractions across a range of categories. Editors then vet the nominations and set a final list of nominees to be presented to the voting public.
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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
Enter your email and we’ll send a secure one-click link to sign in.
WLNS 6 News is provided by Nexstar Media Group, Inc., and uses the My Nexstar sign-in, which works across our media network.
Learn more at nexstar.tv/privacy-policy.
WLNS 6 News is provided by Nexstar Media Group, Inc., and uses the My Nexstar sign-in, which works across our media network.
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is a leading, diversified media company that produces and distributes engaging local and national news, sports, and entertainment content across its television and digital platforms. The My Nexstar sign-in works across the Nexstar network—including The CW, NewsNation, The Hill, and more. Learn more at nexstar.tv/privacy-policy.
-
Alabama2 minutes agoLive Game, Weather Updates: Tuscaloosa Baseball Regional, No. 7 Alabama vs. USC Upstate
-
Alaska5 minutes agoWayne and Wanda: I’m ready to break up with Alaska but facing resistance from everyone
-
Arizona10 minutes agoWhy Milan Momcilovic Choosing Arizona Would Be Tough Blow for Iowa State Basketball
-
Arkansas17 minutes agoBaseball notebook: Kansas and Arkansas to play in winner’s bracket
-
California20 minutes agoCalifornia governor’s race tightens as primary day approaches
-
Colorado25 minutes agoColorado weather: Severe thunderstorm watch active for Eastern Plains
-
Connecticut32 minutes agoFire extends from attic of well-known Clinton donut shop
-
Delaware35 minutes agoDelaware history in News Journal May 31-June 6: royal visit, oil plea
