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
Trump promises Michigan crowd that he will revive auto industry, stem immigration
Elon Musk joins Donald Trump on stage at Butler rally
Elon Musk joined Donald Trump on stage at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of the July assassination attempt.
Former President Donald Trump touted his plans to boost the auto industry and curb immigration during a rally in Traverse City, Michigan at 10:30 p.m. Friday night after a three-hour delay.
Several guests had left the rally by the time Trump arrived, walking out to a funereal instrumental song – the Undertaker theme song, “Rest in Peace,” from a Legends of WWE compilation.
He was scheduled to speak at 7:30 p.m. at an airport in Michigan’s northwest Lower Peninsula. But his plane from Austin, Texas, where he had another campaign stop and spoke with the podcaster Joe Rogan, didn’t depart until that time.
At about 8:30 p.m., a video played from Trump on board his aircraft in which he apologized for the delay and said he expected to arrive in Traverse City about 10 p.m. and hoped people would stick around. “We’ll do an extra special job when we get there,” he said.
Trump pledges to revive the auto industry
Trump claimed to have “killed the biggest car plant anywhere in the world in Mexico owned by China.”
He pledged to “bring the car industry back to Michigan,” the state’s economic powerhouse, by strengthening tariffs that would effectively block imports of foreign cars.
“We’re going to put the biggest tariffs there won’t be one damn car that’s going to be able to come through our border,” he said.
Trump urges early voting, alleges fraud
He repeatedly called Kamala Harris “a moron” and said she’s preemptively celebrating a win.
He also suggested without evidence that Democrats were preparing to rig the election and urged voters to cast their ballots early.
“They cheat like hell. Maybe they know something that we don’t. Why the hell would she be celebrating?” he said. “You have to vote anyway because you can’t trust them. Too big to rig.”
The polls are open early in Michigan, he noted. “We’re setting all time records in the votes.”
Trump defends Detroit comments
During a recent visit to Detroit, Trump warned that the whole country would “end up being like Detroit” if Vice Harris is elected president. It drew backlash from locals.
Trump defended those remarks during his Friday night remarks.
“You need businesses to come back into this place, otherwise forget it,” he said. “Don’t be hurt. You’ll be happy when we have auto plants moving in all over the place.”
Trump pledges to protect gas cars
He praised Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has been pouring money into Trump’s reelection effort, saying he “is the greatest guy.”
But he said he would “end the mandate for electric cars on day one.”
“There’s a great market for them but they can’t all be electric.”
There is no law forcing a shift to electric vehicles, but the Biden administration has approved a policy that would push automakers to speed up a transition to EVs.
Trump blames Harris for Venezuelan gangs
He blamed Harris for the rise of “savage Venezuelan prison gangs” in the country, which he said are now “unleashing a violent killing spree all over America.”
“The United States is now an occupied country,” he said. “They’re also taking Hispanic jobs and Black jobs . . . On Nov. 5, 2024, we’re going to have a liberation day.”
Trump says Harris in ‘free fall’ with Muslims
Michigan has the one of the largest Arab and Muslim populations in the United States. Divisions over the administration’s approach to the Israel-Hamas War have raised questions about some of those voters might slip away from Harris.
Trump seized on that during his rally, saying she is in “free fall” with the state’s Arabs and Muslims.
“They’ve had it with her. Nobody’s in charge. Joe Biden is asleep. Kamala is at a dance party with Beyonce,” he said referencing the vice president’s rally in Texas Friday.
Arpan Lobo and Todd Spangler contributed.
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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