# The 29 Best Michigan Wolverines Basketball Players of All Time

> National player of the year winners share space with a backup guard remembered for one title-game half, and the eras stretch from the 1960s to the transfer-portal years.

*By YPB Team · Published November 9, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-29-best-michigan-wolverines-basketball-players-of-all-time*

---

## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Cazzie Russell** — score 1000/1000
   Three-time All-American guard-forward who averaged 30.8 points in 1965-66 and went first overall in the 1966 NBA draft.
2. **Jordan Poole** — score 592/1000
   Guard whose buzzer-beater beat Houston in the 2018 NCAA tournament, drafted 28th overall by Golden State in 2019.
3. **Hunter Dickinson** — score 592/1000
   Center who was the 2021 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and played three seasons at Michigan before moving to Kansas.
4. **Caris LeVert** — score 592/1000
   Wing who played four seasons at Michigan and was drafted 20th overall by Indiana in 2016.
5. **Jalen Rose** — score 592/1000
   Fab Five guard from Detroit who played three seasons at Michigan and was drafted 13th overall in 1994.
6. **Derrick Walton Jr.** — score 525/1000
   Point guard named Most Outstanding Player of the 2017 Big Ten tournament, which Michigan won as the eighth seed.
7. **Duncan Robinson** — score 525/1000
   Shooter who transferred from Division III Williams College and played on Michigan's 2018 national runner-up.
8. **Franz Wagner** — score 525/1000
   German forward who played two seasons at Michigan and was drafted eighth overall by Orlando in 2021.
9. **Tim Hardaway Jr.** — score 444/1000
   Wing who started on the 2013 national runner-up and was drafted 24th overall by the Knicks that year.
10. **Zavier Simpson** — score 444/1000
   Point guard who started on the 2018 national runner-up and made the Big Ten All-Defensive Team and second-team All-Big Ten in 2019.
11. **Mitch McGary** — score 444/1000
   Big man whose 2013 NCAA tournament run took Michigan to the title game before he went 21st overall in 2014.
12. **Glen Rice** — score 444/1000
   Forward who scored a school-record 2,442 points and was Most Outstanding Player of Michigan's 1989 NCAA title run.
13. **Trey Burke** — score 444/1000
   Point guard who swept the 2013 national player of the year awards and led Michigan to that season's NCAA title game.
14. **Yaxel Lendeborg** — score 444/1000
   Forward who transferred from UAB and was the 2026 Big Ten Player of the Year and a consensus first-team All-American for Michigan's national champions.
15. **Terry Mills** — score 444/1000
   Forward on the 1989 national champions who was drafted 16th overall by Milwaukee in 1990.
16. **Bill Buntin** — score 345/1000
   Center who played alongside Cazzie Russell on the 1964 and 1965 Final Four teams; Michigan honors his No. 22 jersey.
17. **Phil Hubbard** — score 345/1000
   Forward who started for Michigan's 1976 national runner-up, won Olympic gold that summer and has his No. 35 jersey honored by the school.
18. **Rickey Green** — score 345/1000
   Guard on the 1976 national runner-up who was drafted 16th overall by Golden State in 1977.
19. **Roy Tarpley** — score 345/1000
   Center on Michigan's 1985 and 1986 Big Ten champions who went seventh overall in the 1986 NBA draft.
20. **Jimmy King** — score 345/1000
   Fab Five guard who started for Michigan in the 1992 and 1993 NCAA title games.
21. **Robert Traylor** — score 345/1000
   Center nicknamed Tractor who was drafted sixth overall in 1998 after three seasons at Michigan.
22. **Gary Grant** — score 345/1000
   Guard who was a consensus first-team All-American for Michigan in 1988 and was drafted 15th overall that year.
23. **Chris Webber** — score 0/1000
   Fab Five forward who was a first-team All-American in 1993 and the first overall pick of that year's NBA draft.
24. **Juwan Howard** — score 0/1000
   Fab Five big man drafted fifth overall in 1994 who later coached Michigan from 2019 to 2024.
25. **Rudy Tomjanovich** — score 0/1000
   Forward who holds Michigan's career rebounding record and was the second overall pick in the 1970 NBA draft.
26. **Campy Russell** — score 0/1000
   Forward who led Michigan to a share of the 1974 Big Ten title and was drafted eighth overall that year.
27. **Nik Stauskas** — score 0/1000
   Canadian shooting guard named 2014 Big Ten Player of the Year and drafted eighth overall by Sacramento.
28. **Spike Albrecht** — score 0/1000
   Backup point guard who scored 17 first-half points against Louisville in the 2013 national title game.
29. **Moritz Wagner** — score 0/1000
   German big man who started on the 2018 national runner-up and was drafted 25th overall by the Lakers.

Tags: sports, basketball, players, college basketball, ncaa, michigan