2009–10 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team

Preview

November 12, 2008, marked the first day of the early signing period for high school seniors wishing to become eligible student-athletes in the 2009-2010 academic year. The early period ended on November 19, 2008 for NCAA college basketball teams (the regular signing period is from April 15–May 20, 2009). However, verbal commitments are usually accurate predictors of signing activity. Based on verbals and very early signings, Big Ten Conference rivals Indiana, Minnesota and Illinois had top 25 signing classes, but Michigan did not according to both ESPN and Scout.com. The team was the choice of four blue chip prospects who followed through on their verbal commitments and signed letters of intent including Matt Vogrich and Darius Morris. The 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 180-pound (82 kg) Morris was listed among the top 15 point guards in the nation by Scout.com, Rivals.com and ESPN. Kelvin Grady, who had played 64 games and made 33 starts during his first two seasons, was going to transfer from the program at the end of the prior season, but he became a wide receiver on the 2009 Michigan Wolverines football team. In June 2009, Jordan Morgan had surgery on his left knee to repair articular cartilage. The expected recovery time was four to five months. In October, it was unclear whether he would be able to join the team or whether he would redshirt.

Entering the season, Harris was regarded by some as the most highly rated player in the Big Ten. E.g., the FOX Sports preseason All-American listed him on its second team. It included Michigan State's Kalin Lucas on its third team, Purdue's Robbie Hummel on its fourth team and Ohio State's Evan Turner on its fifth team. However, ESPN chose both Lucas and Turner to its preseason second-team All-American list, while Harris was not shown on a single ballot. Harris and Sims were named among the 50 preseason Wooden Award watch list nominees. Harris was also named to the preaseason Naismith College Player of the Year watchlist. The 24-member Big Ten media panel selected Harris as a first team preseason All-Big Ten team member.

The 2009–10 schedule includes the Old Spice Classic, an ACC – Big Ten Challenge match against Boston College, games against preseason ranked power conference opponents Kansas and Connecticut as well as the 2010 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.

Roster

- denotes class status adjusted for used redshirt eligibility.

Signees

In addition to the four-year scholarship recruits above, Beilein recruited Eso Akunne as a preferred walk-on and eventually offered him a one-year scholarship commitment. Beilein also recruited Josh Bartelstein who extended his high school career at Phillips Exeter Academy after high school at Highland Park High School as a walk-on.

2010–11 team recruits

The 2010 class includes Tim Hardaway, Jr., son of Tim Hardaway.

Preconference

Harris opened the season by recording the second triple double in school history (Gary Grant was the first in the 1987 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament) with 18 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists against Division II Northern Michigan during a 97–50 victory on November 14. Sims added 22 points and true freshman Matt Vogrich added 15 points on five-for-five three point shooting. Harris earned Big Ten player of the week during the first week of the year for the second consecutive season. Michigan struggled early against their first Division I opponent, by hitting only 4 of their first 21 shots. They recovered with a 29–13 run led by twelve points each from Harris and Sims to end the first half en route to a 77–55 victory against Houston Baptist. Sims posted a career high 5 three point shots.

During the Thanksgiving weekend, Michigan participated in the eight-team fourth annual Old Spice Classic at The Milk House in Orlando, Florida. On November 26, which was Thanksgiving Day, they defeated Creighton 83–76 in overtime when Harris fell one rebound shy of a triple double. Laval Lucas-Perry tied a career-high with 18 points and Sims added 16. The following day, they lost to a 6–0 Marquette team 79–65. They shot 12 for 18 from the free throw line and 3 for 20 from 3-point range. They lost the subsequent game to Alabama when a Darius Morris full-court drive was blocked.

The Wolverines began December competition in the ACC – Big Ten Challenge by losing to Boston College 62–58. The team ended its three-game losing streak by beating Arkansas - Pine Bluff. The Wolverines were outrebounded 41–25 in a 68–52 loss to the Utah Utes. Michigan rebounded as both Harris and Sims posted season highs with 27 and 23 points respectively in a 75–64 win over University of Detroit Mercy. The Wolverines fell to 1–21 all-time against number one ranked teams when it lost to Kansas. In the team's final pre-conference game, they beat Coppin State 76–46.

Conference

Zack Novak and Stu Douglass led the Wolverines in scoring in their conference season opening 71–65 loss to Indiana on New Year's Eve. Sims and Harris led the way to the first conference victory on January 3 against a #15-ranked Ohio State team without its leading scorer, Evan Turner. On January 7, the Wolverines came from 16 points behind to defeat the Penn State Nittany Lions on the strength of four second half three point shots by Laval Lucas-Perry and 25 points from Sims. On January 10, they wasted a 17-point lead in a loss to Northwestern despite 24 points from Harris and 17 from Sims. On January 11, Sims became the second Wolverine to earn Big Ten Player of the Week for his efforts during week nine (January 4–10). The Wolverines won the January 14 rematch against Indiana under the leadership of Harris who had 17 second half points and Sims who added 20 points and 8 rebounds. Michigan then earned its first win against a ranked non-conference opponent and their second consecutive win against a ranked opponent on January 17 when it defeated #15 Connecticut 68–63 behind 18 points and 8 rebounds from Harris. Subsequently, they lost three consecutive games to ranked conference opponents. On January 20, Michigan opened up a lead on Wisconsin who missed its first eight field goal attempts. They led until Wisconsin tied the game with 4 minutes and 4 seconds remaining. Wisconsin scored two subsequent baskets to take the lead. Wisconsin held on despite 23 points and 13 rebounds from Sims. On January 23, while Manny Harris served a one-game suspension, Sims posted 21 points and Novak added 16, but after taking an 11–10 lead, the Wolverines surrendered a 16–2 run to Purdue that they never recovered from. On January 26, the Wolverines hosted Michigan State who needed a Kalin Lucas basket with 3.5 seconds to play to earn the win, which resulted in Michigan state posting a school-record eight consecutive conference victories to start conference play. On January 30, Michigan finished the month with a 60–46 win against Iowa to snap its three-game losing streak. Harris and Sims both contributed 20 points. Sims had 12 rebounds as well. Michigan scored the first 13 points of the game and after taking a 12-point lead into halftime, they scored the first 5 points of the second half.

The Wolverines began February with a 67–52 loss to Northwestern on February 2. Harris and Darius Morris, who each posted 11, were the high scorers. Northwestern pulled away with a 21–4 second half run. On February 6, Michigan lost 62–44 to 16th ranked Wisconsin, who shot 9 for 13 on three point shots in the first half and only missed seven total shots in that time. Then Michigan only made one shot in the first eight minutes of the second half. Then, Michigan went 7 for 14 on its three-point shots to beat Minnesota 71–63 behind 27 points from Sims and 20 from Harris. On February 16, Michigan recovered from a 5-point deficit in the final twenty seconds on late shots by Sims including a three-pointer with 6.1 seconds remaining. Sims had 27 and Harris had 20 points as they both accumulated 10 rebounds and the team shot 14–27 on its three-point shots. In overtime Michigan, come from three points behind. On February 20, despite 20 points by Harris, Michigan was unable to notch its first three-game winning streak against Penn State. On February 23, Michigan shot only 20% in the first half and fell behind 26–18 and trailed Illinois most of the rest of the game despite 15 points and 11 rebounds from Harris. On February 27, Michigan lost to Ohio State despite all of its starters scoring in double digits.

On March 2, Michigan defeated Minnesota 83–55 as Harris and Sims posted 23 and 22 points, respectively. The team posted its best shooting night of the season by going 32 for 53. On March 7, Michigan concluded its regular season with a 64–48 loss to Michigan State. None of Michigan's starters posted double digit scoring and Zack Gibson led the team with 10 points. The team only scored 14 points in the first half and did not score in the first 3 minutes and 50 seconds of the second half. As a result, the team fell to a 7-11 conference record and was accorded the eighth seed in the 2010 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament where they were matched against ninth-seeded Iowa. They defeated Iowa 59–52 behind 22 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals by Harris. This earned them a matchup against the top-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes. After trailing #5-ranked Ohio State by a 51–38 margin, sharpshooting by Harris and Douglass brought Michigan to within 59–57, which led to a frantic finish. Harris hit a shot with 2.2 seconds remaining to give Michigan a two-point lead before Turner hit a 37-foot 3-point shot to win the game.

Statistics

The team posted the following statistics:

Individual Honors

Harris was named as a finalist for the 2010 Bob Cousy Award and a Midseason Top-30 finalist for the 2010 John Wooden Award. Novak was a District 4 first-team 2009 Academic All-District Men’s Basketball Team selection as selected by ESPN The Magazine and College Sports Information Directors of America. Sims and Harris were both selected as second team National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 7. Both the Big Ten coaches and the media selected Sims and Harris to the 2nd and 3rd All-conference teams, respectively. Sims was also recognized as Michigan's Big Ten Sportsmanship Awards honoree. Harris and Novak were selected as Academic All-Conference performers. Neither Harris nor Sims was drafted in the 2010 NBA Draft.

Team players drafted into the NBA

One player from this team was selected in the NBA Draft.