Michigan Basketball: Ranking the top 10 Wolverines since 2010

#8: Tim Hardaway Jr.

Tim Hardaway Jr. had a fantastic career for the Wolverines. Playing along side Trey Burke, Hardaway Jr. was probably the second most important piece on that 2012-13 team that lost in the National Championship game.

Hardaway came to Ann Arbor as part of the 2010 recruiting class. There was plenty of hype as he was a top-150 player and Beilein hadn’t landed many highly ranked guys in his Michigan tenure yet. Hardaway Jr. did not disappoint.

He started every game each of the three seasons he was at Michigan and was their go to scorer much of the time. Hardaway Jr. never averaged less than 13.9 PPG in any season he played for the Wolverines.

In three seasons, he was as consistent and as productive as you could ever want out of your starting shooting guard. Just like guys like Novak, Douglass, Burke, Morgan, and others, Tim Hardaway Jr. played a big part of changing the culture at Michigan and making it a winning program once again.

On a personal note, Hardaway provided me with one of my favorite in person Michigan basketball moments of all time. I went to the Michigan vs Ohio State basketball game in Ann Arbor in early 2013. Ohio State led most of the game and was looking for the season sweep.

Hardaway Jr. went off in the second half and made several threes to bring Michigan back. The Wolverines ended up winning that game in OT and I’ll never forget that game from Hardaway Jr.

Here are highlights from that game.

Hardaway Jr. now plays in the NBA for the Dallas Mavericks. He has averaged over 14 PPG each of the last six seasons and has turned out to have a very nice pro career. He is currently in year four of a 4 year, 70+ million dollar contract. I’d say he’s doing quite well for himself these days.