15 best Michigan basketball NBA careers in Wolverines history

8. Cazzie Russell

This 6’5 small forward from Chicago was quite possibly the best high school player in the Chicagoland area, though we’re talking about six decades ago here. Cazzie Russell made his way to Michigan in 1962 and had three insanely successful seasons with the Wolverines.

He averaged a meteoric 24.8, 25.7, and 30.8 points per game in his three collegiate seasons respectively, earning AP Player of the Year honors in his senior season in 1966. Russell was a 3-time All-American and was certainly one of the sport’s dominant forces of the 1960s.

Unsurprisingly, Russell was selected with the 1st pick of the 1966 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks and would play for over a decade in the NBA. He didn’t necessarily have the kind of career that you’d expect from a top pick, but he was still productive throughout the ’70s.

He was on the All-Rookie team, won an NBA ring with the Knicks in 1970, and was an NBA All-Star in 1972, averaging 21.4 points per game for the Golden State Warriors. He averaged 15.1 points per game across over 800 career games in the NBA.

Russell’s collegiate career was dominant but his time in the NBA wasn’t quite as standout. He was a fantastic player, but he didn’t quite live up to the top-pick billing in the way you’d expect. Still, he was a champion and an All-Star and had a productive decade in the game, but there are still some other former Wolverines who did much more with their professional careers.