Michigan basketball has placed some great players in the NBA, but who really had the best careers after leaving Ann Arbor?
The basketball world is constantly churning out new superstars, but it churns out players of all shapes and sizes in the meantime. In the more recent world of basketball, new names pop up in the NBA not just from college ball, but from internationally and from the G-League and other non-collegiate outlets. It’s been some time since players were able to head directly to the NBA from high school ball.
Not every player is a superstar, even if they starred at the highest level during their pre-NBA careers. Many international stars don’t exactly reach the highest heights playing in the NBA, even if a select few have achieved those goals.
In the college game, things are far different. There are more than 360 Division 1 basketball programs that all churn out talented basketball players, and there are hundreds more programs doing the same at lower levels.
Who had the best NBA careers coming out of the Michigan basketball program?
Michigan has quite the place in college basketball history. The Wolverines have been to eight Final Fours and their last decade has thrust them back into relevance after a lame period in the late 90s and 2000s. The Wolverines won the national title in 1989, rode the Fab Five to relevance a few years later, and had John Beilein lead them to two more titles games in more recent memory.
Today, we’re combining these two things by looking back through Michigan basketball history and identifying the players who had the best careers in the NBA. Michigan has produced a number of fantastic athletes; there’s no question about that.
Few really get that shot at NBA glory and we’re looking closely at the top 15 such athletes. There have been 64 former Wolverines who have played in the NBA and we’re looking at the best of the best.
15. Loy Vaught
A 6’9 power forward originally from Kentwood, Michigan, Loy Vaught certainly secured his spot in Michigan lore. He arrived on campus back in 1986 and spent his final three seasons as one of the starting forwards for the Wolverines.
As a senior, he averaged 15.5 points and 11.2 rebounds per game, but it’s his junior year that really stands out, as he helped lead Michigan to their sole national championship. Vaught was a starter on that team and played a significant role, even leading the Big Ten in effective field goal percentage that season.
Vaught was taken by the Los Angeles Clippers with the 13th pick of the 1990 NBA Draft and would spent the next eight seasons with the franchise.
He started over 300 games at forward for the Clippers. Between 1994 and 1997, a 3-season span, he averaged 16.2 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, a stretch that spanned his three most productive professional seasons. He spent a few more seasons as a reserve for the Detroit Pistons, Dallas Mavericks, and Washington Wizards, as injuries slowed down the back half of his career.
His career highlight may be his role in Michigan’s 1989 national championship, but Vaught was a legitimate player in the NBA for several seasons. He was an important piece for the Clippers, even if the franchise wasn’t exactly competing for titles at the time. He made more than 50% of his field goals during an 11-year NBA career; there’s no Wolverine with more than 500 career NBA games who spot better than him from the floor.
14. Phil Hubbard
Phil Hubbard crossed the border from Ohio to Michigan and joined the Wolverines way back in 1975, spending the next four seasons as one of their most vital frontcourt weapons. He averaged 15.1 points and 11.0 rebounds per game as a freshman and helped lead the Wolverines to the national title game. He had an even more productive sophomore season and was a Second Team All-American, but was forced to miss his entire junior year after sustaining a knee injury.
After bouncing back as a senior, he moved to the professional level and was selected by the Detroit Pistons with pick 15 of the 1979 NBA Draft. His first three pro seasons were with those Pistons, and he became an important piece early in his career, averaging 14.5 points a game in his second year.
He was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1982, in the trade that sent Bill Laimbeer to the Pistons and played another seven and a half seasons. He averaged a career-high 15.8 points a game in 1985, eventually ending his career in 1989.
Hubbard spent more than a decade as an NBA assistant and later had his number 35 retired by the Wolverines. His career at Michigan could have been markedly more legendary had he not had that knee injury, but it didn’t stop him from a productive NBA career. He was an efficient forward for nearly his entire decade in the NBA and also won a Gold Medal in the 1976 Olympics when he was still in college.
13. Terry Mills
Back in the 80s, Terry Mills starred at Romulus High School outside of Detroit, the same school that future Alabama coach Nate Oats would coach at just over a decade later. But Mills became known for his success with the Wolverines, arriving on campus in 1987 and leaving as a national champion three years later. He was the team’s starting center for that title during his second collegiate season and averaged 18.1 points and 8.0 rebounds the following year.
After establishing himself as a dynamic presence, including as the Big Ten’s best shot blocker, Mills was taken with the 16th pick of the 1990 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, though he’d never play a minute for that team.
His rights were traded to the Denver Nuggets, but it wasn’t until he joined the Detroit Pistons that he stood out. He was the Pistons’ starting power forward in the early 90’s, averaging at least 14 points a season three straight years while also developing into a potent 3-point shooter.
Mills’ ability as a post player who could shoot outside shots wasn’t as prevalent in the game three decades ago. He wasn’t a superstar, but he was an important weapon for the Pistons, unfortunately during an era where Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls finally had their number.
Mills is a former All-American who got a championship ring in college and spent more than a decade playing in the NBA, retiring in 2001 with more than 7,000 career points.
12. Jordan Poole
Originally from Milwaukee, Jordan Poole was a fringe Top 100 prospect who came to Michigan in 2017 and certainly left quite the impression in his two seasons with the Wolverines. He was a bench piece with decent production as a freshman but is widely remembered for his buzzer-beater against Houston in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
As a sophomore, Poole averaged 12.8 points per game as a full-time starting guard, hitting just under 37% of his 3-point attempts that year.
Poole left school after just those two seasons and was taken late in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors. He split time between the Warriors and their G-League affiliate early in his career but has become a vital piece for the franchise in recent years.
In 2022, his third professional season, Poole saw his numbers explode. He averaged 18.5 points a game, led the entire NBA in free throw percentage, and helped the Warriors to the NBA championship. This current season has seen him average 20.4 points a game for the Warriors and he’s emerged as a top-level 3-point shooter.
Poole is the only active player on today’s list so it’s hard to judge his NBA career. In all likelihood, he’d be slotted higher if we did this list a few years in the future, but the first four years of his NBA career have been quite prosperous. He recently signed a multi-year extension with the Warriors and has clearly developed into an important backcourt weapon for them these last two seasons.
11. Tim Hardaway Jr.
The son of a former NBA All-Star, Tim Hardaway Jr. has had himself quite the basketball career as well. He was born in California while his father played with the Warriors but starred at the high school level in Miami, Florida.
He opted for Michigan for his collegiate career, starring for the Wolverines between 2010 and 2013. Hardaway averaged right around 14 points per game in each of his three years at Michigan while also helping lead the program to the national title game as a junior.
Skipping his final year of eligibility, Hardaway jumped to the NBA and was selected with the 24th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks. Hardaway was an All-Rookie selection with the Knicks and has since spent time with the Atlanta Hawks and Dallas Mavericks.
He’s become a consistent threat, averaging at least 14 points per game in each of the last seven seasons, and has really carved out his role in the Mavericks’ backcourt in recent years.
Among Wolverines who have made the NBA, Hardaway ranks 3rd among them in 3-pointers made and sits on the brink of 10,000 career points.
Hardaway has never exactly been a superstar in the NBA but has been a consistent scorer over the last decade since he was drafted. Few other Michigan studs have turned their collegiate success into a long-term pro career like this and Hardaway is following nicely in his father’s footsteps.
10. Campy Russell
A 6’8 forward originally from Jackson, Tennessee, Campy Russell was a high school standout in the state of Michigan and stayed home with the Wolverines, playing for the school in the early 1970s.
Russell put up impressive numbers in his first collegiate season, but his junior season was the real moneymaker. He’d average 23.7 points and 11.1 rebounds per game for the Wolverines, earning Second-Team All-American honors.
After that stellar performance in college, Russell headed to the pros, becoming the 8th pick of the 1974 NBA Draft by way of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Russell played six seasons with the Cavaliers and became an All-Star in his fifth year in the league. He averaged a career-high 21.9 points per game in that 1979 season and had a half-decade stretch of very solid play, with decent rebounding numbers as well.
Unfortunately, Russell’s career was limited by injuries at the end, and he was out of the league by 1984 after a brief attempt at a comeback. Still, his success in the 70’s with the Cavaliers earned him a certain spot in their history.
For his career, he averaged 15.8 points per game, a number eclipsed by only a couple of former Wolverines, with his 8,953 career points sitting 9th among former Michigan players.
9. Roy Tarpley
Oh what could have been; that seems an apt descriptor for Roy Tarpley. A 6’11 big man who chose Michigan after starring in Detroit, he arrived on campus in 1982 and was a great piece for the next four seasons.
Tarpley played a minimal role as a freshman but was a starter in the frontcourt for the rest of his career. As a junior, he averaged 19.0 points and 10.4 rebounds per game and was named Big Ten Player of the Year. The figures were less impressive in his senior season, but he did lead the conference in blocks that season.
The 7th pick of the 1986 NBA Draft, Tarpley developed into a major weapon for the Dallas Mavericks. He was already averaging a double-double by his second year in the league and was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year.
Over the next three seasons, he averaged 17.2 points and 12.5 rebounds per game and was well on his way to being a dominant force in the league. Unfortunately, Tarpley had issues with substance abused and was banned from the league for three years; he’d briefly returned in 1994 but was permanently banned less than a season later.
Much of Tarpley’s professional career came overseas as a result of his own behavior. Had he stayed away from those substances, he could have been a major force for the Mavericks or another NBA franchise for many years. He played just 280 career games, but he’s the only former Wolverine to average at least 10 rebounds a game at the NBA level. Sadly, he passed away in 2015.
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.
7. Jalen Rose
A high school star in Detroit, Jalen Rose is a name most basketball fans already know. This 6’8 athlete was a member of the Fab Five, the famous recruiting class that Steve Fisher and company landed in the early ’90s.
Rose averaged 17.5 points per game across his three-year career with the Wolverines, helping lead the squad to a pair of trips to the national title game. He had a number of memorable performances in the NCAA Tournament and was named a Second Team All-American at the end of his collegiate career.
He declared for the NBA Draft in 1994 and was taken 13th overall by the Denver Nuggets. Rose would spend 13 years playing in the NBA and would have a successful and long-lasting career.
Though he was never an NBA All-Star, he was a major factor, averaging 19.5 points and 4.5 assists per game during a terrific stretch between 2000 and 2005, playing for the Pacers, Bulls, and Raptors during that time. He was actually named Most Improved Player right before that stretch.
Rose remains a prominent figure in basketball, working as an analyst, radio show host, and sideline reporter for much of the time since his retirement in 2007. He was among Michigan’s finest athletes during the ’90s and represented the university well in the NBA, accumulating over 13,000 points and 3,500 assists, ranking him 6th and 3rd respectively among former Wolverines.
Even those who didn’t see Rose play back in the day know him from his appearances on ESPN and other networks over the years.
6. Rickey Green
Rickey Green is a 6’0 point guard from Chicago who led his high school to a state championship way back in 1973. He then starred for two seasons at Vincennes in southern Indiana before transferring to Michigan for his final two years of eligibility.
He did more than enough in those two years in Ann Arbor, averaging greater than 19 points per game in both seasons and emerging as a major scoring threat. He helped lead the Wolverines to the national championship game as a junior and was a First-Team All-American as a senior.
The Warriors drafted him with the 16th pick in 1977 and began a 15-year NBA career that’d see him play for eight different franchises. His best work came in an 8-year stretch with the Utah Jazz, with him making his only All-Star Game in 1984, the same year he’d lead the NBA in steals.
Those years in Utah were his best as a scorer and facilitator, averaging 7.4 assists per game in his first seven seasons with the Jazz. His final years saw him as more of a reserve for several different teams.
Green was a prominent figure for the Jazz in the 80s and was their ball handler and a potent scorer for much of his time there. He didn’t win any titles or set any records but his career was certainly memorable and successful. No former Wolverine notched more career assists or steals in the NBA than Green, who was also a pretty decent shooter as well.
5. Juwan Howard
The current head coach of the Wolverines was a pretty stellar basketball player in his own right. Juwan Howard was the dominant power forward from Chicago who was part of the Fab Five and was responsible for significant basketball success for this program in the early 90s.
He had a handful of dynamic performances in the NCAA Tournament, helping guide Michigan to the national title game in his first two seasons. As a junior, he averaged 20.8 points and 8.9 rebounds, earning Third-Team All-American honors.
Pick No. 5 by the Washington Bullets back in 1994, Howard’s NBA career would last for nearly two decades and feature roles with eight different franchises. He was named an All-Star in just his second year in the league and was an All-NBA Third Teamer that season as well.
He averaged 17.8 points and 7.4 rebounds across his first decade in the NBA before settling into more of a reserve role in the back end of his career. Howard would win a pair of NBA championships with the Miami Heat to end his playing days before joining them as an assistant in 2013.
Howard was a significant player in the NBA for a very long time. He wasn’t a major component in those championships at the end, nor did he appear in a load of All-Star games or move mountains, but he was terrific.
Anyone who lasts 19 years in the NBA is clearly doing something right. Only a couple of former Wolverines played more games or scored more points than Howard, and his legacy continues as the program’s head coach, winning AP Coach of the Year as the nation’s best back in 2021.
4. Glen Rice
A high school star in Flint, Michigan, Glen Rice Sr stayed in-state and starred for the Wolverines in the late 1980s, developing into one of the most important players in program history. A 6’8 small forward, he was a solid reserve as a freshman but really saw his performance and numbers explode late in his career.
He was well above 20 points per game for his final two seasons, but it wasn’t just impressive numbers. After averaging 25.6 points as a senior, he led the Wolverines to the national championship in 1989, earning Most Outstanding Player in the process.
Unsurprisingly, the Big Ten Player of the Year was taken 4th overall by the Miami Heat in the NBA Draft a few months later. He’d spent 15 years playing in the NBA, but things really clicked for him with the Charlotte Hornets later in his career.
He was a three-time All-Star with the Hornets and averaged 26.8 points per game in 1997, leading the NBA in 3-point percentage. He won a title ring with the Lakers in 2000 and averaged greater than 20 points per game across his first ten years in the league, becoming more of a backup at the tail end of his playing days.
He was the All-Star Game MVP in 1997 and was twice an All-NBA selection. Rice won titles at both the collegiate and professional levels and stands out as one of the best Hornets in the early stages of their franchise. He totaled 18,336 career points, the second-highest among former Wolverines, and did it in impressive fashion throughout his professional career.
3. Jamal Crawford
Few remember Brian Ellerbe’s stint as Michigan’s head coach, but it’s impossible to forget Jamal Crawford, who built quite the legacy with the Wolverines during that time.
A 6’5 guard from Seattle, Crawford was a dynamic weapon who made his way to Ann Arbor in 1999 and spent just a single season with the Wolverines. The former high school star averaged 16.6 points and 4.5 assists per game for an underwhelming Michigan team but did enough to build his own profile.
Crawford was the 8th pick of the 2000 NBA Draft and spent the next 20 years as a backcourt weapon. He spent time with nine different franchises, including successful runs early in his career with the post-Jordan Bulls and the Knicks.
He was a dynamic scorer for most of his playing career, had impressive assist numbers, and was a three-time winner of Sixth Man of the Year. He totaled 19,419 career points in the NBA and was an influential player everywhere he went.
Crawford didn’t win big at Michigan and he never cut down the nets in the NBA, he was simply a steady force who ground out 20 years at the professional level. No former Michigan player has had a longer career or scored more points than him on basketball’s biggest stage. One could argue that he deserves to be higher on the list, but he was never a super-dominant player or an All-Star. Nevertheless, Crawford’s career was fantastic and deserves to be honored.
2. Rudy Tomjanovich
Rudy Tomjanovich carved out quite the professional career in Houston, but was a Michigan man years prior, spending the late 60s playing for the Wolverines.
After sitting his first season, back when freshmen couldn’t play, Tomjanovich became one of the nation’s best post players while with the Wolverines. He was already averaging better than a double-double in his first season and his numbers were simply mind-boggling. As a senior, he averaged 30.1 points and 15.7 rebounds per game, setting himself up well for the next level and earning Second-Team All-American honors.
The 2nd overall pick in 1970, Tomjanovich was taken by the then San Diego Rockets and would spend his entire NBA playing career with that franchise. The numbers he put up across the next 11 years were exceptional, averaging a double-double early in his career and eclipsing 20 points per game on four separate occasions.
He was a 5-time All-Star with the Rockets and scored more than 13,000 career points with the franchise.
His No. 45 jersey was retired by both the Rockets and Michigan, where he remains the career rebounds leader. He would later be a coach for the Rockets, coaching Hakeem Olajuwon and crew to a pair of NBA championships in the mid-90s.
His legacy is clear in the city of Houston and it’s even clearer among former Wolverines who’ve taken their game to the next level. Among those former Wolverines, he ranks 3rd in rebounds and 5th in points scored in the NBA.
1. Chris Webber
Chris Webber might be known for that infamous timeout he tried to call in 1993, but let’s not forget what a fantastic basketball player he was, both for Michigan and in the NBA. A major star at the high school level in the state of Michigan, he joined the Wolverines in 1991 as part of the Fab Five and was a major part of that magic in the early 90s.
He won Big Ten Rookie of the Year after averaging a double-double as a freshman and put up 19.2 points and 10.1 rebounds per game as a sophomore to earn First Team All-American honors, all while leading the Wolverines to a pair of national title games.
A major force and the best rebounder in the Big Ten, it was not a surprise to see Webber selected first overall by the Orlando Magic in the 1993 NBA Draft.
Over the next fifteen years, Webber would have quite the NBA career, earning 5 trips to the All-Star Game and five straight All-NBA selections, including First-Team honors with the Kings in 2001. His numbers were off the charts, averaging more than 20 points per game across his entire career, which lasted over 800 games.
A Basketball Hall of Famer, Webber’s #4 was retired by the Kings. He was Rookie of the Year, an electric scorer and rebounder, and lived up to much of the hype from his days at Michigan.
We’ve been giving out these figures for nearly every player, but just consider that among former Wolverines Webber sits 1st in rebounds, 2nd in assists, 2nd in steals, and 3rd in points scored in the NBA. He was a monster for the Kings and a couple of other franchises across his career.
Thus concludes our look at the best former Michigan Wolverines in the NBA; do you agree with the 15 players we selected and focused on today or did we miss the mark on a few of these inclusions?