Greatest University of Michigan Basketball Players of All Time

Whoever is lucky enough to write the definitive history of college basketball will find many protagonists to pick from. Blue-blood programs like Kentucky, UCLA, Kansas, Duke and North Carolina fit the bill. 

But if you’re looking to tell a really great story, our advice is to always focus on the antihero — and in this case, that would most definitely be a role perfectly suited for the University of Michigan. 

While the Wolverines have won just one national championship, their story is interwoven with the very best teams of all time. The Michigan basketball team has been the NCAA national runner-up six times (even if two of those are no longer officially on the books). It also paved the way for a group of players in the early 1990s, known as the Fab Five, to change the way the game is viewed and played on every level.

Here’s a look at the best Michigan basketball players of all time. 

Years: 1962-65

Position: Power Forward/Center

Height/Weight: 6-foot-7, 250 pounds

College highlights: Two-time AP All-American (1964, 1965), two-time Big Ten champion (1964, 1965)

Bottom line: Detroit native Bill Buntin was a rebounding machine who led Michigan to back-to-back Final Four appearances in 1964 and 1965 alongside Cazzie Russell, losing to UCLA in the 1965 NCAA championship game. Buntin was a player entirely out of his era at 6-foot-7 and 250 pounds — he averaged 21.8 points and 13.2 rebounds during his three seasons in Ann Arbor. 

Buntin was only 26 years old when he suffered a fatal heart attack during a pickup basketball game. Michigan’s annual team MVP award is now named The Bill Buntin Award. 

Years: 1987-90

Position: Point Guard

Height/Weight: 6-foot-2, 195 pounds

College highlights: NCAA champion (1989), AP All-American (1990)

Bottom line: Rumeal Robinson will always be remembered for hitting the game-winning free throws in overtime against Seton Hall in the 1989 NCAA championship game — and rightfully so — but he was a much more complete player than that moment gives him credit for. 

Robinson was an All-American in the season after the national title and is still in the school’s Top 10 on the career and single-season lists for assists and steals. He was drafted No. 10 overall in the 1990 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks and played seven seasons in the NBA and 12 seasons of pro basketball. 

Years: 1975-79

Position: Power Forward/Center

Height/Weight: 6-foot-8, 215 pounds

College highlights: AP All-American (1977), NCAA national runner-up (1976), Big Ten champion (1977)

Bottom line: Ohio native Phil Hubbard was as good as any player in Michigan through his first two seasons, helping lead the Wolverines to an NCAA runner-up finish as a freshman in 1976, then earning All-American honors after he won a Big Ten title as a sophomore in 1977. Hubbard also won an Olympic gold medal in 1976. 

Hubbard suffered a catastrophic knee injury that forced him to miss his entire junior season, but he still averaged 16.5 points and 11.1 rebounds and shot 53 percent from the field for his career. Hubbard was selected No. 15 overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons and played 665 career games for the Pistons and the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

Years: 1967-70

Position: Power Forward

Height/Weight: 6-foot-8, 225 pounds

College highlights: AP All-American (1970), three-time All-Big Ten (1968-70),  

Bottom line: Modern basketball fans just know Rudy Tomjanovich as an NBA head coach — long before that he was a high school basketball star in the Detroit suburbs who went on to star at the University of Michigan. 

Tomjanovich was nothing but great for the Wolverines, with career averages of 25.1 points and 14.1 rebounds while also being named a three-time All-Big Ten selection and an All-American as a senior in 1970. Still, Michigan’s career-leading rebounder, Tomjanovich played 11 seasons in the NBA, all with the San Diego/Houston Rockets, and was a five-time NBA All-Star. He would later coach the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. 

Tomjanovich’s career — and life — almost came to an end when he was punched by Los Angeles Lakers center Kermit Washington during a game in 1977. The incident resulted in fractures all over Tomjanovich’s skull.