Michigan Wolverines Basketball - History

History

Early years (1908–19)

As a result of public and alumni demand for a basketball team, Michigan fielded a team of members of the then-current student body and achieved a 1–4 record for the 1908–09 season. However, after three years of demanding a basketball program, the student body did not attend the games and the program was terminated due to low attendance. Basketball returned in 1917 in what was considered the inaugural season of varsity basketball. The team was coached by Elmer Mitchell who instituted the intramural sports program at Michigan. The team finished 6–12 overall (0–10, Big Ten). The following year Mitchell led the team to a 16–8 (5–5) record.

Mather era (1919–28)

E. J. Mather coached the team to three Big Nine titles in his nine seasons as coach. After inheriting Mitchell's team, which he led to a 10–13 overall (3–9, Big Ten) record during the 1919–20, he led the team to an 18–4 overall (8–4, Big Ten) record during the 1920–21 season. This 1921 team won its first eight and last eight games to tie the Wisconsin Badgers and Purdue Boilermakers for the Big Nine title. The team won back-to-back championships in 1925–26 and 1926–27. The 1926 squad, which was captained by Richard Doyle who became the team's first All-American, tied with Purdue, the Iowa Hawkeyes and Indiana Hoosiers for the conference championship. The 1927 team had a new All-American, Bennie Oosterbaan, and won the schools first back-to-back championships and first outright championship with a 14–3 overall (10–2, Big Ten) record. Mather died after a lengthy battle with cancer in August 1928.

Veenker era (1928–31)

George F. Veenker compiled the highest overall and highest Big Ten winning percentages of any coach in school history during his three years as coach. He earned 1st(tied), 3rd and 2nd(tied) finishes during his three seasons, which included the 1928–29 conference championship. During Veenker's first season his team compiled a 13–3 overall (10–2, Big Ten) record to win the conference, and Veenker continues to be the only coach in school history to win a conference championship in his first season. The championship team, which finished tied with Wisconsin, was captained by the schools third All-American Ernie McCoy. Veenker resigned to become the Iowa State Cyclones football head coach.

Cappon era (1931–38)

Franklin Cappon had a long history of association with Michigan athletics starting with his service as a four-time letterman in football and basketball from 1919 to 1923. In 1928, he became assistant football and basketball coach and in 1929 he served as Fielding H. Yost's assistant Athletic Director. Although the highlight of Cappon's tenure as coach was a 16–4 (9–3) third place 1936–37 Big Ten finish, he coached John Townsend who in his 1937–38 senior season became the last All-American for over a generation (until the arrival of Cazzie Russell). The team finished third in two other seasons with less impressive records (1932–33 10–8 overall (8–4, Big Ten) and 1935–36 15–5 overall (7–5, Big Ten)), and Cappon's overall record was 78–57 overall (44–40, Big Ten). A notable captain during the Cappon era was 1933–34 captain Ted Petoskey, a two-time football All-American end and eventual Major League Baseball player.

Oosterbaan era (1938–46)

In 1938 Michigan coaching duties were assumed by one of its greatest athletes. Bennie Oosterbaan had been an All-American in both football and basketball and held various coaching positions at Michigan in both of those sports as well as baseball. In basketball, he implemented a fast-paced attack as coach, and his teams' best overall record was 13–7 in 1939–40. That season he tied with his final season for his best Big Ten record at 6–6. He resigned after eight seasons to concentrate on his football coaching duties.

Cowles era (1946–48)

Under Ozzie Cowles, during the 1947–48 season, Michigan ended the longest (19 years) consecutive year period without a conference championship in school history. They also became the first contestants in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament during Cowles second of two seasons. The 1947–48 team posted a 16–6 overall (10–2, Big Ten) record. This team also posted the first undefeated home performance in school history with a 9–0 overall (6–0, Big Ten) record.

McCoy era (1948–52)

Ernie McCoy became the second former All-American Wolverine player to coach the team. Like Oosterbaan before him, he became a football and baseball coach at Michigan. He also served as assistant Athletic Director under Fritz Crisler. During his four seasons as basketball coach, Michigan's best finish was during the 1948–49 season when they finished 15–6 overall (7–5, Big Ten) and earned a third place Big Ten Conference finish. He coached Michigan's first All-Big Ten basketball players that season in Pete Elliot and captain Bob Harrison who were both selected to the first team. Harrison returned the following season as the first repeat first-team All-Big Ten basketball player and Elliot was a second-team honoree. McCoy served as a football scout at the same time.

Perigo era (1952–60)

Bill Perigo took over the Michigan coaching job after having served three seasons as Western Michigan basketball coach. Despite previous success as a conference basketball champion coach at Western and subsequent success as a Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) champion basketball coach, his Michigan teams endured several mediocre season. His best Big Ten records came in 1956–57 and 1958–59 when his teams compiled 8–6 conference records. The latter team was tied for second in the conference and was 15–7 overall (8–6, Big Ten). It also had Perigo's only first-team All-Big Ten athlete in M. C. Burton. Team captain and two-time football consensus All-American Ron Kramer was third-team All-Big Ten in 1957 after being second-team All-Big Ten in both 1955 and 1956.

Strack era (1960–68)

Dave Strack, a former team 1945–46 captain, had become the freshman basketball team coach in 1948 and later had become a variety assistant to Perigo. He led the team to three consecutive Big Ten Championships from 1963–66 and a third place finish in the 1964 NCAA tournament. During 1964–65 the team compiled a 24–4 overall (13–1, Big Ten) record while completing an undefeated 11–0 overall (7–0, Big Ten) home season. Strack earned United Press International (UPI) National Coach of the Year honors. The team ended the season listed number one in both the UPI and Associated Press (AP) national rankings. He recruited All-Americans Russell and Buntin to anchor his mid-1960s teams. Tomjanovich also became a Wolverine at the end of Strack's career and became second team All-Big Ten in 1968 subsequent later stardom. The 1964 team, which went 23–5 overall (11–3, Big Ten), tied with Ohio State with sophomore Russell and junior Buntin. In 1965, Buntin became the first Wolverine to be drafted by the NBA. In 1966, Russell led the team to its third straight conference championship and NCAA selection on his way to National Player of the Year honors.

Orr era (1968–80)

In Johnny Orr's twelve seasons, he twice (1973–74 and 1976–77) earned Big Ten Coach of the Year honors with Big Ten Champions. His teams earned four consecutive NCAA selections from 1974–77. The 25–7 overall (14–4, Big Ten) 1976 team lost to an undefeated Indiana team in the NCAA championship game, and Orr earned National Association of Basketball Coaches Coach of the Year honors that season. The 26–4 overall (16–2, Big Ten) 1977 team finished first in both the AP and UPI national rankings, and Orr won Basketball Weekly National Coach of the Year honors. During Orr's tenure, six players earned a total of seven All-American recognitions, which is the most of any Michigan coach. Steve Grote became Michigan's only three-time first-team Academic All-American from 1975–77 and with a second team All Big Ten as well as three honorable mentions was the first four-time All-Big Ten honoree.

Frieder era (1980–89)

Bill Frieder, who had been an assistant coach for seven years, took over from Orr in 1980. He coached the school's first post-season basketball champions during the 1983–84 season and the following two teams were back-to-back conference champions. The 1983–84 team compiled a 24–9 overall (11–7, Big Ten) record on their way to a NIT championship victory over Notre Dame. The 1984–85 team went 26–4 overall (16–2, Big Ten), which earned Frieder Big Ten and AP national Coach of the Year honors. The 1985–86 team, which finished 28–5 overall (14–4, Big Ten), started the season with sixteen victories to make a total of thirty-three consecutive regular season victories. Frieder earned six consecutive NCAA births. Roy Tarpley led the 1985 team as Big Ten MVP. Frieder resigned, upon request, immediately prior to the 1989 NCAA tournament to assume the coaching job for the Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball team.

Fisher era (1989–97)

Steve Fisher assumed the coaching position immediately before the 1989 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament from Frieder after having served and led the team to six straight victories and the championship. Fisher also signed the most famous recruiting class known as the Fab Five (Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson). He would take these players to the NCAA championship game as Freshmen and Sophomores. In their sophomore 1992–93 season they compiled a 31–5 overall (15–3, Big Ten) record, which has since been forfeited. Fisher also won the 1997 NIT tournament with a team that compiled a 25–9 overall (11–5) record. Many of Fisher's accomplishments were tarnished by NCAA sanctions. He left the job due to the University of Michigan basketball scandal.

Ellerbe era (1997–2001)

Brian Ellerbe assumed the title of interim coach less than five months after becoming an assistant coach. He was named full-time coach following the 25–9 (11–5) 1997–98 season in which he led the team to victories over Iowa, Minnesota and Purdue to capture the Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament championship. His subsequent teams never finished better than seventh in the conference.

Amaker era (2001– 07)

Tommy Amaker inherited a team that imposed sanctions on itself after his first year at the helm of the program. Nonetheless, he coached the team to the postseason three times including both an NIT championship in 2004 and a runner-up finish in 2006. During the 2005– 06, when the team compiled a 22–11 overall (8–8, Big Ten) record, he led them to their first national ranking in eight years when they reached the #20 position. Despite his successes, the team never won a Big Ten Championship and never made the NCAA tournament, which led to his firing after six seasons.

Beilein era (2007–present)

John Beilein's 10–22 overall (5–13, Big Ten) inaugural season featured the most losses in Michigan's history and ended with a March 14, 2008 performance that was the Big Ten Conference Tournament's lowest until 2011. However, in Beilein's second season, the team posted impressive non-conference victories over top-five ranked opponents UCLA and Duke. Beilein led Michigan to the 2009 NCAA Tournament, its first appearance since 1998 and the first that was not vacated since 1995. After upsetting Clemson in the first round, the Wolverines were eliminated by Oklahoma in Round 2 by a final score of 73-63. Following a disappointing 15-17 season in 2009-10, the Wolverines bounced back to return to the NCAA Tournament in 2011, advancing to the round of 32 before losing to top-seeded Duke, 73-71. The 2010-11 Wolverines, who swept rival Michigan State for the first time since 1997, finished the season 21-14. In the 2011-12 season Michigan split the season series with both Ohio State and Michigan State and went on to be co-Big Ten champs along with the Buckeyes and Spartans. It was the first Big Ten title for Michigan since 1986. The Wolverines finished the regular season 23-8 (13-5). Michigan Ranked 5th in both the AP Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Poll to begin the 2012-13 season.