you sound like a guy who knows ball
My list (capped at 10 to make me think harder about it) is missing some obvious guys (Walton, Morris, Burke), but what can I say, these are just the ones I became unreasonably invested in for whatever reason.
Something I’ll note is that, for someone who loves bigs, there aren’t enough bigs in here! Let’s say the just-missed-the-cut list includes Teske, Wilson (kind of a big), and Morgan, and that Reed has potential to make the cut soon. The list is also real heavy on second run Beilein guys, probably because something about the style of that program rebirth really spoke to me.
In roughly chronological order:
Novak
McGary
Stauskas
Levert
Moe
Simpson
Matthews
Poole
Franz
Bufkin
And if I had to pick one favorite, it would probably be Simpson, although I’d have to think hard about Moe, too.
Prediction for next year: Dug bumps someone from the list (no idea who).
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i’m glad it got so many responses - this has been my favorite evening on here in awhile. i know why it can’t be like this all the time, but it’s nice to have a little break!
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Also also, you know who I’m surprised isn’t on here more? Iggy. Seems like maybe he wasn’t around long enough to develop a huge fanbase, but he had such a big impact on that team. I do think Dylan’s running theory is right. That team is kind of forgotten because of a couple of key losses.
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Am I the only one with a favorite player that wasn’t ever in the rotation and transferred in back to back years?
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I think that team has such a sour taste because it led to JB leaving, and Iggy’s departure was supposedly one of the big contributing factors, and he didn’t even get the bonus of another year/a big moment like Poole had, so he’s just kind of in a sweet spot of not being remembered fondly. honestly, I hardly remember what he was like as a player!
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Idea for next thread: Favorite outgoing transfers
He was fairly one-dimensional. Not much of a defender or passer, which might explain why he’s forgotten. He also played his best ball early in the year. But I also remember him being unstoppable for a while, and a valuable weapon even when he wasn’t the first option.
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Dating myself here, but that might be my earliest clear basketball memory 
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The second half of Walton’s senior year he played like a top 5 player in the country
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Iggy went down fighting against Texas Tech, IIRC. Only guy that could manufacture a bucket in that disaster. Respect due.
For me, that team just reminds me of 0-3 vs Sparty. Poole vs McQuaid.
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I think that team always needs to be contextualized with Matthews’ midseason injury and the fact he was not 100% for the rest of the year.
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Sure. Absolutely true. Doesn’t make the memories less painful though.
Good idea for a post! I can’t believe some of the names I am seeing on here. I think the biggest surprise is Ron Coleman from Boutros. Didn’t see that one coming.
I was not at all into basketball as a young kid - baseball and football were my sports. I was coming to Michigan football games from when I was 4 or 5…but didn’t get into basketball until the Pistons run in the late 80s. Then I first followed Michigan during the 89 run. My time at Michigan aligned exactly to the year Juwan left I am a sucker for guys who seem to put in a ton of effort and genuinely care about giving their all for the program, so I had it rough in school with guys like Taylor, Mitchell, etc going thru the motions and flaming out by March.
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Rice - seeing him go off in that 89 tournament
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Juwan - the least athletic member of the fab five who just seemed to figure out how to make winning plays and avoid some of the ups and downs of his classmates. His game in the elite 8 his junior year was awesome.
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No one late Fisher - Ward was a great, quiet, soft spoken guy but injuries ravaged him. So many of the other guys just never reached their potential and were frustrating to root for. Maceo was ok, Tractor had his moments…but a frustrating era after the 89-94 runs.
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Blanchard - There isn’t another player who had worse outcome for his effort. Seeing him stay on the floor to watch MSU celebrate a close win. Seeing him fall short under Amaker but do everything. I think he would have been the perfect 4 under Beilein.
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Novak - To this day it is hard to know how he had a successful career as a 6-4 PF in the B10…but I loved how he played.
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Stauskas - I usually don’t love players who do a lot of show boating…but he backed it up and was so fun. I still can’t figure out why he didn’t end up like Tyler Herro in the NBA.
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Walton (Sr) - Dylan mentioned DWalt and as a senior he was amazing. But I remember his struggles in the middle of his career when he was going to be the man. But putting the team on his back as a senior?
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Simpson - One of the strangest players to become a star ever and someone who had to invent ways to be good since he couldn’t really shoot, he was small, he couldn’t really jump…
Hmm…no one said Hunter? Courtney Sims? Lol.
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He was a lot of fun. It’s hard to put OAD’s but he and Poole were my favorites from that season.
I will admit that Poole was never close to my list. I wanted to like him so much because he seemed to have fun out there and his shot was one of the most memorable of all time…but he was a frustrating player for his defense and his ups and downs. Sometimes I wonder how so many people on this forum can love the Poole experience but hate the Jett experience.
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Personality probably?
Jordan was pretty happy go lucky, Jett pretty stoic. Also Jordan’s team’s were just better so much less ambient angst.
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