Michigan Basketball

While the Detroit Pistons may be getting all the attention in and around the state, one should not sleep on University of Michigan basketball. Year in and year out, the team has the ability to challenge for the Big Ten title and make a run for the Final Four. Sadly, though, what Michigan basketball may be best known for is for a scandal involving former players Chris Webber, Robert Traylor, Maurice Taylor and Louis Bullock. This foursome had participated in what were some of the finest moment's in university hoops history, but in 2002 it was all wiped out after Michigan officials forfeited more than 100 regular season and NCAA tournament victories from 1992 through 1999, among other sanctions imposed for the incident, including two years of probation. What was and should have been the crowning achievements for Wolverine basketball since turned into a black eye for the program.

Michigan Basketball: Overcoming The Dark Legacy

But all is not lost for Michigan basketball, as they have since started to carve out a new niche in the Big Ten. The 1989 National Champions are hard at work seeking redemption. In his fourth season with the team, in 2003-04, head coach Tommy Amaker helped lead the Wolverines to a 23-11 record -- their first 20-win season since 1997-98. This came despite a slew of injuries that forced Amaker to piece together 16 different starting lineups. And with the NCAA sanctions for the earlier incident a thing of the past, Michigan entered and won the National Invitation Tournament. It was the third NIT title for the Michigan program, who had been led by All-Big Ten honorable mention guard Dion Harris, the team leader in scoring, assists, steals and minutes, and NIT Most Valuable Player Daniel Horton. There is no better way to bury the past than to succeed in the present, and if the 2003-04 season was any indication, Michigan basketball has a bright future ahead of it indeed.