About Michigan basketball
Michigan State Spartans
Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represents Michigan State University (MSU) and competes in the Big Ten Conference of NCAA Division I. The team currently plays at the Breslin Student Events Center.
The team has won two NCAA championships and eleven Big Ten championships in men's basketball. The Spartans won the National Championship in both the 1979 NCAA Tournament and 2000 NCAA Tournament. The 1979 National Championship story line was highly touted as Magic vs. Bird. It was achieved by a team under the coaching of Jud Heathcote that included MVP Magic Johnson, Greg Kelser and Jay Vincent. MSU beat the then undefeated Indiana State Sycamores, led by future NBA hall of famer Larry Bird. The 2000 National Championship was achieved by Morris Peterson, A.J. Granger, Charlie Bell, Jason Richardson and MVP Mateen Cleaves leading the team in a victory over the Florida Gators.
Michigan State basketball has been selected for 12 consecutive NCAA tournament bids (1998–2009) as of the end of the 2009 season. Overall, Michigan State has been to the Final Four a total of seven times in its history (1957, 1979, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005 and 2009) and has made 22 NCAA Tournament appearances. Only eight schools (UCLA, North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Ohio State, Indiana and Louisville) have more total Final Four appearances.
On December 13, 2003, Michigan State and Kentucky played at the most-attended college basketball game in history. They played this game in front of 78,129 people at Ford Field, a football stadium converted to a basketball court for this game in Detroit. Kentucky won this game by a score of 79–74.
Michigan Wolverines
Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Michigan. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Wolverines play home basketball games at the Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan on the university campus. Michigan has won an NCAA Championship—under coach Steve Fisher—as well as two National Invitation Tournaments (NIT) and 12 Big Ten Conference championships. In addition, it has won an NIT tournament and a Big Ten Conference Tournament that were forfeited due to NCAA sanctions. The team is currently coached by John Beilein.
Michigan endured the University of Michigan basketball scandal, that the NCAA described as one of the biggest financial scandal in NCAA history, when Ed Martin loaned Chris Webber, Robert Traylor, Louis Bullock, and Maurice Taylor a total of $616,000. Due to NCAA sanctions, records from the 1992 Final Four, the 1992–93, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, and 1998–99 seasons have been vacated. This includes a total of 113 victories and 57 losses, of which 50 wins and 36 losses occurred in conference games against Big Ten teams. It also includes the following post season records NCAA: 7–4, NIT: 5–0, and Big Ten Tournament: 4–1. This reflects vacating the 1992 Final Four appearance; 1997 NIT Championship; 1993, 1996, and 1998 NCAA Tournament appearances; and the 1998 Big Ten Tournament championship. Throughout this article asterisks denote awards, records and honors that have been vacated.
Michigan has had twenty-one All-Americans. Four of these have been consensus All-Americans: Cazzie Russell (two-times), Rickey Green, Gary Grant, and Chris Webber. Four All-Americans have been at least two-time honorees: Bennie Oosterbaan, Bill Buntin, Russell, and Henry Wilmore. Russell was a three-time All-American. Michigan basketball players have been successful in professional basketball. Fifty have been drafted into the National Basketball Association (NBA); Twenty of those were first round draft picks, including both Cazzie Russell and Chris Webber who were drafted first overall. The 1990 NBA Draft in which Rumeal Robinson was selected 10th, Loy Vaught was selected 13th, and Terry Mills was selected 16th made Michigan one of three schools that has ever had three players selected as NBA first round draft picks in the same draft. Five players have gone on to become NBA champions and nine have become NBA All-Stars. Rudy Tomjanovich coached both the 1994 and 1995 NBA Finals Champions. Not only has Glen Rice won both an NBA and NCAA championship, but also he is one of only nine basketball players to have won a state high school championship, NCAA title and NBA championship.