The History Of NBA 1st-Round Picks Out Of The University Of Michigan

Since the NBA Draft's inception in 1947, Michigan men's basketball has been a contributor to the yearly player pool. In total, 77 players have been drafted out of Michigan, and 31 of them were drafted in the first round. 

The draft hasn't always been 30 picks, as the number is determined by how many teams are in the league, and the NBA didn't expand to 30 until 2004. So, for the sake of this list, even though Ollie Darden was drafted 22nd overall in 1966, he was a third-round pick, while Danny Wolf is a first-round pick at 27 in 2025.

The Wolverines have produced five top-5 picks. Cazzie Russell and Chris Webber are the only two Michigan players ever to have been drafted first overall in their respective drafts. All five became NBA All-Stars, and all except Chris Webber won an NBA Championship in their tenure. The Wolverines have not produced a top-5 pick since Juwan Howard in 1994.

Bill Buntin, who was drafted in 1965, is not included because he was drafted as a territorial pick by the Pistons. While he was technically drafted third overall, he wasn't in what is now called the first round. The draft was revamped the next year in 1966, and the territorial pick was eliminated.

While Michigan hasn't had any top-5 picks since the turn of the century, it has produced several middle lottery choices. Both Trey Burke and Nik Stauskas from the 2013 national runner-up campaign slotted into this section of the draft.

Of these players, only Campy Russell ever made an All-Star appearance, and both Roy Tarpley and Jamal Crawford won NBA Sixth Man of the Year. While Franz Wagner has not accrued any accolades to date, he has been on the cusp of an All-Star appearance for several years.

Rounding out the lottery, six Wolverines have been selected with picks 10-14. Most recently, Jett Howard, son of former coach and top-5 pick Juwan Howard, was selected with the 11th overall pick in 2023. Jalen Rose is the only one of this group to take home hardware, winning the Most Improved Player award in 2000.

Michigan has had plenty of selections in this portion of the draft, with nine players selected from picks 15-22. While some players like Mitch McGary and D.J. Wilson flamed out fairly quickly, Rickey Green made a single All-Star appearance in 1984, and Caris LeVert has carved out a nice career for himself despite battling injuries throughout his tenure.

Finally, there have been four Michigan players drafted in the late first round, all of whom were drafted in 2013 or later. Despite being drafted toward the end of the first round, Tim Hardaway Jr., Moritz Wagner, and Jordan Poole have all been very productive players in the NBA. Danny Wolf, the most recent first-round pick out of Michigan, is still young in his career.

Although Michigan hasn't produced a top-5 pick since the early 1990s, it has consistently churned out NBA-level talent. It's not the program's goal simply to accrue as many first-round draftees as possible, but when they do develop, it certainly is an added bonus.