We\u2019re cracking the Top 15 in this week\u2019s drop of the Top 25 players since 1989 for the Michigan men\u2019s basketball program. This group is a slight tier up in our scoring model from last week\u2019s rendition, with us cracking the 90-point range. Without further ado, let\u2019s jump right in.<\/p>\n
No. 16 \u2013 F Iggy Brazdeikis<\/a> \u2013 Score: 87.2<\/p>\n The 2018-19 season was one to remember for the Wolverines, opening the season on a 17-game winning streak after making an improbable run to the National Championship the year prior. The team was expected to be good, but I don\u2019t know if anyone expected them to get off to that kind of start and be a 30-win team, especially after the departure of talents like Moritz Wagner, Duncan Robinson<\/a>, Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and Jon Teske<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n But little drop off happened because of the emergence and dominance of a true freshman \u2014- Ignas Brazdeikis. He immediately brought an edge and filled the shoes of the \u201cvillain\u201d on the team from Wagner\u2019s departure.<\/p>\n By the end of the season, Brazdeikis was the best player on the team, averaging 14.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game while shooting just under 40 percent from three; he scored at least 20 points per game 10 times. He made the unfortunate decision to head to the NBA Draft after being named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, an All-Big Ten second-team performer and an All-American honorable mention.<\/p>\n In case you are interested in what he is doing today, Brazdeikis plays for Zalgiris Kaunas in the Lithuanian Basketball League and internationally in the EuroLeague. It\u2019s his second stint with the team after playing in just 64 games over a three-year NBA career playing for the Knicks<\/a>, 76ers<\/a> and Magic.<\/p>\n No. 15 \u2013 G Daniel Horton \u2013 Score: 89.7<\/p>\n Cracking the Top 15 is former McDonald\u2019s All-American Daniel Horton. That designation is important because Horton chose to go to Michigan and play for Tommy Amaker during one of the most difficult periods in the history of the program.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n In desperate need for a star after the Ed Martin scandal, Horton delivered. In 2003, he won the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and was Second-Team All-Big Ten after averaging more than 15 points and four assists per game. The Wolverines finished with their first winning record in four years because of his leadership at such a young age.<\/p>\n Horton was the Wolverines\u2019 leading scorer the following season, as the program ended a five-year drought of not reaching 20 wins. That\u2019s because the team went on a run in the NIT, eventually winning the championship after beating Oregon and Rutgers in their final two matchups.<\/p>\n After Horton was suspended for the majority his junior season because of a domestic violence incident, he returned for a senior season for the history books. He broke the Big Ten record for free throw percentage, converting at a 90.1 percent rate after being a career 73.6 from the charity stripe. He also put on a show against No. 8 Illinois, scoring a career-high 39 points in an upset win. He was an All-Big Ten first-team performer averaging more than 17 points per game as a senior.<\/p>\n Horton finished towards the top of almost every major category in program history \u2014 11th in points, second in steals, second in three-pointers and fourth in assists.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n No. 14 \u2013 F Moritz Wagner \u2013 Score: 90.2<\/p>\n Wager is the face of the second-half of John Beilein\u2019s tenure at Michigan. In his sophomore season, Wagner made the starting rotation and began to make a name for himself highlighted by a 26-point, 11-rebound performance in an NCAA Tournament upset over the 2-seeded Louisville Cardinals.<\/p>\n Wagner became the team\u2019s leading scorer in a storybook 2017-18 season where the Wolverines made it back to the National Championship. He averaged 14.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, and was the Big Ten Tournament MVP as the Wolverines won their second consecutive tournament.<\/p>\n