The 2018–19 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the University of Michigan during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Wolverines, led by head coach John Beilein in his twelfth year, played their home games for the 52nd consecutive year at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This season marked the program's 103rd season and its 102nd consecutive year as a member of the Big Ten Conference. They compiled a 30–7 overall record, 15–5 in the conference and finished in third place. In the Big Ten tournament, they defeated Iowa in the quarterfinals, Minnesota in the semifinals before losing to Michigan State in the championship. They received a at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, defeating Montana in the first round, Florida in the second round, but lost in the Sweet Sixteen to Texas Tech.
Previous season The Wolverines, who finished the 2017–18 season 33–8, were 13–5 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for fourth. As the No. 5 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they defeated Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan State, and Purdue to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 3 seed in the West region, they defeated Montana, Houston, Texas A&M, and Florida State to advance to the Final Four. In the National semifinal, they defeated Loyola-Chicago before losing to Villanova in the championship game.
Offseason
Departures Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Duncan Robinson, and graduate transfer Jaaron Simmons graduated during their senior seasons for the 2017–18 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team. On April 10, walk-on Brent Hibbitts announced that he would graduate and transfer with two years of eligibility remaining. On April 12, Ibi Watson announced his intention to transfer from the program. On April 14, Moritz Wagner declared for the 2018 NBA draft and hired an agent. On April 20, Charles Matthews declared for the 2018 NBA draft without hiring an agent. Matthews later withdrew his name from the draft and returned to school. On April 25, Watson, who had two years of eligibility remaining, announced he had agreed to transfer to Dayton and sit out a year. Hibbits transferred to play for head coach Dan Majerle at Grand Canyon.
Michigan DeparturesNameNumberPos.HeightWeightYearHometownNotes Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman 12 G 6'4" 190 Sr Allentown, PA Graduated Brent Hibbitts 0 F 6'8" 220 So Hudsonville, MI Transferred to Grand Canyon Duncan Robinson 22 G/F 6'8" 215 RS Sr New Castle, NH Graduated Jaaron Simmons 5 G 6'1" 185 RS Sr Dayton, OH Graduated Moritz Wagner 13 F 6'11" 245 Jr Berlin, Germany Declared for NBA Draft Ibi Watson 23 G/F 6'5" 200 So Pickerington, OH Transferred to Dayton
Expectations Immediately following the NCAA tournament and before the April 22, 2018 NBA draft entry deadline, early rankings were put out by many services. Michigan was ranked by some: Sports Illustrated ranked them No. 4 with Wagner and Matthews both returning, while CBS Sports (No. 22), Yahoo! Sports (No. 12) and ESPN (No. 8) expected Wagner to go pro and ranked them lower. Sporting News expected both to go pro, but ranked Michigan No. 9. USA Today, who ranked Michigan No. 18, expected Wagner to leave and noted that Matthews may leave as well. Bleacher Report (No. 8) and Fox Sports (No. 14) did not clarify who they expected to return and ranked Michigan. NBC Sports omitted Michigan.
Immediately following the decisions of Wagner to enter the draft and Matthews to return, Michigan was ranked by ESPN (17) and CBS Sports (21).
Brazdeikis had the highest expectations among the incoming class from Yahoo! Sports and ESPN. USA Today expected Johns to be the brightest newcomer.
Sporting News was the earliest of preseason polls to be released (September 20) and included Michigan (#10) as the highest of three ranked Big Ten teams. In the preseason Big Ten Media poll, Michigan was ranked second, collecting 4 of the 28 first place votes.
Prior to the season Matthews was named to the 10-man preseason All-Big Ten team. He also was one of nine Big Ten players named to the preseason John R. Wooden Award watchlist and one of eight named to the preseason Naismith College Player of the Year watchlist.
2018–19 recruits and personnel
On December 22, 2016, junior recruit David DeJulius became the first commitment for the Class of 2018 after receiving a December 17 offer following his career-high 46-point, 7-rebound, 5-assist performance of December 17 in leading East English Village Preparatory Academy over Dakota High School. Brandon Johns became the second commitment for the Class of 2018 when he committed to Michigan on June 29, 2017, over several other schools including hometown Michigan State, along with fellow Big Ten universities Indiana, Iowa, and Purdue. At the time of his commitment, Johns was considered by several recruiting sites, such as 24/7Sports as well as ESPN, as the top recruit from Michigan in the Class of 2018.
On June 15, 2017, junior recruit Taylor Currie committed to Michigan becoming, at the time, their first commitment for the Class of 2019. On June 30, 2017, Currie announced that he would be reclassifying and would be set to join the Class of 2018 marking the third member of Michigan's 2018 recruiting class. On September 22, 2017, Ignas Brazdeikis became the fourth, member of the 2018 recruiting class. Brazdeikis, at time of commitment, was ranked in the top 50 in the 24/7Sports composite top 100 rankings for recruits of the class of 2018. Brazdeikis committed to Michigan over schools such as Vanderbilt and Florida. On September 29, 2017, Currie decommitted from Michigan dropping the number of 2018 recruits to three. On October 2, 2017, Adrien Nunez became the fourth member of the 2018 recruiting class. Nunez received much attention over the summer scouting period and drew praise for his shooting ability. Nunez committed to Michigan over schools such as Penn State, Texas A&M, and Boston College. On October 4, 2017, Michigan added its fifth recruit to the 2018 recruiting class with the addition of Colin Castleton. The big man selected Michigan over Illinois in making his final choice. Castleton noted his connection with new Michigan assistant coach Luke Yaklich as a driving force behind communication with Michigan.
Johns and DeJulius finished second and third in points (2,792 and 2,542, respectively), to Michigan State recruit Foster Loyer (3,691) in the 2018 Mr. Basketball of Michigan voting.
Other personnel On June 29, 2018, Michigan announced the addition of transfer, and preferred walk-on, Jaron Faulds who had played 26 games averaging 4.5 points and 3.2 rebounds as a freshman for the 2017–18 Columbia Lions after completing his four-year varsity career at Holt High School. Foulds had been first-team All-state (Michigan) as a senior in 2017 and was a former AAU teammate of Isaiah Livers. He is a center who must sit out one season.
Roster
Matthews and Simpson were named team captains.
Coaching staff Name Position Year at MichiganAlma mater (year) Saddi Washington Assistant coach 3rd Western Michigan (1998)DeAndre Haynes Assistant coach 2nd Kent State (2006)Luke Yaklich Assistant coach 2nd Illinois State (1998)
Rankings
^Coaches did not release a week 2 poll
Preseason The team scheduled an August 17–26 trip to play three exhibition games and tour Barcelona and Madrid, Spain. The team defeated Madrid Generals 82–72 on August 20. On August 23 and 25, Michigan lost to KK Mega Bemax and Joventut Badalona. When the preseason AP Poll was released, Michigan was ranked number 19. On November 2, Michigan defeated 90–58 in an exhibition game with double digit scoring from all 5 starters, including 13 points from Charles Matthews and freshman Ignas Brazdeikis each.
Regular season The full schedule was announced on August 21. The marquee games are a home game against North Carolina in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge and a road game against Villanova in the Gavitt Tipoff Games. The season will mark the first time in Big Ten history that the teams will play a 20-game conference schedule. During their next six-year cycle, teams within the same state will play 12 times, while teams within the same region will play 10 times. All other teams will play nine times. In addition, there will be three in-state series played between Illinois and Northwestern, Indiana and Purdue, and Michigan and Michigan State. Each time will play twice, guaranteeing a home game for each team. The conference opponent list was finalized on April 19, 2018.
On August 31, 2016, it was announced that Michigan would participate in the 2018 Hall of Fame Tip Off at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut on November 17 and 18. On September 6, 2017, the three other participants for the tournament were announced: George Washington, Providence, and South Carolina.
Michigan once again participated in the Gavitt Tipoff Games where they faced defending national champion Villanova in Philadelphia as a rematch of the 2018 national title game.
November Michigan began the season with a 63–44 victory over Norfolk State. Michigan was led by Jon Teske with a game-high 13 points, eight rebounds, and a then career-high four blocks, while freshman Ignas Brazdeikis scored 12 points in his Michigan debut. With the win, John Beilein earned his 800th career win. On November 10, Michigan defeated Holy Cross 56–37. Michigan was led by Charles Matthews with a game-high 20 points, while Brazdeikis added 19 points, including 15 points in the first five minutes to start the second half. Teske added another five blocks. On November 14, Michigan defeated (#8 AP Poll/#8 Coaches Poll) Villanova 73–46 in the Gavitt Tipoff Games. Michigan was led by Matthews with a game-high 19 points, while Brazdeikis added 18 points, and a team-high seven rebounds. Michigan's defense forced 21 turnovers, including five steals by Zavier Simpson. On November 17, Michigan defeated George Washington 84–61. Michigan was led by Matthews with a game-high 25 points, while Jordan Poole added a then career-high 22 points, and Simpson added 14 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double. This marked the first time Michigan had two 20-point scorers in the same game since March 22, 2018. The next day Michigan defeated Providence 66–47 to win the Hall of Fame Tip Off tournament. Michigan was led by Brazdeikis with a game-high 20 points, while Teske added a career-high 17 points, including his first career three-pointer. On November 23, Michigan defeated Chattanooga 83–55. Michigan was led by Brazdeikis with a career-tying 20 points, while Teske added seven points and a career-high 12 rebounds. On November 28, Michigan defeated (#11/#13) North Carolina 84–67 in the ACC–Big Ten Challenge, as Michigan shot a season-high 57.4 percent from the field, and tied a season-best with 50-percent from three-point range. Michigan was led by Brazdeikis with a career-high 24 points, while Matthews added 21 points and a team-high seven rebounds, Poole added 18 points, and Teske added a career-high five blocks.
December