Roller-coaster Season for Michigan Men's Basketball
High Expectations
Juwan Howard and his Michigan basketball squad came into the 2021-22 season with multiple reasons to believe they could contend for a national championship. They had reached the Elite Eight the previous year and fell just 2 points shy of a Final Four.
While they lost the likes of Franz Wagner, Isaiah Livers, Mike Smith, and Chandi Brown to professional basketball, they retooled with the #1 class in the country, headlined by 5 stars Caleb Houstan and Moussa Diabate. They also added the Sun Belt Player of the Year, Devante Jones, from the transfer portal.
This year’s Michigan basketball team had every reason to believe in themselves. The preseason AP poll reaffirmed that belief by giving the Wolverines a #6 overall preseason ranking.
Rocky Start
The non-conference schedule was unkind to Michigan. While there were several challenging matchups on their non-conference slate, nobody expected the Wolverines to drop more than one or two games prior to the grueling conference schedule. The young team desperately searched for chemistry, and they ended up losing to Seton Hall, Arizona, North Carolina, and UCF. Wins against UNLV and San Diego St(both of which would end up as tournament teams) may have ultimately saved their season.
The early struggles could be attributed to many factors, but the most glaring issues stemmed from inconsistent play from freshman Caleb Houston and grad-transfer senior Devante Jones. Houstan, who many considered the most talented recruit for Michigan in 20 years, was expected to immediately impact the team with NBA caliber shooting. Unfortunately, his youth shined through as he committed careless turnovers, missed open shots, and was regularly burned on the defensive side of the ball. Devante Jones was expected to step in as a transfer as Mike Smith did the year before and give Michigan a floor general with exceptional scoring ability. While he showed glimpses of premier skill, his backup Frankie Collins regularly brought more energy to the game from the bench.
Ups and Downs
The true roller coaster of the season began in Big 10 play. Michigan started slow with disheartening losses to Minnesota and Rutgers but showed their elite potential by dropping 100 points on a struggling Nebraska team. The first real highlight of the season came on the road against Indiana, where the Wolverines were finally able to put together a complete game against top talent. Big man Hunter Dickinson used his 25 point performance in that game as a springboard of momentum for the upcoming Big 10 battles.
Michigan continued to struggle against less talented teams, but also managed an early February 24-point upset against #4 Purdue. While Devante Jones and Caleb Houstan began to find their stride, along with freshman Moussa Diabate and super-senior Eli Brooks, they still struggled to find consistency. In fact, Michigan alternated wins and losses for the final 10 games of the season and finished Big 10 play 11-9. After giving up a 17 point second-half lead against Indiana in the Big 10 tournament, they found themselves squarely on the bubble heading into Selection Sunday.
Next Up
Key victories throughout the season and a top-5 strength of schedule snuck the Michigan Wolverines men’s basketball team into March Madness with an 11 seed. They drew a favorable matchup against 6-seeded Colorado State, who has an impressive resume this season against inferior talent. The question remains: which Michigan team will show up, and how will they write the final chapter of this tumultuous 2021-22 campaign?
