The Top 25 Michigan men’s basketball players since 1989: No. 9

Today, we continue our list of the best Michigan men’s basketball players since 1989 with a program hero who helped right the ship after the Ed Martin scandal — three-time All Big Ten honoree Manny Harris.

No. 9 – Manny Harris – Score: 113.0

Michigan went 11 years without sniffing the NCAA Tournament in part because of the NCAA sanctions, but it also was tied to a Tommy Amaker era that left a lot to be desired. In 2007-08, the Wolverines hired John Beilein away from West Virginia. Alongside him came a premier prospect out of Detroit and 2007 Michigan’s Mr. Basketball, Manny Harris.

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Harris was an immediate impact player for a team that lacked depth. In just his second career game, he scored 22 points in a non-conference win over Brown. He eclipsed 20 points an additional six times, becoming one of the most prolific scoring freshman in program history. He was just the fourth freshman in program history to eclipse 500 points in their first season.

Even though the team went 10-22 in Harris’ freshman season, the Wolverines now had the building blocks for a much improved future roster with Harris and forward Deshawn Sims. A tandem of talented true freshman — Stu Douglass and Zack Novak — entered the fold in Harris’ sophomore campaign, and Michigan and Harris got off to a hot start. Harris scored a career-high 30 points in the season opener against Michigan Tech, becoming just the 35th player in the history of the program to score 30 or more in a game.

From there on out, Harris averaged 16.9 points per game throughout his sophomore campaign playing against the second-toughest schedule in the nation. Early upset wins over No. 4 UCLA and No. 4 Duke helped the Wolverines make their first NCAA Tournament in Beilein era.

Hoping to end an 11-year drought, Michigan was a 10-seed facing the No. 7-seeded Clemson Tigers. Harris was the star of the show with 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists. The Tigers fought back late, but with less than 40 seconds to go, Harris…

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Publish date : 2026-07-04 11:00:00

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