The 1965–66 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in intercollegiate

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

during the 1965–66 season. The team played its home games at Fielding H. Yost Field House (renamed Yost Ice Arena in 1973) on the school's campus in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

. Under the direction of

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Dave Strack David H. Strack (March 2, 1923 – January 25, 2014) was an American athletic director for the University of Arizona and head basketball coach of the University of Michigan. He was inducted to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. Early life Stra ...

, the team won the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

Championship.

Season review

This was the last of three consecutive Big Ten titles and

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...

appearances. The team earned the Big Ten team statistical championships for both

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offense (95.4) and scoring margin (9.9) as well as

field goal percentage Field goal percentage in basketball is the ratio of field goals made to field goals attempted. Its abbreviation is FG%. Although three-point field goal percentage is often calculated separately, three-point field goals are included in the gener ...

(48.9). Senior

Cazzie Russell Cazzie Lee Russell (born June 7, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. An NBA All-Star, he was selected by the New York Knicks with the first overall pick of the 1966 NBA draft. He won an NBA championship with ...

averaged 30.8 points per game, including 33.2 in conference games to lead the conference. Rusell also led the conference in field goal percentage (.542). The team was ranked in the Associated Press Top Ten Poll ten of the fifteen weeks, starting the season ranked number two and ending it ranked number nine. The team also finished the season ranked number seven in the final UPI Coaches' Poll. Oliver Darden served as team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, while Russell earned team

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

. On February 18, 1966,

Craig Dill Craig H. Dill (born December 17, 1944) was an American basketball player. Dill played college basketball at the University of Michigan. He was a 6'11" center. Dill was drafted in the fourth round (11th pick, 42nd overall) of the 1967 NBA draft ...

went 12 for 12 in

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the Key (basketball), restricted ...

attempts against , which was a school single-game record for most without a miss until C. J. Kupec made 14 on January 2, 1975. This surpassed Oliver Darden's total of 11 set the prior season.

Post season

In the 22-team

1966 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1966 NCAA University Division basketball tournament involved 22 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national men's basketball champion of the NCAA University Division, now Division I. It began on March 7 a ...

, Michigan reached the elite eight in the Mideast region by earning a bye and defeating the

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and Lady Toppers are the athletic teams that represent Western Kentucky University (WKU), located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, competing in the Co ...

80–79. The team then fell to the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...

84–77.

Accomplishments

Russell won the

Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball The Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball was an award presented annually by the ''Chicago Tribune'' to the top men's and women's college basketball player of the Big Ten Conference. The ''Chicago Tribune'' awarded the Silver Basketball for men's basket ...

as Big Ten

for a second year in a row. When Russell was selected as a 1966 NCAA Men's Basketball All-American for the third year in a row it was the first three-time recognition for a Wolverine. Following the season Russell was the Number one overall player selected in the NBA draft. He won the numerous national player of the year awards including the

Oscar Robertson Trophy The Oscar Robertson Trophy is given out annually to the outstanding men's college basketball player by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). The trophy is considered to be the oldest of its kind and has been given out since 195 ...

Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year The Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year award was established in 1961 to recognize the best men's college basketball player of the year, as voted upon by the Associated Press (AP). The only three-time winner is Ralph Sampson of ...

UPI College Basketball Player of the Year The UPI College Basketball Player of the Year was an annual basketball award given to the best men's basketball player in NCAA Division I competition. The award was first given following the 1954–55 season and was discontinued following the 199 ...

Sporting News Men's College Basketball Player of the Year The ''Sporting News'' Men's College Basketball Player of the Year is an annual basketball award given to the best men's basketball player in NCAA Division I competition. The award was first given following the 1942–43 season and is presented by ...

and the

Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year The Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year was an annual men's college basketball award given to the most outstanding men′s player in the United States. It was awarded by the Helms Athletic Foundation, an organization founded in ...

. Russell and the team set numerous Big Ten Conference records. Russell set the following record: single-season

field goals A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ball ...

made (308 all games, broken 1981), single-season field goals made per game (13.0 conference games, broken 1969) and career field goals made (839, 1964–66, broken 1970). In addition, the team set conference game records for single-season points per game 95.4 (broken 1969) Also, on February 19, 1966, against , the team set conference records for single-game points (128 broken December 30, 2006) and single-game field goals made (52, broken December 19, 1972). Russell also established numerous scoring records. He became the first Wolverine to total 800 points in a season, surpassing his own junior season total of 694 that surpassed his sophomore season record. This total has been surpassed by

Glen Rice Glen Anthony Rice Sr. (born May 28, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a small forward, Rice was a three-time NBA All-Star and made 1,559 three-point field goal ...

, but his 30.77 points per game still stands as a Michigan record. He also surpassed

Bill Buntin William L. Buntin (May 5, 1942 – May 9, 1968) was an American basketball player. He played collegiately for the University of Michigan and in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Buntin died of a heart attack at age 26. College career Bun ...

's career totals and career average points records with 2164 points and 27.1. The average continues to be the school record, but Mike McGee eclipsed the total record. Furthermore, he surpassed John Tidwell's single-game total of 43 with a 45-point effort on December 11, 1965, against and then established the current school record of 48 on March 5, 1966, against . Many of Russells points were scored on

s. He continues to hold the school's career free throw record with 486, which surpassed Buntin's 385 total but has been surpassed by the

vacated A vacated judgment (also known as vacatur relief) makes a previous legal judgment legally void. A vacated judgment is usually the result of the judgment of an appellate court, which overturns, reverses, or sets aside the judgment of a lower court. ...

505 total of

Louis Bullock Louis "Lou" Bullock, Jr. (born May 20, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. Although his records have officially been vacated, due to the University of Michigan basketball scandal, his vacated records are unsurpassed for mo ...

. In 1966, he also set the current school single-season total record of 184, which eclipsed his own record of 152 set the prior year. His career percentage record of 82.65 has also been surpassed by Bullock's vacated statistics (86.03%), but Lester Abram also surpassed this mark with an 82.93% in 2007. On December 1, 1964, the team began a 17-game

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

winning streak against the that continued through a January 29, 1966, victory over

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. This surpassed the 16-game streak from February 22, 1947 – February 7, 1949, and stood as the longest home winning streak in school history until a 22-game streak that started on January 12, 1976.

Statistics

The team posted the following statistics:

Rankings

Team players drafted into the NBA

Three players from this team were selected in the NBA draft.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1965-66 Michigan Wolverines Men's Basketball Team

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Michigan Wolverines men's basketball seasons

Michigan Wolverines basketball The Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Michigan. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ...