The 1976–77 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 1976–77 season. The team played its home games in the

Crisler Arena Crisler Center (formerly known as the University Events Building and Crisler Arena) is an indoor arena located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is the home arena for the University of Michigan's men's and women's basketball teams as well as its women's ...

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 ...

, and was a member of 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 ...

. 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 ...

Johnny Orr, the team won the Big Ten Conference Championship.

Season review

The team earned the last of four consecutive

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 ...

invitations. Steve Grote and John Robinson 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 ...

s, while

Phil Hubbard Philip Gregory Hubbard (born December 13, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He won a gold medal in the 1976 Summer Olympics and after graduating from the University of Michigan, played for the Detroit Pistons a ...

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 ...

. As a team, they led the conference in

scoring Score or scorer may refer to: *Test score, the result of an exam or test Business * Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio * Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company * Score Media, a former Canadian m ...

offense with an 83.2 average in conference games as well as scoring margin with a 9.4 average. The team began and ended the season ranked number one in the Associated Press Top Twenty Poll and was ranked all seventeen weeks, including eight at number one. The team also ended the season ranked atop the final UPI Coaches' Poll. On December 29, 1976, Hubbard became the first Wolverine to play 50 minutes in a game against

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

. In 1980, Mike McGee would play 54 minutes in a game. The team's 21 for 22 performance on February 17 against

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

was the school

free throw percentage 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 restricted area. Free throws ...

record until February 21, 1987. The team totaled 17 steals on February 26, 1977, as both

Rickey Green Rickey Green (born August 18, 1954) is an American retired professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Green, a and point guard, led Chicago's Hirsch High School to the 1973 IHSA Class AA State ch ...

and Hubbard had 6 against

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

, which lasted as a school record until December 3, 1994. Green had 7 steals on November 27, 1976, against , which remains unsurpassed in school history.

Post season

In the 32-team

1977 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1977 NCAA Division I basketball tournament involved 32 American schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the National Champion of Men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on Saturday, March 12, 1977, and ended with ...

, Michigan reached the elite eight in the Mideast region by defeating the 92–81 and the

Detroit Titans The Detroit Mercy Titans (formerly known as the Detroit Titans) are the athletic teams of University of Detroit Mercy. The University is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. The school primarily competes in ...

86–81. The team then fell to the

Charlotte 49ers The Charlotte 49ers are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina. The 49ers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a ...

75–68. In the game against the Detroit Titans on March 17, Hubbard totaled 26

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

, which is an

single-game record (since 1973).

NCAA tournament summary

*Mideast **Michigan 92, Holy Cross 81 ** Michigan 86, Detroit 81 **Charlotte 75, Michigan 68

Roster

*David Baxter *Tom Bergen *Thomas Bergen *Steve Grote (C) *Rickey Green *Alan Hardy *Phil Hubbard *Robert Jones *William Lelich *Len Lillard *Mark Lozier *John Robinson (C) *Thomas Staton *David Stavale *Joel Thompson *Head Coach: Johnny Orr *Assistants:

Jim Boyce James Richard Wesley Boyce OBE (born 21 March 1944) is a former Vice-President of FIFA. He was the president of Northern Ireland's football organising body, the IFA, from 1995 to 2007. Boyce played for Ballymena Cricket Club during the 1970s. ...

, Dan Fife,

Bill Frieder William Samuel Frieder (born March 3, 1942) is a former basketball coach at Michigan (1981–1989) and Arizona State (1989–1997). Frieder's 1985–86 team was the last Michigan team to win a Big Ten Championship until the 2011–12 team. J ...

Accomplishments

The team was led by Consensus second team All-Americans

Ricky Green Rickey Green (born August 18, 1954) is an American retired professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Green, a and point guard, led Chicago's Hirsch High School to the 1973 IHSA Class AA State ch ...

and

. That season, Hubbard set the current school single-season total rebound record of 389, surpassing M. C. Burton, Jr.'s 1959 total of 379. 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 1963 single-season total of 23 point-rebound double doubles with 24. Grote's career

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

total of 358 would stand as a school record for 7 seasons until eclipsed by Eric Turner, while

's career assist average of 4.05 per game would also be a record until eclipsed by Turner. For the season Green totaled 61 steals for a 2.18 average, which stood as school records until Gary Grant totaled 84 and averaged 2.55 in 1986. Grote's 116 career games played lasted as a Michigan record until 1986 when

Richard Rellford Richard Allen Rellford (born February 16, 1964) is a retired American professional basketball player. Born in Riviera Beach, Florida, he was a 6' 6" (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) power forward. He played four games in the NBA, and three seaso ...

totaled 124, while his 108 career starts stood as a record until Mike McGee totaled 112 in 1981. The team set the school single-season free throws made record of 510, which surpassed the 1965 mark of 494 and would last until 1989. The team set the school single-season total steals record of 263 that stood until 1986. Green ended his career with an average of 32.7 minutes per game, which was a school record tied by

two years later and surpassed by Mike McGee.

Statistics

The team posted the following statistics:

Rankings

Team players drafted into the NBA

Six players from this team were selected in the NBA Draft.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1976-77 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 men's basketball team 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 ...