The 1997–98

Michigan Wolverines men's basketball The Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team is the College basketball, intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Michigan. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in NCAA Division I, Division I of the Nationa ...

team represented the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in intercollegiate

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

during the 1997–98 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 w ...

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

, and was a member of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

. Under the direction of

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Brian Ellerbe, the team finished fourth in the Big Ten Conference. The team emerged victorious in the inaugural 1998 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament. The team earned an invitation to the

1998 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1998 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 12, 1998, and ended with the champio ...

as a number three seed where it was eliminated in the second round. The team was ranked for twelve of the eighteen weeks of Associated Press Top Twenty-Five Poll, starting the season unranked, peaking at number twelve where it ended the season, and it also ended the season ranked twelve in the final USA Today/CNN Poll. The team had a 4–3 December 13, 1997, against #1

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

81–73 at home, December 26, 1997, against #19

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

93–61 at the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic, Eugene Guerra Sports Complex in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

, February 1 against #16

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

80–66 on the road, March 8 against #9

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

76–67 at the 1998 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament at the

United Center The United Center is an indoor arena on the Near West Side, Chicago, Near West Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is home to the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL) ...

. The victory over Duke was one of only two victories over the number one ranked team in the country in the history of the school.

Robert Traylor Robert DeShaun "Tractor" Traylor (February 1, 1977 – May 11, 2011) was an American professional basketball player. He got his nickname because of his hulking frame. Traylor was the sixth pick in the 1998 NBA draft and played seven seasons in th ...

and Travis Conlan served as team co-

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

s, while

and

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 mos ...

shared team

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

honors. The team's leading scorers were

(580 points), Robert Traylor (552 points) and Jerod Ward (445 points). The leading rebounders were Traylor (347), Maceo Baston (227), and Jerod Ward (206). Bullock led the Big Ten Conference in

three-point field goal A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or triple) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two ...

s made in conference games (51) and all games (93). He also led the conference in three-point field goal percentage in conference games (48.1%) and free throw percentage in all games (91.1%). The team led the Big Ten Conference in three-point field goals made in conference games (121) and three-point field goal percentage (40.1%).

Maceo Baston Maceo Demond Baston (born May 29, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines. At a playing height of , and a playing weight of , he played at the power forward position. H ...

ended his career with the current Michigan record for career

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 gene ...

, with a 62.72%, surpassing the 61.70% mark set by

Loy Vaught Loy Stephen Vaught (born February 27, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who spent ten seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), primarily with the Los Angeles Clippers. Vaught played at East Kentwood High S ...

in 1990. On February 22, 1998, against

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, the team made 15 three-point field goals, establishing a new school single-game record that would last until December 13, 2008. The team also broke the single-season three-point shot record of 203 set the prior year by making 260, which was a record that would last until 2009. In the 1998 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament at the

from March 5–8, Michigan was seeded fourth and earned a first round bye. In the second round, they defeated number five

77–66. In the semifinals, they defeated number eight

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

85–69. In the championship game, they defeated number three

76–67. Due to the Michigan basketball scandal, Michigan has vacated the records from this season.

Schedule

1997-98* (NC sanctioned) Overall: 25-9 Big Ten: 11-5 (4th) Big Ten Tournament: #4 seed (CHAMPION*) Postseason: NCAA (South), #3 seed (Second Round*) Head Coach: Brian Ellerbe (1st season, interim) Staff: Brian Dutcher & Scott Trost Captains: Travis Conlan & Robert Traylor Home Arena: Crisler Arena (13,562) * U-M vacated wins/losses due to NC sanctions (1) Puerto Rico Holiday Classic, San Juan, P.R. (Guerra Sports Complex) (2) Big Ten Tournament, Chicago, Ill. (United Center); inaugural

Rankings

Team players drafted into the NBA

Three players from this team were selected in the

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1997-98 Michigan Wolverines Men's Basketball Team Michigan Wolverines men's basketball seasons

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Big Ten men's basketball tournament championship seasons

Schedule

Rankings

Team players drafted into the NBA

See also

References