The 2012–13 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the University of Michigan during the 2012–13 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games in Ann Arbor, Michigan, at the Crisler Center. This season marked the team's 96th consecutive year as a member of the Big Ten Conference, and it is occasionally referred to as "Team 96". The team was led by sixth-year head coach John Beilein.
As the defending 2011–12 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season regular season co-champions, the Wolverines finished fourth in the conference in 2012–13 and as National Runner-up in the 2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament after losing in the championship game to Louisville (Louisville's championship was later vacated due to a sex scandal, which ruled multiple players ineligible). The team achieved a 31–8 record, the most wins by the program in 20 seasons.
Following the 2011–12 season, the team lost graduating senior captains Zack Novak and Stu Douglass, who moved on to professional basketball careers in Europe. The incoming class of Mitch McGary, Glenn Robinson III and Nik Stauskas was ranked among the best classes in the nation by the media. With its new lineup, the team matched the greatest starts in school history. Starting the season with 11 consecutive wins matched the best start since Michigan's 1989 national champions, the 1988–89 team. At 16–0, Michigan matched its best start since the last repeat Big Ten Regular season championship, the 1985–86 team, tying a school record. Reaching 19–1 set a record for the best start in school history. The team also reached the number one position in the AP Poll for the first time since the Fab Five 1992–93 team. The team entered February with a 20–1 record (7–1 Big Ten), but with an injury to eventual B1G All-Defensive selection Jordan Morgan and a stretch of games against its strongest conference opponents, Michigan lost three out of four games. The team closed the season with a 5–5 run to finish tied for fourth in the conference and won one game in the Big Ten tournament before being eliminated.
The team was led by 2013 national player of the year, Big Ten Player of the Year and 2013 Consensus All-American Trey Burke and three additional All-Conference honorees. Tim Hardaway Jr. was named to the 2012–13 All-Big Ten first team by the coaches and to the second team by the media; Robinson was named an honorable mention All-Big Ten by the media, and Morgan was an All-Big Ten Defensive team selection. Stauskas and McGary earned multiple Big Ten Freshman of the Week recognitions during the season. Burke was the second National Player of the Year and eighth first-team consensus All-American in Michigan basketball history.
Michigan entered the 2013 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament as the youngest team in the field. The team made its first Sweet Sixteen appearance since the 1993–94 team did so. The Wolverines made their first appearance in the Final Four and the national title game since 1993 (which was vacated along with their 1992 appearance due to a scandal involving the eligibility of Chris Webber). Following the season, at the 2013 NBA draft, Burke and Hardaway were selected ninth and twenty-fourth, respectively, becoming the first pair of first-round NBA draft choices from Michigan since the 1994 NBA draft.
Preseason roster changes
Departures The team lost both of its captains from the prior season to graduation after they completed their eligibility. Senior two-time captain Douglass turned pro, joining Basket Navarra Club of the Liga Española de Baloncesto. Senior three-time captain Novak graduated to play for Landstede Basketbal in the Dutch Basketball League. In addition to the loss of senior co-captains, the team lost three players who decided to transfer: Evan Smotrycz, Carlton Brundidge and Colton Christian. Smotrycz, who transferred to Maryland, had started in 42 of the 69 games he played during his first two years. He left the program as the fifth-best all-time three-point shooter with a percentage of 40.5. Brundidge transferred to Detroit and Christian transferred to Florida International. The program also announced the departure of walk-on Sai Tummala and the return of walk-on Corey Person for a fifth year. Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Notes Stu Douglass 1 PG 6'3" 200 Senior Carmel, Indiana Graduated Zack Novak 0 SG 6'4" 210 Senior Chesterton, Indiana Graduated Evan Smotrycz 23 F 6'9" 230 Sophomore Reading, Massachusetts Transferred to Maryland Carlton Brundidge 2 SG 6'1" 190 Freshman Southfield, Michigan Transferred to Detroit Colton Christian 45 F 6'6" 215 Sophomore Bellevue, Washington Transferred to Florida International Sai Tummala 24 F 6'6" 190 Senior Phoenix, Arizona Left program
2012–13 team recruits
Glenn Robinson III, son of former first overall NBA draft pick Glenn Robinson, verbally committed on September 14, 2010, as the first commitment in Michigan's class of 2012. On March 26, 2011, Michigan received its second verbal commitment of the class of 2012 from Canadian wing guard Nik Stauskas. On November 3, Mitch McGary, who was ranked as the number two prospect in the nation at the time, announced his verbal commitment to Michigan. Within hours of the commitment, ESPN announced that Michigan ranked as the fifth best class in the nation. Each of the three signed a National Letter of Intent with the team on November 9. After several other schools announced their commitments, the signing of McGary moved Michigan from outside the top 25 at the end of October to the number 7 class in the nation by mid-November, according to ESPN. That November, McGary, Robinson and Stauskas ranked 3, 34, and 79, respectively, in the Rivals.com Class of 2012 Top 150.
All three recruits had playoff success: McGary was a member of Brewster Academy's National Prep Championship team. Stauskas earned the championship game MVP of the NEPSAC Class AA Championship after leading St. Mark's to victory. Robinson led Lake Central to its first Indiana High School Athletic Association sectional title in 15 years. He earned the Post-Tribune Boys basketball player of the year award for Northwest Indiana and the state MVP from the Indiana Basketball News.
McGary was invited to participate in the four-team April 1, 2012 All-American Championship, along with future teammate Robinson in New Orleans. Robinson was awarded the ESPNHS All-American Championship Player of the Game for his 16-point, 4-rebound performance, which included 5 dunks among his 6-for-7 shooting night. McGary was also selected to represent USA Basketball at the fifteenth annual Nike Hoops Summit on April 7 as part of the 2012 USA Junior National Select Team.
Michael "Spike" Albrecht committed to Michigan on April 6, 2012. Albrecht led Northfield Mount Hermon School to the 2012 NEPSAC Class AAA Boys' Basketball Tournament, defeating McGary's Brewster Academy in the semifinals. Albrecht was MVP of the tournament. Albrecht was a former AAU teammate of McGary and Robinson. Albrecht's and outgoing captain Novak's fathers were collegiate teammates. Albrecht was a 2011 graduate of Crown Point High School. After most of the big signings announced their decisions on the April 11 signing day, Michigan was ranked as the early number 5 preseason selection as a team by ESPN.
2013–14 team recruits Zak Irvin was named 2013 Indiana Mr. Basketball, giving Hamilton Southeastern High School the state's first back-to-back winners (Gary Harris) from the same high school. Derrick Walton was runner up in the 2013 Mr. Basketball of Michigan by a 2130–2086 margin to Iowa State signee Monte Morris despite having one more first place vote. Both Walton and Irvin were 2013 Parade All-American honorees and were named state Boys Basketball Gatorade Player of the Year.
Roster
Preseason Michigan basketball hosted its on campus media day press conference on October 10, 2012, at Crisler Center. The team was represented by Burke, Hardaway, Morgan and Beilein at the Big Ten Conference Basketball Media Day press conference on October 24 in Rosemont, Illinois. When the 24-person Big Ten Media poll was announced, Michigan was predicted to finish second to Indiana. Burke was a preseason All-Conference selection by the same media.
Michigan enjoyed high expectations from the national media as well during the preseason. Sporting News named them to the number 5 position in its preseason poll, while conference foes Indiana and Ohio State were ranked number 1 and 3, respectively. Michigan also earned the number 5 ranking in both the preseason Coaches' Poll and preseason Associated Press poll, but behind Indiana (#1) and Ohio State (#4) in both. This was Michigan's highest preseason ranking since the 1992–93 team. Sports Illustrated ranked Michigan number 9 in its October preseason power rankings, again behind Indiana (#1) and Ohio State (#6), but when it printed its November preseason poll listed Michigan at number 6 ahead of Ohio State (#7), but behind Indiana (#1). Prior to the first exhibition game on November 1, senior Josh Bartelstein was named team captain.
ESPN's Eamonn Brennan noted that Michigan was a perimeter oriented team with possibly the best one-two guard combination in the country. Burke and Hardaway were both preseason John R. Wooden Award top 50 selections. Burke was a preseason All-American (Associated Press first team, CBS Sports second team, Sports Illustrated second team, ESPN second team, Sporting News third team) as well as a preseason Naismith Award top 50 selection.
Slogans, nicknames and emblems
WE ON The acronym "WE ON" was the slogan for the whole team for the 2012–13 season. The team and coaching staff selected it at the beginning of the season as another way for Michigan to say Bo Schembechler's famous quote, "the Team, the Team, the Team." The acronym "WE ON" stands for "When Everyone Operates N'sync." Michigan assistant coach Bacari Alexander even tweeted that the acronym summarizes this team-focused mindset. According to Dave Brandon, assistant coach LaVall Jordan and director of basketball operations Travis Conlan guided the team to develop the slogan.
Adidas warm up shirts were created and were first worn on November 21, 2012, before Michigan's NIT Season Tip-Off game against the Pittsburgh Panthers. The shirts use the school colors with blue with maize lettering. On February 12, 2013, when Michigan played the first of two regularly scheduled rivalry games against Michigan State, students in the Izzone at the Breslin Center wore T-shirts with "YOU OFF" printed in Spartan colors (green and white). Michigan State went on to win the game by 23 points.
"WE" – WE is also an acronym for "Wolverine Excellence", which is chiefly used by the team. Wolverine Excellence calls for players and managers to focus on its five core values: integrity, unity, passion, diligence and appreciation.
"ON" – ON represented each player's individual commitment to season-long improvement. There was a "U-M Fuse Box" (mock-University of Michigan set of switches) in the Men's Basketball locker room in Crisler Center. Each player had selected one word on which to focus during the season and before every practice and game, each player flipped his switch "on". This represented each player's commitment to improvement every day.
Fresh Five Prior to the season, the five freshmen were dubbed the "Fresh Five", a moniker hearkening remembrance of the incoming freshman class of 1991, known as the Fab Five, that led Michigan to back-to-back Championship games while starting the majority of games. However, the nickname and its expectations were downplayed most of the season by the team. Nonetheless, during the final two weeks of the regular season The New York Times ran a feature story on the team that reinvigorated the nickname while noting that the current five were the supporting cast rather than the stars of the team like the original five.