The 1965–66 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball 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 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 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 ...

. 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 ...

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

, the team won 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 ...

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 March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...

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

scoring SCORE may refer to: *SCORE (software), a music scorewriter program * SCORE (television), a weekend sports service of the defunct Financial News Network *SCORE! Educational Centers *SCORE International, an offroad racing organization *Sarawak Corrido ...

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 gene ...

(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 t ...

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 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 ...

, while Russell earned 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: ...

. 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 restricted area. Free throws ...

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.

Schedule

1965-66 Overall: 18-8 Big Ten: 11-3 (1st , Champions) Postseason: NCAA (Mideast) (Elite Eight) Head Coach: Dave Strack Staff: James Skala & Tom Jorgensen (Freshmen) Captain: Oliver Darden Home Arena: Yost Field House (7,500) (1) Played in Chicago, Ill. (Chicago Stadium) (2) Played in Detroit, Mich. (Cobo Arena) (3) Far West Classic, Portland, Ore. (Memorial Coliseum) (4) NCAA Tournament, Iowa City, Iowa (Iowa Field House)

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 ...

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, ...

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 men's and women's college basketball most valuable players of the Big Ten Conference each season, as voted upon by the league's coaches a ...

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 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 ...

. 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 most outstanding NCAA Division I men's basketball player by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), first presented in 1958–59 NCAA University Division men's basketball season, 19 ...

Associated Press College Basketball Player of the Year Associated may refer to: *Associated, former name of Avon, Contra Costa County, California *Associated Hebrew Schools of Toronto, a school in Canada *Associated Newspapers, former name of DMG Media, a British publishing company See also *Associatio ...

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 19 ...

Sporting News Men's College Basketball Player of the Year ''The Sporting News'' Men's College Basketball Player of the Year is an annual college 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 pre ...

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 19 ...

. 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. Consequently, a ...

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 goa ...

, 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 professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines. Buntin died of a heart attack at age 26. Coll ...

'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) is a legal judgment that legally voids a previous legal judgment. A vacated judgment is usually the result of the judgment of an appellate court, which overturns, reverses, or sets aside the judgme ...

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 mos ...

. 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 more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

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

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. 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

References

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

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, ...

Michigan Wolverines men's basketball seasons Michigan Wolverines basketball Michigan Wolverines basketball