1974–75 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team

American college basketball season

1974–75 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball

NCAA tournament, First Round
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 19
Record	19–8 (12–6 Big Ten)
Head coach	Johnny Orr
Assistant coaches	Jim Dutcher Bill Frieder Richard Carter
MVP	Joe Johnson
MVP	C. J. Kupec
Captains	Joe Johnson C. J. Kupec
Home arena	Crisler Arena
Seasons ← 1973–74 1975–76 →

1974–75 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 3 Indiana	18	–	0	1.000	31	–	1	.969
No. 19 Michigan	12	–	6	.667	19	–	8	.704
Minnesota	11	–	7	.611	18	–	8	.692
Purdue	11	–	7	.611	17	–	11	.607
Michigan State	10	–	8	.556	17	–	9	.654
Ohio State	8	–	10	.444	14	–	14	.500
Iowa	7	–	11	.389	10	–	16	.385
Wisconsin	5	–	13	.278	8	–	18	.308
Illinois	4	–	14	.222	8	–	18	.308
Northwestern	4	–	14	.222	6	–	20	.231

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1974–75 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team represented the University of Michigan in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1974–75 season. The team played its home games in the Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and was a member of the Big Ten Conference. Under the direction of head coach Johnny Orr, the team finished second in the Big Ten Conference.^[1] The team earned the second of four consecutive NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament invitations.^[2] Joe Johnson and C. J. Kupec served as team captains and shared team MVP honors.^[3] John Robinson led the Big Ten in field goal percentage with a 60.3% average in conference games,^[4] while Kupec led the conference in free throw percentage with an 88.0%.^[5] As a team, they led the conference in free throw percentage as well with a 75.8%.^[6] The team began the season ranked seventeenth, peaked at eleventh, and finished the season in nineteenth in the Associated Press Top Twenty Poll. It was ranked for a total of eight of nineteen weeks during the season.^[7] The team ended the season unranked in the final UPI Coaches' Poll.^[8] Kupec was selected as an All-American.^[9] The team's 74.4% free throw percentage was a school record that lasted 11 seasons.^[10] On January 2, 1975, Kupec went 14 for 14 in free throw attempts against Illinois which continues to be a school single-game record for most without a miss, surpassing Craig Dill's total of 12.^[11] The team set a school single-season free throw percentage record of 74.4% that would last until 1986.^[11]

In the 32-team 1975 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, Michigan was eliminated from the West Region in the first round by the UCLA Bruins 103–91.^[12]^[13]

Roster

1974–75 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
F	32	Wayman Britt	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	Jr	Flint, Michigan
C	41	C. J. Kupec	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Sr	Oak Lawn, Illinois

Head coach

Johnny Orr

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
AP Poll^[7]	17	19	16			17	11	19										19	19

Team players drafted into the NBA

Six players from this team were selected in the NBA draft.^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17]

Year	Round	Pick	Overall	Player	NBA Club
1975	4	2	56	C. J. Kupec	Los Angeles Lakers
1976	4	9	60	Wayman Britt	Los Angeles Lakers
1977	3	11	55	Steve Grote	Cleveland Cavaliers
1977	5	22	110	John Robinson	Los Angeles Lakers
1978	3	17	61	Dave Baxter	Seattle SuperSonics
1978	4	3	69	Joel Thompson	Houston Rockets

References

^ 2007-08 Men's Basketball Media Guide. University of Michigan. 2007. p. 197.
^ 2007-08 Men's Basketball Media Guide. University of Michigan. 2007. p. 12.
^ "All-Time Accolades". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. pp. 9–10. Archived from the original on September 1, 2010. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
^ "Big Ten Basketball 2009-10 Media Guide". CBS Interactive. p. 33. Archived from the original on July 3, 2010. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
^ "Big Ten Basketball 2009-10 Media Guide". CBS Interactive. p. 34. Archived from the original on July 3, 2010. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
^ "Big Ten Basketball 2009-10 Media Guide". CBS Interactive. p. 37. Archived from the original on July 3, 2010. Retrieved September 3, 2010.
^ ^a ^b "Division I Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. pp. 68–83. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
^ "Division I Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. p. 85. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
^ "All-Time Accolades". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. pp. 4–7. Archived from the original on September 1, 2010. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
^ 2007-08 Men's Basketball Media Guide. University of Michigan. 2007. p. 174.
^ ^a ^b "All-Time Records". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. p. 14. Archived from the original on April 1, 2011. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
^ "1975 Men's College Basketball Bracket". CBS Sports. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
^ "1975 NCAA basketball tournament Bracket". databaseSports.com. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
^ "1975 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
^ "1976 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
^ "1977 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
^ "1978 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved April 25, 2014.

v t e Michigan Wolverines men's basketball
Venues	Waterman Gymnasium (1908–1923) Fielding H. Yost Fieldhouse (1923–1967) Crisler Center (1967–present)
Rivalries	Duke Michigan State Ohio State
Culture & lore	Fab Five (film) Ed Martin scandal WWJ Michigan IMG Sports Network Fox Sports Detroit Jumpman Invitational
People	Head coaches NBA draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1908–09 1909–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championship in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics