Michigan isn't a recruiting battleground. It's not a place that spawns top-100 recruits a year. And yet, it has managed to sustain two college towns with ravenous fanbases and a number of directional universities as well.
Michigan and Michigan State, from Ann Arbor and East Lansing, respectively, are both towns with an ecosystem centralized around their universities. And to those universities, their sports are beloved. Each has found success in football and basketball at different times, and hockey together.
From the Michigan football teams of the 1990s to Tom Izzo's Spartans basketball program, every school in the state has produced elite talent and seen legendary careers. And some of the players at smaller schools are deserving of mention.
Here
are the 10 athletes who managed to separate from the rest, with a star receiver from Kalamazoo even making an appearance:
10 greatest college athletes from Michigan
Magic Johnson, Michigan State
Basketball royalty comes out of East Lansing. Magic Johnson almost singlehandedly boosted the pedigree of the Michigan State Spartans, helping to bring the program its first national title in 1979. A two-year star at MSU, Johnson averaged 21.8 points, 10 assists and 8.8 rebounds per game during the historic title run. Johnson has left his mark on Michigan State basketball for all time, with 1979 being one of the program's two titles (the other coming in 2000). Indeed, while he's remembered largely as an NBA superstar with the Lakers, his college career is where his rivalry against Larry Bird began to flourish, with the Spartans beating Bird and Indiana State in the 1979 national championship.
Charles Woodson, Michigan
Woodson laid out the blueprint for the two-way superstar. He had arguably a perfect season in 1997 as a Heisman Trophy winner and the leader of a Michigan team that went 12-0 and split a national championship with Nebraska (courtesy of a Rose Bowl win over Washington State). He was the first primarily defensive player to college football's biggest individual award, and finished second all-time in career interceptions (18). A star in all three phases but a superstar defensively, Woodson's name is now indelible from college football and also has a Hall of Fame NFL career in addition to his legendary collegiate career.
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Tom Harmon, Michigan
When you think Michigan pedigree, you think Tom Harmon. One of the definitive H-backs of the sport, No. 98 is one of the few numbers retired at the University of Michigan. Harmon was the Heisman Trophy runner-up in 1939 before winning it as a unanimous All-American in 1940, capping one of the most prolific careers in Michigan history. While the stats may not jump off the page to the eye of the modern fan (he rushed for 2,134 yards and threw for 1,304 more in his career), Harmon is quintessentially Michigan football: He turned in performances where he completely took games over for the Wolverines. Harmon was the inspiration for tons of flowery prose from the scribes of the time, and he was a unique talent out of the Michigan backfield in his career before going to be a pilot for the U.S. Army in World War II.
Desmond Howard, Michigan
Often imitated but never duplicated, Desmond Howard's enduring contribution to college football is the prescient Heisman pose celebration in 1991. A Michigan legend who went on to have a solid career with the Detroit Lions as a return man, Howard a program-record 19 touchdown catches in 1991 and had a kick return and punt return touchdown each to add to his total. Howard, like Woodson, is still a staple in the college football world. He is now on the "College GameDay" desk for ESPN, the preeminent college football Saturday pregame show. While much of his legacy lies in that iconic celebration, having a moment that is so ingrained within the fabric of the sport is hard to ignore when you're talking about the legends of college athletics within the state.
Mateen Cleaves, Michigan State
The other Michigan State champion on this list, Mateen Cleaves had an even lengthier collegiate career. Though he never broke 20 points per game in his Michigan State tenure, Cleaves was an assist machine and a three-time consensus All-American. One of the faces of Tom Izzo's tenure with the Spartans, we may see another one play in green and white one day, with reports surfacing that Izzo is checking in on Mateen Cleaves Jr., a 4-star recruit from Arizona. Indeed, Izzo uses Cleaves as a blueprint for what he wants out of his point guards: He said in November 2025 he could see some of Cleaves in Jeremy Fears Jr. If Magic Johnson is who put Michigan State on the map, Cleaves is who ushered in the Izzo era and made him one of the faces of college basketball coaching.
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Anthony Carter, Michigan
LSU defensive backs have No. 7. Penn State linebackers No. 11. Michigan wide receivers have No. 1, and that's thanks to Anthony Carter. Carter caught 161 passes in his Michigan career, a program record at the time, and hauled in 37 touchdowns, also a record before Braylon Edwards came along. While most of Carter's records with Michigan have since fallen with passing games having more influence on the sport, his legacy has endured. The three-time All-American has seen David Terrell and Braylon Edwards wear the No. 1, and though Edwards may be the most successful players to wear it numbers-wise, Carter is the one who paved the way.
Cazzie Russell, Michigan
Why Cazzie Russell, and not a member of the 1989 Michigan team or the Fab Five? Because Cazzie Russell changed basketball at Michigan. Michigan's all-time leading scorer by points per game, Russell's legacy endures beyond 27.1 points per game, two All-American honors, and a player of the year nod. He led Michigan to back-to-back Final Fours in 1964 and 1965, making the national championship game in 1965. Although Michigan ran into a John Wooden-led buzzsaw in UCLA, Russell gave Michigan basketball its first bite of sustained success, which it then made a meal of two national championships. After he got drafted first overall in 1965, Russell put together a solid NBA career, including a championship with the Knicks.
Corey Davis, Western Michigan
You can't talk about Michigan colleges without giving the directional schools some love. Corey Davis put together one of the most prolific collegiate careers for any wide receiver in history in the MAC, and he did it with the Western Michigan Broncos in all four years. Davis hauled in 332 passes under P.J. Fleck, and notched a Division I-record 5,285 yards. Trevor Insley is the only other 5,000-yard receiver in college football history. Davis had three seasons of 1,400-plus yards, and was an All-American in 2016. Davis' success is arguably what propelled Fleck to Minnesota, as the two were concurrent for Fleck's entire tenure with the Golden Gophers.
Brendan Morrison, Michigan
Michigan hockey is in a championship drought, but the state has a rich history of great players coming through. Few were more successful than Brendan Morrison, who still holds the school record with 284 points and won the Hobey Baker Award in 1997. Morrison scored the game-winner for Michigan in the 1996 national championship game against Colorado College, a rebound in front of the net that he was able to bury in overtime and give Michigan hockey its first title in 32 years.
Ryan Miller, Michigan State
Quite possibly the best college hockey goalie, Ryan Miller was a brick wall when he minded the net for Michigan State. Miller is one of just three netminders in NCAA history to win the Hobey Baker Award, achieving the feat in 2001. Miller still holds school records for save percentage, goals against average and the NCAA record for career shutouts. Though Michigan State didn't win a national championships under Miller, his 2001 efforts did get it back to the Frozen Four. His legacy endures in East Lansing as one of the most dominant goalies in college hockey.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: USA250: 10 greatest college athletes from Michigan
